About AJ

**Bat with Pomegranate** (acrylic paint on panel and collaged paper)

Anna Jack (AJ) Shelburne is a highly accomplished interdisciplinary artist with a passion for problem-solving and a love for approaching art creation in innovative and multifaceted ways. They received their MFA in Visual Art from Boise State University in May 2017. AJ has extensive experience in various art mediums, including drawing, painting, printmaking, fibers, photography (analog and digital), ceramics, sculpture, design, and experimental media. AJ is also an experienced educator, having taught studio art since 2006 and in higher education since 2014. They are currently employed as a full-time art professor at Otero College in La Junta, Colorado, where they teach various courses, including Drawing, Painting, 2D Design, 3D Design, Art Appreciation, and Art History.

AJ’s artwork has been shown in over 35 national and international exhibitions and has won numerous juried awards, including "People's Choice" and "Best in Show." Their work has been selected to be a part of multiple permanent collections and catalogs, and they were the proud recipient of an Alexa Rose Foundation Grant. AJ earned three years of competitive Graduate Assistantships from Boise State University and was awarded a merit-based, four-year, full Trustee Scholarship and a spot in the Bascom Honors Program. AJ was nominated for the "Faculty of the Year" award by their department chair at Otero College during the 2021/2022 school year and again in the 2023/2024 school year. In 2024, in recognition of their outstanding teaching practices and service to the college through their involvement as Faculty Senate Vice President, and Faculty Advisor to the Art Club and Queer Collective, AJ won Faculty of the Year.

In addition to their artistic and educational pursuits, AJ is a nature enthusiast with a particular fondness for wild and domestic animals. They are an avid bird watcher and have 367 unique species of North American birds on their birding life list. They enjoy camping, hiking, reading, swimming, gardening, and spending time with their family and friends.

Contact: anna.matejcek@otero.edu