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Selected Solo Exhibitions

2027 | Untitled | Gadsden Museum of Art | Gadsden, AL

Untitled | Johnson Center for the Arts | Troy, AL

2026 | PRESENCE | Eastern Shore Arts Center | Fairhope, AL

Untitled | Lowe Mill Arts | Huntsville, AL

Selected Works | Osher Life Long Learning Institute at Auburn University | Auburn, AL

2025 | SHELTER | The Studios of Key West | Key West, FL

SHELTER | Carnegie Visual Arts Center | Decatur, AL

2024 | SHELTER | The University of Alabama Gallery | Tuscaloosa, AL

rabbit, rabbit | Central Library | Birmingham, AL

2022 | Absolute Rest | International Arts Center at Troy University |Troy, AL

2020 | Portrait of a Juke Joint | Gammill Gallery, University of Mississippi | Oxford, MS

Selected Group Exhibitions

2026 | Made Here Alabama Visual Arts Network exhibit | Carnegie Visual Arts Center | Decatur, AL

2025 | HOME biennial exhibit | Montgomery Museum of Fine Art | Montgomery, AL

Southland | Ogden Museum of Southern Art | New Orleans, LA

Faculty Exhibition | International Arts Center | Troy, AL

2023 | Highway 61: Traveling America’s Music Highway | GRAMMY Museum Mississippi | Cleveland, MS
featured photographer at Les Nuits Photographiques de Pierrevert | Pierrevert, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France

Alabama A to Z biennial exhibit | Montgomery Museum of Fine Art | Montgomery, AL

Montgomery Photo Festival | Stonehenge Gallery | Montgomery, AL

2022 | Currents | Ogden Museum of Southern Art | New Orleans, LA

Photographic Nights of Selma | Selma, AL

Louisiana Biennial | Louisiana Tech University | Ruston, LA

2021 | Mississippi Invitational | Mississippi Museum of Art | Jackson, MS

Sorry We Missed You | Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art | Portland, ME

Southbound: Photographs of and about the New South | Lake City Creative Alliance | Lake City, SC

2020 | Four Artists | The Museum of the Mississippi Delta | Greenwood, MS

Biennial (in collaboration with Elyse Noelani Grams) | Center for Maine Contemporary Art | Rockland, ME

Southbound: Photographs of and about the New South | LSU Museum of Art | Louisiana State University | Baton Rouge, LA

Southbound: Photographs of and about the New South | The Mississippi Arts & Entertainment Experience | Meridian, MS

Southbound: Photographs of and about the New South | Hunter Museum of American Art | Chattanooga, TN

2019 | Poverty & Privilege | William J Clinton Presidential Library and Museum | Little Rock, AR

Southbound: Photographs of and about the New South | Power Plant Gallery | Duke University | Durham, NC

Southbound: Photographs of and about the New South | Gregg Museum of Art & Design | NC State University | Raleigh, NC

2018 | Southbound: Photographs of and about the New South | Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art | Charleston, SC

2017 | Faculty Exhibition | Delta State University | Cleveland, MS

2016 | Slow Exposures | Concord, GA

Faculty Show | Delta State University | Cleveland, MS

2015 | Faculty Show | Delta State University | Cleveland, MS

2014 | Faculty Show | Delta State University | Cleveland, MS

The Art of Delta State University | Northwest Community College | Senatobia, MS

2012 | Slow Exposures | Concord, GA

2011 | Slow Exposures | Concord, GA

Collections

Ogden Museum of Art

Linn-Henley Research & Birmingham Public Library

Awards & Nominations

2025 | Mellon Foundation & Troy University | Mellon Foundation Honors Faculty Fellowship

2024 | Alabama State Council on the Arts | FY25 Media / Photography Artist Fellowship

2023 | Alabama A to Z | Richard Mills Award

2022 | Photographic Nights of Selma | Juror’s Award

2021 | Mississippi Institute for Arts & Letters | Excellence in Photography nominee

2020 | Mississippi Institute for Arts & Letters | Excellence in Photography winner

2006 | Mississippi Institute for Arts & Letters | Excellence in Photography nominee

Publications

2019 | Po’ Monkey’s: Portrait of a Juke Joint | University Press of Mississippi | author

2017 | The Artist’s Sketch: A Biography of Painter Kate Freeman Clark | University Press of Mississippi | photography & prepress

2015 | Bright Fields: The Mastery of Marie Hull | University Press of Mississippi | photography director

Education

2021 | University of Mississippi | MA Journalism | Oxford, MS

2020 | Maine College of Art | MFA Studio Art | Portland, ME

1994 | Millsaps College | BA Spanish | Jackson, MS

Additional Education

2019 | National Association for Interpretation | Certification Workshop | Little Rock, AR

2019 | National Park Service | Interpretation, Education, and Storytelling | Jacksonville, FL

2017 | Delta Music Institute | Pro Tools audio software certification | Cleveland, MS

Professional Experience

2024 - Present | Director | Huo Bau Zhu Gallery at Troy University | Troy, AL

2021 - Present | Asst. Professor of Art & Design |Troy, University | Troy, AL

2021 - 2024 | Asst. Director | Huo Bau Zhu Gallery at Troy University | Troy, AL

2019 - 2024 | Executive Director | Jacks Farms Artist Residencies | Cleveland, MS

2019 - 2021| Program Manager | Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area | Cleveland, MS

2018 -2019 | Digital Media Advisor | Delta State University | Cleveland, MS

2016 - 2019 | Communications Consultant | Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area | Cleveland, MS

2016 - 2019 | Communications Consultant | Delta Center for Culture and Learning | Cleveland, MS

2015 - 2018 | Adjunct Instructor of Art | Delta State University | Cleveland, MS

2014 - 2017 | Adjunct Instructor of Journalism | University of Mississippi | Oxford, MS

2014 | Visiting Instructor of Photography | Delta State University | Cleveland, MS

1997 - present | Freelance Photographer & Filmmaker | wiljax, Inc. | Troy, AL

Selected Press

2024 | The Crimson White | https://thecrimsonwhite.com/116098/culture/the-university-of-alabama-gallery-shows-shelter-by-will-jacks/

Troy Today | https://today.troy.edu/faculty-staff/troy-universitys-will-jacks-awarded-fellowship-by-alabama-state-council-on-the-arts/

Birmingham Public Library | https://bplolinenews.blogspot.com/2024/06/exhibition-of-artwork-by-new-asca.html

University of Alabama Gallery | https://uagallery.barefield.ua.edu/past-exhibits/shelter-will-jacks/

2022 | The Troy Messenger | https://www.troymessenger.com/2022/03/09/will-jacks-photography-exhibit-on-display-at-international-center-for-the-arts/

WTVY | https://www.wtvy.com/2022/02/28/thursday-reception-set-will-jacks-absolute-rest-exhibit-troys-international-arts-center/

2019 | Garden & Gun | https://gardenandgun.com/articles/portraits-delta-gem-po-monkeys/

Clarion Ledger | https://msbookspage.wordpress.com/2019/10/07/author-q-a-with-will-jacks/

Blues.gr | https://blues.gr/profiles/blogs/q-a-with-photographer-will-jacks-documented-the-lively-nightlife-

2017 | Mississippi Folk Life | http://www.mississippifolklife.org/photo-essays/remembering-po-monkeys-lounge

2016 | Lenscratch | http://lenscratch.com/2016/12/will-jacks-the-states-project-mississippi/

Interviews & Media Appearances

2025 | Troy TrojanVision (One on One) | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8h9j9359QY

2020 | Mississippi Arts & Entertainment Experience | https://fb.watch/2bwYEMkQt5/

2019 | Mississippi Arts Hour | http://msartshour.mpbonline.org/episodes/the-mississippi-arts-hour-will-jacks

Mississippi Civil Rights Museum | https://www.facebook.com/MDAHOfficial/videos/512457062910683/

2013 | The Candid Frame | http://thecandidframe.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-candid-frame-188-will-jax.html?q=will+jacks

Grants & External Funding

2025 | Alabama State Council on the Arts | Troy University Artist Residency / Spring Arts Series | $13,000 | Collaborator: Sara Dismukes

TROY University | TROY University Research Grant | $4,000

Alabama State Council on the Arts | Troy University Winter Rusiloski / Angel Fernandez Exhibit | $10,000

2024 | Alabama State Council on the Arts | Troy University Artist Residency / Spring Arts Series | $11,000 | Collaborator: Sara Dismukes

TROY University | Conference Paper Grant | $1,000

2023 | Alabama State Council on the Arts | Troy University Artist Residency | $7,100 | Collaborator: Sara Dismukes

TROY University | TROY University Paper Grant | $1,000

Presentations, Panels & Invited Lectures

2026 | SECAC | Collaborating with the Archive: Experiential Art History, Collecting, and Regional Memory | Winston-Salem, NC

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at Auburn University | From Analog to Digital and Back: A Journey in Photography |

Auburn, AL

2025 | SECAC | Exploring Beyond the Negative: The Materiality of Photography | Cincinnati, OH

College Art Association (CAA) Annual Conference | Learning to Explore: How the Darkroom Serves as More Than a Space for

Making Photos | New York, NY

2024 | Mid-America College Art Association (MACAA) | Experiential Learning: Blending the Classroom and the Community to Create

Opportunities for Students and Faculty | Auburn, AL

Mid-America College Art Association (MACAA) | Graduate Mentor Roundtable | Auburn, AL

2023 | Photographic Nights of Selma | From the Darkroom to the Daylight: Building a Photography Program in the Digital Age |

Selma, AL

Foundations in Art: Theory and Education (FATE) | From the Darkroom to the Daylight: Rethinking Intro to Photography |

Denver, CO

2022 | SECAC | The Importance of Combining Conceptual Concepts with Technical Training | Baltimore, MD

Maple Leaf and Eagle Conference | An Island of Trees Called Old Hickory: History and Memory in the Mississippi Delta |

Helsinki, Finland | Collaborator: Brian Dempsey

University Courses Taught

Mulitmedia Storytelling

Advanced Digital

Collaboration & Concept

Intro to Analog Photography

Documentary Photography

Museum Studies

Intro to Analog Photography

Documenting the Blues

Art & Culture

Advanced Darkroom

Live Music Video Recording and Production

History of Photography

Stop Motion Animation

Photojournalism

Art & Business

Large Format Photography

Lighting for Photography

Video Production

Intro to 2d Design

Intro to Adobe Software

Sound & Media