Jen Bekman

Jen Bekman is a gallerist, entrepreneur and writer. A native New Yorkershe attended Stuyvesant High School and Hunter CollegeJen opened her eponymous gallery on Manhattans Lower East Side in 2003 and founded Jen Bekman Projects in 2007. She began her career directing community and editorial efforts for groundbreaking internet companies such as New York Online, Electric Minds and Netscape. Jen went on to oversee interactive programming efforts at Disney/GO Networks in San Francisco. In 2000, she moved back to New York City and continued her internet career as the Chief Creative Officer at an AOL-funded streaming video company and then later at Meetup, where she was the VP of User Development. When she opened Jen Bekman Gallery, Jens internet experience, integral to her PR and marketing strategy, and her fresh perspective on the art world helped the gallery quickly establish itself as an exciting, unique space with a critically acclaimed program, focusing on emerging artists and innovative group shows. The gallery would later become the flagship of Jen Bekman Projects, a network of ventures with the mission of bringing the value and joy of collecting art to a dramatically wider audience than has ever been possible. JBP also includes 20x200, an e-commerce site offering curated, affordable limited-edition prints, and the critically acclaimed international photo competition Hey, Hot Shot! which discovers, recognizes and promotes photographers at all stages of their careers. In January of 2007, American Photo named Jen an Innovator of the Year. In 2008, the Griffin Museum of Photography honored her with the Rising Star Award. In April 2010, she was named one of Fast Companys Most Influential Women in Technology. In October 2010, Jen and 20x200 were profiled by American Express OPEN forum: Small Business Rules. Jen frequently makes public appearances, participating in panels and portfolio reviews and leading seminars. She has spoken at SXSW, Web 2.0 Expo, the AIGA annual conference and reviewed portfolios at Fotofest Paris, Review Santa Fe, Parsons, The New York Foundation for the Arts, PhotoExpo and the Minnesota Center for Photography. She juried the 30th Anniversary Members Exhibition for the Photographic Resource Center at Boston University and has participated in the Mentors Program at the School of Visual Arts for several years. She served on the advisory board for 25 for 25: The AOL Grant Program, in which twenty-five $25,000 grants were awarded to artists, journalists and creative minds. The founding editor of the design blog Unbeige and this blog, Personism, Jen maintains an active presence on both Twitter and Tumblr.