JERRI ZBIRAL
806 MONROE
EVANSTON, IL 60202
847.328.6994 · Mobile: 847.567.6994
jerri@thecollectedimage.com
PERSONAL INFORMATION
Born: Prague, Czechoslovakia.
Citizenship: American, Canadian, Czech
Languages Spoken: Czech, English, French
EDUCATION
1974 Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester, NY. MFA, Photography
1971 Loyola College, Montreal, Quebec. BS, Psychology
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2015 – Producer, Following the Box. A ½ hour documentary film.
2013 – Co-Director, Following the Box: Exploring an Anonymous Archive of Photographs from India. Partially funded through Fulbright-Nehru grant (Alan Teller, official recipient.)
2012 Be Filled With the Spirit. Post-production manager for this 9 min. film about storefront churches in Buffalo, NY, photographs by Milton Rogovin.
2010 – 11 Jury Chair for CINE Golden Eagle Awards.
2009 – 10 Picture Man, the Poetry of Photographer Milton Rogovin. Post-production manager for a half hour documentary film about 101-year-old photographer and political activist, Milton Rogovin.
2008 Jazzography, A Portrait of the Chicago Jazz Festival at 30. Photo editor/curator for a 120-page photography book/retrospective of the Chicago Jazz Festival, with an accompanying exhibition, co-sponsored by The Jazz Institute of Chicago and the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs.
2006 – Volunteer at the Marjorie Kovler Center for Victims of Torture. French interpreter for newly arrived refugees, mostly from French speaking African nations.
2006 – 08 Never Turning Back, The World of Peggy Lipschutz. Director and Producer of a half hour documentary film about Peggy Lipschutz, a then-92 year old artist and political ativist who has devoted her life to peace and justice issues.
1992 – 99 In the Shadow of Memory. Producer of a one-hour documentary film about the destruction of Lidice, Czechoslovakia during WWII, and its effects on subsequent generations. The film has been translated into Czech, Russian, Spanish and Portuguese by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic and distributed to 180 Czech consulates world-wide. It has also been translated into German by the Bremen Peace Initiative who has made it available to German schools.
1990 – 94 The Chicago Photographic Print Fair Inc. Co-founder of annual photography exposition, that brought in dealers & galleries nationwide. Programs included collecting symposia and photography lectures, organized in collaboration with all of the major Chicago area cultural institutions.
1988 WTTW, Chicago. Consultant to the Public Broadcasting Company's series, The Other Side of Europe. Accompanied producers to Czechoslovakia as translator, guide, and informant.
1979 – The Collected Image, Chicago. Partner. Photographic dealer, gallery owner and consultant, specializing in fine art photography for collectors and museums. Appraiser of photography, book and film collections for individuals and institutions nationwide.
1978 – 82 Uptown Center Hull House, Chicago. Director, Community Arts Center. Worked with neighborhood schools and community organizations. Administered an extensive photography program for youth and adults. Funded, directed and taught special photography program for the hearing impaired. Organized a major 3 day symposium: Social Issues and the Arts, featuring photographer Walter Rosenblum, dancer and choreographer Daniel Nagrin, writer Carol Becker, author and radio host Studs Terkel, artist and critic Harry Bouras, in workshops, exhibition, lectures and panel discussion.
1977 Illinois Arts Council/HEW Title VII, Artists in Residence project, Lincoln Elementary School, Harvey, IL. Designed group darkroom, developed curriculum, taught teacher workshops on the use of photography in the classroom.
1975 – 78 Public Art Workshop, Chicago. Founder and Director of Photography Center. Funded program, designed and built group darkroom and classroom, taught photography to neighborhood youth and students from local elementary school. Founded, designed and ran neighborhood photography gallery at The Austin Public Library, which exhibited work from photography programs from around the world.
1975 Howland Elementary School, Chicago. Designed and built darkroom. Taught photography to students, conducted teacher training workshops.
1974 – 75 CAM Academy, Chicago. Photography teacher at this inner city alternative high school.
EXHIBITIONS: GROUP SHOWS
2017 Koehnline Museum of Art, OCC, Des Plaines, IL. Women and Anger: Resistance, Power and Inspiration
2016 Indira Gandhi Center for the Arts, Delhi, India. Following the Box
2015 Carnegie Center for Art & History, Louisville, KY. Photography Since the Millennium
Birla Academy for the Arts, Kolkata, India. Following the Box
2011 Schneider Gallery, Chicago. Photograph as Object
2003 Chicago Jewish Women’s Center, Evanston, IL
2001 Chicago Cultural Ctr. eMotion Pictures: An Exhibition of Orthopedics in Art
1978 Uptown Hull House Gallery, Chicago. Creative Impulses
1977 Gilbert Gallery, Chicago
1977 Photosynthesis Gallery, Fresno, CA. Three From Chicago
1976 Indiana Univ. Museum, Bloomington, IN. Eye on America
1975 Exposure Gallery, Chicago. Personal Statements: Nine Women Photographers (an Illinois Arts Council traveling show)
1975 Columbia College, Chicago. The Auction Show
1974 Cinematheque Quebecoise, Montreal, Quebec
1972 Centaur Gallery, Montreal, Quebec
EXHIBITIONS: ONE PERSON SHOWS
2009 – Artwork on permanent display at Beth Emet Synagogue, Evanston, IL
1990 One year tour of From the Mountains to the High-Rise to numerous venues in The Czech Republic
1988 Appalshop, Whitesburg, Ky. From the Mountains to the High-Rise
1983 Uptown Hull House, Chicago, IL. From The Mountains to the High-Rise
1975 The Workshop Gallery, Montreal, Quebec. Recent Work
1973 Bibliotheque Nationale du Quebec, Montreal, Quebec. Photographs from Fort George
EXHIBITIONS ORGANIZED
2015 – Co-Curator, Following the Box. A 3,000 sq. ft. exhibition featuring 12 American and Indian artists. Venues include: Birla Academy of Art & Culture, Kolkata and the Indira Gandhi Center for the Arts, Delhi, India; Loyola University Museum of Art, Chicago, IL; Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, CA.
1990 – 94 Organized & executed annual exhibitions for the Chicago Photographic Print Fair
1975 – 82 Arranged over 30 exhibitions of children's photography locally, nationally and internationally, including Appalshop, Whitesberg, KY; Ponce, Puerto Rico, and Edinburgh, Scotland.
PRESENTATIONS, WORKSHOPS, LECTURES
2013 – Following the Box: Exploring an Anonymous Archive of Photographs from India. Numerous presentations in India including: Kala Ghoda Festival of the Arts, Mumbai; Victoria Memorial Hall, India Institute of Management's Carpe Diem Festival, Modern High School for Girls, American Center, U.S. Consulate, Kolkata; Fulbright Regional Conference, Chennai; University of Chicago Center, Indira Gandhi Center for the Arts, Delhi and others. In the US: Field Museum of Natural History and Loyola University Museum of Art, Chicago, IL; Indiana University, Bloomington, ID; Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, CA, as well as numerous presentations at local venues in the Chicago area.
2012 Participant in international conference: Making Histories – Recreating Memories. Do We Build Monuments in Order to Forget? DOX Center for Contemporary Art, Prague, Czech Republic.
2011 Panel member: Cultural Migration. Identity and Assimilation from a Cultural Perspective, Consulate of the Czech Republic, Chicago
2008 – Screened Never Turning Back, The World of Peggy Lipschutz at numerous venues and community centers in the Chicago area including: Old Town School of Folk Music; various churches and libraries; the Ethical Humanist Society; Noyes Cultural Arts Center; Aging Well Conference, among others. Film festivals include: Talking Pictures Film Festival, Evanston IL; Rochester Labor Series, Rochester, NY; DC Labor Film Festival; ReelHeart International Film Festival, Toronto, Ontario; SSG Summer Shorts, Beverly Hills, CA; Buffalo-Niagara Film Festival, Peace on Earth Film Festival, Chicago; NY and Chicago United Film Festivals; IL International Film Festival, Chicago, among others; Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom, CUNY, NY.
1994 – Screened In the Shadow of Memory at numerous venues including: Locally: Facets Multimedia; Elmhurst College; Noyes Cultural Arts Center and other community centers, churches, libraries and synagogues. Nationally: Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust; Czech & Slovak Museum & Library, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Embassy of the Czech Republic, Washington DC; The Library of Congress, Washington DC, Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust, LA, CA as well as other educational and cultural institutions. Internationally: Lidice, Karlovy Vary and Prague, Czech Republic; Jerusalem, Israel; Bremen, Frankfurt and Berlin, Germany.
1990 – 94 Chaired several symposia on collecting photography as part of The Chicago Photographic Print Fair.
1982 – 94 In the Shadow of Memory: Panel member for a symposium on secondary trauma for the Institute for Clinical Social Work. Guest lecturer at Roosevelt University, about the Nazi destruction of Lidice.
1975 – 82 Numerous lectures, presentations and workshops on humanistic and alternative approaches to photography, the use of photography in the classroom, and teaching photography to hearing impaired children. Institutions include: Univ. of Illinois, Circle Campus; Columbia College Chicago; area high schools, elementary schools, and community centers. Conferences include: Society for Photographic Education (Midwest and National); Education for Change Conference; Arts and the Handicapped Conference; Photo Therapy Symposium.
PUBLICATIONS / MEDIA
2011 – 2014 Co-author of the blog Following the Box
2011 In the Shadow of Memory – A Study Guide. Alan Teller & Jerri Zbiral
1994 On Collecting Photography. Steve Daiter, Janet Ginsburg, Alan Teller & Jerri Zbiral
1990 Buffalo Horns & Shaking Bells: My Friendship With A Hmong Shaman. Shaman's Drum. Winter, 1990-91
1990 Daleko od Doma (Far from Home). Ceskoslovenska Fotografie #4. April 1990 Panorama, Prague, Czechoslovakia
1986 Hmong Life in Chicago: Seven Photographs. The Hmong World I. B. Johns and D. Strecker, eds. Council on Southeast Asia Studies, Yale Center for International and Area Studies, New Haven
1981 Creative Observations, Photography with Hearing Impaired Children. Jerri Zbiral and Carol Woodworth. Teaching Photography. T. Neff and T. Frederick, eds., Univ. of Colorado, Denver, CO
PUBLICATIONS / MEDIA ABOUT
Interview on WTTW Chicago’s PBS station. 8/1/18
Reclaimed Art Steals the Spotlight. Chicago Tribune. 7/6/18
Interview on WBEZ/NPR by Jerome McDonnell. 7/6/18
Artists Respond to WWII Photos of Bengal by Unknown American. India Post. 7/13/18
US Couple Follows ‘the Box’, and Their Hearts, to Bengal. Times of India. 2/11/15
Bongrong. 2/16/15
Matters of Art. 2/23/15
Shubham Samoyakee Magazine (Bangla). 3/15
‘Following the Box’ is an Unusual and Refreshing Exhibition. Hindustan Times. 3/2/15
Works Inspired by Box of Pictures. The Telegraph. 3/2/15
Following the Box. ABP 3/5/15
Puzzles Inside a Box. The Telegraph. 3/7/15
Out of the Box. India Today Magazine. 3/9/15
Stories Spill Out of a Box in Search of Lensman. The Telegraph. 4/7/15
An Arty Adventure. The Indian Express. 4/22/15
“Camera Cholche” Bengali StateTelevision interview. 3/3/15
Trail of Photos Offers a Passage to India. Gulf News. 5/13/15
American Couple Chases Shoebox to Unravel Bengal Mystery. India Tribune. 5/19/15
Horrors of the Holocaust. The Telegraph. 5/ 31/15
City’s History Through the Eyes of American Photographers. Hindustan Times. 2/16/14
A Box of Pictures & Lost Tales. The Telegraph. 2/26/14
Couple on Clue Chase Track Photo Sites. The Telegraph. 3/3/14
American Couple Follow the Trail of the Box to Bengal’s Past. Business Economics Magazine. 4/1/14
How a Mysterious Box of Photographs Sent an Evanston Couple Halfway Around the World. The Chicago Reader. 8/28/14
Lidicke Zeny na Matku Zarily. Lidove Noviny. June 11, 2012
Jerri Zbiral: Finding a New Path to Lidice. Radio Prague, Cesky Roshlas. May 8, 2012
Documenting the Memories of Czech and Slovak Americans. Slovo Magazine. Summer, 2011
Oral History participant for the National Czech & Slovak Museum and Library. Nov. 3, 2010
Performance Artist. Chicago Sun Times. Dec. 2008
Art Activist’s Film Screened. Evanston Review. Nov. 2008
88 Year Old Activist-Artist Inspired Documentary. Evanston Roundtable, Jan. 2007
Song Pictures. Sing Out, Fall 2006
Cruel World – The Children of Europe in the Nazi Web. Lynn H. Nicholas. Alfred Knopf. 2005
Eye-Opener aus Bremen (Eye opener in Bremen). die tageszeitung, Bremen, Germany, May 11, 2002
“Und dann bombardierte meim Sohn Hamburg” (“And my son bombed Hamburg”). Weser Kurier, Bremen, Germany, May 11, 2002
Indelible Shadows – Film and the Holocaust. Annette Insdorf. Cambridge University Press. 2002
From Pain Emerges Works of Art. Evanston Review, October 25, 2001
In Memory's Shadow. The Jewish Journal, May 29, 1998
Documenting the Demons of Childhood. Chicago Tribune, June, 1996
Lidice Revisited. Evanston Clarion, June 1996
Reel Life: Memories of a Massacre. Chicago Reader, April, 1996
Filmmakers Document a Nazi Atrocity. Evanston Review, April 1996
Jerri Zbiral & Alan Teller in Conversation with Studs Terkel. WFMT Radio. April 1996
Lidice Privezla do Ameriky Zena (Lidice Brought a Woman to America). Blesk, Prague, Czech Republic, Oct. 1995
Jerri Zbiral: Living the Legacy of Lidice. The Prague Post, Prague, Czech Republic, Oct., 1995
Interviewed by Bob Edwards on National Public Radio's Morning Edition. 1995
Lidice Film Documents Holocaust. Screen Magazine, August 1992
A Passion for Photos. Evanston Review. April 9, 1992
Uptown Hmongs Are Exhibit Topic. Chicago Sun Times, Sept. 1983
Hmong Family Portrait. Uptown News, Lerner Newspaper, Aug. 1983
Photographs From a Youthful But Silent World. Chicago Sun-Times, June, 1980
Deaf Kids Develop. Chicago Sun Times, June 1980
Photography Helps Children Focus on Their Silent World. Chicago Tribune, June 1979
Community Photography Programs. Time-Life Photography Annual, 1978
Public Art Workshop Photography Program. Popular Photography, May 1978
Breaking Down Photography's Elitist Image. Chicago Daily News 'Sidetracks', Jan. 1978
New View? It's a Snap! Chicago Sun Times, April 1976
Community Photography Workshop. New Art Examiner, April 1976
Women Photographers from Quebec. OVO Magazine, Montreal, Sept./Oct. 1974
Pictures of Life & Imagination. The Montreal Gazette, Nov. 1973
Le Sourire du Cree. (The Smile of the Cree). La Presse, Montreal, Nov. 1973
Trois Expos. (Three Exhibits). Le Devoir, Montreal, Nov. 1973
GRANTS, AWARDS, HONORS
Awards / Honors for: Following the Box
2015 Official Selection, NY Indian Film Festival
Official Selection, Chicago South-East Asian Film Festival
Awards / Honors for: Never Turning Back, The World of Peggy Lipschutz:
2010 Best Documentary Short, IL International Film Festival
Official Selection, Peace on Earth Film Festival
2009 CINE Golden Eagle Award
Official Selection, Rochester Labor Film Festival
Official Selection, ReelHeart International Film Festival
Official Selection, DC Labor Labor Film Festival
Official Selection, Buffalo/Niagara Film Festival
Official Selection, Chicago & NY United Film Festival
Awards / Honors for: In the Shadow of Memory:
2002 Award of Excellence, Documentary Division, The Communicator Awards,
1999 CINE Golden Eagle Award
Official Selection, Karlovy Vary Film Festival, Czech Republic
1998 Finalist, Jerusalem Film Festival, Israel
1998 Bronze Award, Documentary Division, Worldfest Int. Film Festival, Flagstaff, AZ
2006 – 2009 Raised over $50,000 for Never Turning Back, The World of Peggy Lipschutz. Except for a small grant from the Evanston Arts Council, all funds for the film were raised through private contributions.
1992 – 99 Raised over $60,000 for In the Shadow of Memory, from private contributions, corporations, foundations, and government agencies, including the Illinois Arts Council, Evanston Arts Council, Women in Film Foundation, and others.
1990 – 94 Over $20,000 raised from corporate & private foundations for visiting artists for The Chicago Photographic Print Fair
1986 Illinois Arts Council Artist's Fellowship
1982 – 83 The Chicago Council on Fine Arts Photography Fellowship
1973 – 82 Over 30 grants to fund community photography programs. Granting institutions include: Illinois Arts Council; Chicago Council on Fine Arts; National Endowment for the Arts, Illinois Humanities Council. Corporate Foundations include: Borg Warner; Allstate; Continental Bank; Playboy Foundation; Polaroid
1971 – 72 The Canada Council Arts Bursary. Two grants to do a photo documentation of the Cree Indian village of Fort George, Quebec
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATION
2017 – 19 Member, Chicago Women’s Caucus for Art
2005 – Member, Czech & Slovak Society of Arts & Sciences
2003 – 05 Board member, Chicago Jewish Women’s Center
1973 – 90 Member, Society for Photographic Education. Mid-west board member: 1978-80