Jessina Lynn Leonard
based in Providence, RI
b. 1992, USA

Jessina Lynn Leonard is an interdisciplinary artist working across photography, writing, bookmaking and sculpture. Her work and research explores the intersection of religion, gender, power and the limits of human knowledge. She graduated with a MA in religious studies from Duke University in 2015 and an MFA in photography with distinction from Rhode Island School of Design in 2020, where she was the recipient of the Henry Wolf Award for Photographic Excellence. In 2021-2022, she received a Fulbright Study/Research Award to Germany. She has exhibited her work at SomoS Art House (Berlin), ClampArt (NYC), A.R.E.A. Gallery (Boston), and the RISD Museum (Providence), among other places. She has taught visual literacy courses in Durham Public Schools (NC) and at Project Open Door (RI) and currently serves as faculty at Rhode Island School of Design and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University.

also @ Saint Agnes Studio


Education

MFA with Distinction, Photography, Rhode Island School of Design, 2020
MA, Religious Studies, Duke University, 2015
BA, Studio Art, Wheaton College, 2014


Awards & Residencies

Faculty Fellow, Teaching & Learning Lab, Rhode Island School of Design, 2025
Part-Time Faculty Technical Fund Award, Rhode Island School of Design, 2023
Laimun Residency, Sardinia, Italy, October 2023
HewnOaks Artist Residency with Amber Byrne Mahoney, Lovell, ME, July 2023
Fulbright Study/Research Award, Bauhaus Universität, Weimar, Germany, 2021–2022
Artist Residency, SOMOS Art House, Berlin, Germany, 2022
Finalist, Critical Mass Top 200, 2021
Artist Relief Fund, Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, 2021
Librarian’s Choice Award + Purchase Prize, 6th Baker and Whitehill Artist Book Contest, Fleet Library, 2020
Henry Wolf Award for Photographic Excellence, Rhode Island School of Design, 2019
Artist Residency, Studio for Art, Faith, & History, Orvieto, Italy, July 2019
Artist Residency, Merrit Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, FL, June 2019
Harvey Fellowship, Mustard Seed Foundation, 2019
Graduate Assistantship, Rhode Island School of Design, 2018-2020
Graduate Fellowship, Rhode Island School of Design, 2018-2020
Houck and K.B. Medford Scholarship in Photography, Penland School of Crafts, 2018


Selected Exhibitions

PHOTO/FACULTY, Photographic Resource Center, Boston, MA, 2025
New SMFA Faculty Showcase, Vol. 1, Tufts University Art Galleries, Boston, MA, 2024
Solo Exhibition: First Sweet Truth, SOMOS Art House, Berlin, Germany, 2022
Solo Exhibition: First Sweet Truth, Kloster Helfta, Eisleben, Germany, 2022
By Eye: Women & Photobooks, RISD Fleet Library, Providence, RI, 2022
RISD Faculty Exhibition, RISD Museum, Providence, RI, 2021
Made Ground, Swale House, Governor’s Island, NY, 2021
Fade/Fail/Flow, Oranbeg Press, Online, 2021
Embracing Stillness, Humble Arts Foundation, Online, 2021
Solo Exhibition: AXIS, Resident Gallery, AS220, Providence, RI, 2021
RISD Grad Show, RISD Museum, Providence, RI, 2020
When I See Its Left Ear I Think He Had Heard Me, ClampArt, New York, NY, 2020
Shifting Sights, A. R. E. A. Gallery, Boston, MA, 2020
6th Baker and Whitehill Artist Book Contest, Fleet Library, Providence, RI, 2020
Another Final Frontier, Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, FL, 2019
Graduate Photography Biennial, Sol Koffler Gallery, Providence, RI, 2019
Envisioning Space, ISB Gallery, Providence, RI, 2019
________scapes, Gelman Gallery, RISD Museum, Providence, RI, 2019
Survived Arrival, Red Eye Gallery, Providence, RI, 2018
Solo Exhibition: The Weight We Leave Behind, Horse & Buggy Press, Durham, NC 2017
Unfolding, Monastery San Paulo, Orvieto, Italy, 2015
Solo Exhibition: After This Our Exile, Hansen Galleries, Wheaton, IL, 2014 
Torture Survivor Stories, Schneider Gallery, Chicago, IL, 2013
LoveTown, 1st Place Exhibit Winner, Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL, 2013
Grafted, Burning Bush Gallery, Wheaton, IL, 2013


Teaching

Part-Time Lecturer, School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, Boston, MA, 2023 – present
Visiting Faculty, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, 2019 – present
Adjunct, Lesley University, Cambridge, MA, 2022
Adjunct, Bryant University, Smithfield, RI, 2021
Adjunct, Endicott College, Beverly, MA, 2020


Curation

Tenth of a Second, Machines with Magnets, Providence, RI, 2023
The Transformation of Silence, Dirt Palace, Providence, RI, 2020
I Don’t Feel at Home in this World Anymore, Sol Koffler Gallery, Providence, RI, 2019
Ekphrasis: Eight Artists Respond to Images from the History of Photography, Cassilhaus, Chapel Hill, NC, 2018
Relative Distance: Keliy Anderson-Staley & Susan Worsham, Kontek Systems, Durham, NC, 2016


Bibliography

“Practicing What They Teach: Faculty Work on Display at the Photographic Resource Center,” by Mark Feeney, The Boston Globe, April 9th, 2025
“RISD Photography Studio Explores Notions of Space and Time,” by Simone Solondz, Rhode Island School of Design, November 4th, 2024
“Three RISD Alumni Prepare for Fulbright Fellowships,” by Simone Solondz, Rhode Island School of Design, August 16th, 2021
Visiting Artist Lecture, County College of Morris, Randolph, NJ, November 2020
Goldenrod Editions Issue 01, Goldenrod Editions, November 2020
RISD Grad Show Publication, Rhode Island School of Design, August 2020
Panelist: Keeper of the Hearth, Fleet Library, Providence, RI, March 12, 2020
A New Nothing, In Conversation with Keavy Handley-Byrne, December 2, 2019 –present 
Vanessa Winship’s “Sweet Nothings,” How We See: Photobooks by Women, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, March 9, 2019
“‘I Measure God By Everything I Am Not:’ An Interview with Aaron Canipe,” The Other Journal, January 19, 2018
“Horse and Buggy Press is Moving,” by Brian Howe, IndyWeek, January 18, 2017