Jenny Zeller was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. Upon graduating with an Arts Administration degree from University of Kentucky in 1995, she moved to Key West, where she evolved as both artist and individual. During this formative time, Jenny served as director of two prominent art galleries, each with a focus in international arts and artifacts. In addition to overseeing all stateside operations, she traveled far off the beaten track to places such as Haiti, Africa and Indonesia in search of contemporary artwork, antique furniture and museum quality items, while cultivating her artistic voice through the photographic medium. Travel and process has continuously played prominent roles in her work.
Early in her career, she was named the Monroe County recipient of the South Florida Cultural Consortium Award for her documented images of Haiti, developed in the style of 19th century photographs. In 2001, this series was featured in New Artists, New Works at the Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art in West Palm Beach, Florida. She was awarded three Anne McKee Artist grants for various photographic projects in 2000, 2005 and 2009. In 2006, the Rodel Charitable Foundation of Key West awarded Jenny an extended artist residency at the Nantucket Island School of Design and the Arts.
After years of island living, Jenny returned to Louisville, in search of a life less career focused and more passion driven. Being named a 2014 Al Smith Fellowship Award recipient by the Kentucky Arts Council is a direct result of mindful and creative living. From 2013 to 2015, Jenny held the position of Photographer, Artist in Residence at St. Francis School, where she taught an elective photography course to high school students. In 2015 she moved from classroom to the community, teaching a variety of specialized workshops as well as private instruction in photography and photo mixed-media. Jenny is currently working with the Louisville Photo Biennial, helping to bring arts education to underserved communities in the Louisville Metro area. Her latest body of work, Luminiferous: Adventures in Metal was exhibited at the University of Alabama in Huntsville in March 2016. In 2017 she was awarded an Artist Professional Development Grant from the Great Meadows Foundation and a Regional Artist in Residence at Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest.
In July 2017, Jenny stepped into the role of Visual Arts Coordinator at Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest.
