Today we’d like to introduce you to Jordan Funk.
Hi Jordan, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I had an early start to art thanks to my grandmother, who is a painter. She is a folk artist, and she would watch me after school while my mom worked. She would sit me down next to her in her studio or at the dining room table and give me a piece of wood and a set of paints and tell me to “start painting.” I never painted anything amazing, but I enjoyed it, and it was fun, and it held my attention. Throughout my childhood, I drew and painted and photographed, even though I was primarily focused on music. I even went into undergrad as a music student, but I changed my major to photography right before classes started and never looked back. That was a decade ago, and I’ve always been so glad I made that decision.
I went to Texas Woman’s University for my BFA, and went to the Rochester Institute of Technology for my MFA in Photography and Related Media. Getting an MFA during COVID was challenging, and I definitely graduated feeling a bit lost in terms of navigating life. Coming back to Denton, where I had done my BFA at TWU, really helped to heal my creative side. I started picking up my camera and working with Polaroids again, and things got easier.
I fundamentally believe that art cannot be made in a void. I wanted a community that was as passionate about making art as I was, and I wanted studio space. I wanted to know how to get into the “Art World,” but it felt impossible to enter. TWU has a fantastic community in its Visual Arts Division, but I wasn’t a student there anymore, and many of my current colleagues used to be my professors, so it felt difficult to find ways to reconnect with a community that I used to be very involved in. Helping with Dallas Photo Workshops, which meets monthly to teach photography workshops, was how I found the community I needed for where I am in life now, which is at the Cedars Union.
The Cedars Union is a non-profit arts incubator that helps support local artists by offering support, resources, and a community to be a part of. I am part of their Cohort Program, an 18-month residency that comes with studio space. I’m in Cohort 5, which started in February of 2025 and will conclude in August of 2026. Being a member of Cohort 5 has been one of the most rewarding and life-changing things that has ever happened to me. I have met so many amazing artists and people, and having studio space and support from other artists in the community has been so impactful on my own artistic practice. I can’t emphasize enough how much their support has done for me.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Not even kind of. I don’t think art is typically made on smooth roads, anyways. It’s hard just to get out of bed and drink water some days. Other days the struggle is picking up the camera, or applying to the show, or submitting your work for review, or hitting send on an important email, or waiting for inspiration to come. Struggle is part of the art-making process, and it’s part of life. Not that accepting this fact makes it suck any less, but it is a part of being alive, and accepting it as such makes it feel less like a complete failure and more like a temporary setback.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I think I’m primarily known for my work with Polaroids among my community. I collect them, I make art with them, I experiment with them, and I wrote my thesis about them. Lately, my work has become more focused on the landscape and the land, and the ways that the earth is tied to images, and vice versa. Most recently, I am proud of being part of the 5th Cohort at the CU; the friends I’ve made and the incredible art I’ve been able to see and be around have been so impactful on my artistic practice.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
I’m not one for trying to predict the future, I’m just trying to find my footing in the present.
In general, life is tumultuous. More so now than it was a few years ago. I am very concerned about the rapid changes being made to legislation that affect my community, and I am also very concerned about the malignant growth of AI and how it encroaches more into the arts every month. I believe firmly in the power of community, and I try to recognize what is within my own control. I try to participate in art trades and give art to my loved ones, and continue the time-worn tradition of humans sharing and enjoying art. What gives me a lot of hope is the other people I see doing similar things, and that, more than anything, gives me some sort of light in a dark tunnel.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://jordanfunk.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jordan_nicole_funk/
Image Credits
Headshot by Sheryl Lanzel
