We have been incredibly fortunate to have had Jane Farver as a professor, and more importantly, known her as a person. With only 8 students, we have felt more like a family than simply a group of students. Just last week, we had a “family” lunch at Ikea, telling stories and talking about the artist Michael Joo, whose studio we had visited earlier in the day. The most remarkable aspect of Jane was her enthusiasm for everyone and everything. Even with her immense amount of experience, she still approached each artist and artwork with an open mind and was always curious to learn more. Every week she took us to see different highly respected individuals from the art world that she had worked with before they achieved their current level of success.
Jane gave everyone a chance, and never rushed to make judgments. She was an esteemed curator, and dedicated herself to her work and those around her, working on the Venice Biennale with Joan Jonas until the very end. Regardless of her enormous success, she was always humble and down-to-earth. Jane was kind, wise, and genuine. She also curated shows that she truly believed in – shows that were revolutionary and that she passionately believed in. She spoke to us about the hard questions – the things that no one talked about, such as the financial aspects of being an artist and the difficulties of breaking through as a young artist. Every week, she gave us a list of five different shows to visit and made sure to see all of them herself. She made time for everyone and everything. Her hope was that if we saw even one work or artist that we liked each week, then it was worth the trip. Jane wanted us to see as much as we possibly could, and allowed us to take advantage of the city in every way we could. She sincerely hoped for the best for everyone and taught us to reach for the impossible. She pushed us to be the very best we could be. Jane attended every studio critique that we had, even though she had no obligation to do so. When we doubted ourselves and our work, she said that “if we don’t make, it no one else will.” She was always the voice of reason, compassion, and advice, helping us find the answers when we were frustrated and confused. She introduced us to people we would have never have had the ability to meet and asked questions in our favor. She gave everything for her students, and we are eternally grateful for all that she has done for us and the artistic community. We have been so lucky to have the privilege to know her. We miss Jane very dearly, and we will ensure that her legacy will go on.
Jane, thank you for everything. You have been a true inspiration.
Yuxi Xiao, Pauline Shongov, Veronica Constable, Anna Warfield, Rebecca Allen, Rachel Redhead, Mariko Azis, Tiffany Li
Missing Jane Farver, Wish she was here!!