“Jane's exceptional insights and her remarkable ability to write with conciseness and clarity were instrumental in helping me articulate connections between various bodies of work while still preserving my voice. The resulting artist statement played an important role in my securing a recent grant. I cannot recommend Jane highly enough and I look forward to working with her again in the near future! “ - S. Hart, artist

“I am a Toronto based artist who reached out to Jane for assistance with my application to the ISCP residency in New York. She surpassed expectations by a mile! She combines sensitivity with rigor, finding a delicate balance that pushed me to be more specific without becoming too prescriptive in my writing. She is simply genius with editing and the thorny matter of word-counts, helping to succinctly get to the point with grace. On top of that, she is a delightful person to work with. Thanks, Jane! - Heather Nicol, ISCP recipient

"I hired Jane Ursula Harris to help write both general and specific statements; to conceptualize my work and edit my website content. The way she translates your thoughts in a statement is just brilliant. Her writing is essential and very powerful, and can be concise and poetic at the same time. I feel like I stepped forward as an artist because the work we did brought up meanings and potentials I wasn't aware of. She goes very deep into the process of trying to understand why you do what you do as an artist, sand you end up facing issues you would just avoid elaborating on. I always thought artistic choices have to come from a deep place, and through her writing and her help with mine I have gone even deeper.” - Marco Lando, photographer based in Italy

“Working with Jane Ursula Harris allowed me to find deeper clarity within my own artistic process. Her editing is concise without losing the vision of the statement. Her support, wit, and sharp eye has successfully aided me with so many writing projects and goals - including my MFA applications - and I look forward to continue working with her in the future. - MH Eskenazi, Whitney ISP

“Jane is awesome!  We worked with Jane on two grant application essays and she was instrumental in helping us get one. As visual artists, it is difficult at times to articulate a project or idea that has not yet materialized. Jane has this wonderful ability to cut through all the crazy run-on sentences and repeated fluff, and see exactly what we want to say. For artists like us, that is a true gift!  Jane is also so patient and understanding, able to work with quick turnaround times, and responded swiftly to any questions we had for her.” - Mary Magsamen and Stephan Hillerbrand (Hillerbrand+Magsamen), collaborative, Provost grant, University of Houston

“Four private consultation-studio sessions with Jane, in the midst of my launching a major new project, took me from a fragmented artist/self to feeling fully coherent. Jane is just super smart - she listens, she scrutinizes, she relishes in what she admires, and she gives gut feedback. She stitched together disparate parts, and with her extensive background in art history and theory she provided context. She gave me that very necessary push that I needed to get past the doubt I was feeling in beginning something new.  Jane helps to conceptualize, she gave voice to my collaborators, and she assisted in the writing of an eloquent statement. She offered me the long view and although she is a writer I feel like I am with a visual artist when she is in the studio because of her range of sensibilities - both intellectual and tactile.” - Marion Wilson, artist, National Endowment for the Arts grant recipient

“I hired Jane to help me edit text for a forthcoming book/video compilation on my work. Her assistance was instrumental. She was able to help me refine the vision by clarifying the content. I highly recommend working with her.” - Michelle Handelman, filmmaker/artist, Guggenheim Fellow

“Working with Jane, I found myself adopting her rigorous personal standards. She doesn’t let generalizations slide and very kindly insisted I take my art and vision as seriously as I hoped others would. By encouraging me to continually excavate deeper, I found an intention and direction in my own work that I might have overlooked without Jane’s diamond-cutter’s eye.  And because of Jane I made it to the finals rounds of submissions for the Sundance Development Lab.” - Kevin Townley, writer, performer/actor, Joe’s Pub, Little Shubert, Abingdon, Men In Black 3, TV: The Following

“Jane Ursula Harris wrote about my work in an art magazine some years ago and it was a stroke of luck that I got to meet her. She is a scholarly and socially astute critic who fundamentally understands my work and what I do. Recently, Harris came to my rescue when I was trying to put words together for a complicated proposal that was difficult for me to articulate in writing. I saw her post offering a workshop on how to write an artist statement, for artists! I called her immediately. Funny that it feels like cheating to have a writer help write about what I know best. I love words and they are a part of my work, but I am not a writer. I needed my essay to express my sensibilities and the nuances of my vision in a succinct written format. Jane’s guidance lead me to submit a truthful, passionate and straightforward description of what I wanted to do. I write in my diary about my work but I don’t write for the public on a daily basis and it just makes sense to get a little help from those who translate art work into the written world. Thank You Jane Harris!” - xoxo E.V. Day, artist, Mary Boone, Rome Prize

“The workshop taught by Jane Ursula Harris was very informative and helpful on many levels, particularly its focus on the often dreaded “Artist Statement.” As a group we dissected and discussed each statement as a stand alone entity, only later to see it in tandem with the actual artwork of each participant. I recognized how an obvious function of the statement can easily fail. Does the artwork actually connect in vision and theme to the writing? Creating continuity and focus between the work and statement continues to be a vital process guiding me whenever I revisit my statement and/or assist a peer/ colleague.” - Jessica Stoller, artist, Pollock Krasner

“Jane is a brilliant writer, researcher, curator, and teacher. I feel like she knows everybody and sees everything. She has a super sharp eye on what is out there, and is genuinely supportive of so many artists. She listens attentively to artists, cares about what we do, and because of this, she knows how to best help us speak/write with eloquence about our work. She worked her magic on my statement in just a few hours, and it made a crucial difference!” Liz Collins, artist/designer, Venice Biennale 2024

“Jane Ursula Harris is the real deal. Her adept knowledge in art history as well as her in depth understanding of issues in contemporary art through a razor sharp lens, continues to make her an indispensable source for other writers and artists looking to improve their writing skills for proposals, grants and artist statements. I had the opportunity to work with her honing my statement for MFA applications, and found her professionalism and ability to discern subtleties within my own practice to be outstanding. Thank you Jane!”  - Elizabeth Insogna, artist, MFA Brooklyn College

“Working with Jane, on numerous occasions, writing several artists statements and proposals, has been an ineffable asset to my development as an artist. Her genuine interest, ability to focus and ask the right questions allowed me to look deeper into my work and understand my self from another perspective. Thank you, Jane! I am truly grateful.” - Olga Lamm, artist/designer

“I love working with Jane. She takes my draft, reads my mind, and clarifies the narrative so that it's compelling. She also manages to hang onto the voice so that it still sounds like me. I can't recommend her highly enough.” - Margie Livingston, artist 

“Prior to this workshop my attitude had always been “if you can explain your work in a statement then you might as well write a book instead of making an artwork.” But through working with Jane and other artists who were at different stages of their practice I learnt that the statement isn’t just a crutch for weak work but an important part of communicating your ideas. Creating artist statements has always been a difficult affair because of my fear of giving away too much information about the work and thus potentially ruining the viewer’s experience. With this workshop I have learnt how to make the artist statement something that compliments my work and actually enhances the viewer’s experience by organizing my ideas and conveying them in an engaging manner. Essentially I was able to look at everything holistically and establish a flow of continuity between the work and the artist statement.” - Teboho Lebakeng, artist, School of the Arts, University of Pretoria, South Africa

“I don't think I ever told you but I probably wouldn't have shown with Feature Gallery if it hadn't been for your workshop. So grateful for that especially.” - Kylin O’Brien, New York-based artist

“A special shout out and big thanks to Jane Ursula Harris and her workshop, "Conquering the Artist Statement." Any artist, school or gallery would be lucky to partake in her insight, wit and heart--a true contribution to writing and art. Thanks Jane, for keeping it real and kicking ass.” - Julie Paveglio, New York-based artist

“I recently took Jane Ursula Harris’ workshop and got so much out of it on so many levels. First of all it helped me organize my ideas about my art work in a personal manner with engaging language. I already had a statement but in the class I rewrote it with the help of Jane and with the feedback of the students. The end result was much more authentic, current, punchy, visual and effective.  Shortly after Harris’ workshop, I curated a group exhibition in Chelsea featuring my work and that of others, and my perfected Artist Statement from Harris’ workshop was very instrumental in the planning of this show, its press release, etc. I also made great contacts and friends in this course, which attracted high caliber artists with whom I was pleased to engage.” -  Rebecca Haskins, MFA St. Martins, London

“At this point in my painting career I have been feeling an ever growing need to communicate with others and your workshop hits the spot. I genuinely appreciate what you are doing and this has been a very refreshing experience for me. Believe or not, it took a quite a lot of courage for me to come out of my studio and talk about my paintings. I am glad I did, and it means a lot to me. Thank you.” -  Suhee Wooh, Pollock-Krasner grant