Jody Wood

ABOG Fellow for Socially Engaged Art


Jody Wood is an artist whose work is time-based and performative, utilizing video, installation, performance, and community organization to engage with socially charged content. Primarily focusing on transitional experiences of death, trauma, and social isolation, her work aims to unpack and meaningfully interpret these issues by working one-on-one with members of her community. Her work has been supported by organizations including Brooklyn Arts Council, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, and Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. She is a participant in the 2014 Open Engagement Conference at Queens Museum, and has presented collaborative community-based projects in NYC at El Museo Del Barrio, and in Seoul, South Korea at Temporary Space Artist Residency, Seoul Art Space Geumcheon, One-Circle Community Theatre, and the Senior Welfare Center of Seoul. Wood is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Pace University.

Jody Wood’s ABOG Fellowship supported her project, Beauty in Transition, by establishing a mobile beauty salon that served nine New York City homeless shelters over a period of three months. By providing beauty services, including a hair wash, cut, color, and style to willing participants, the project aimed to challenge the reductive label of homeless and give dignity back to participants during a challenging transitional period.

Beauty in Transition with Nahomie Marcena – Reports from the Field

Visit Jody Wood’s website

REPORTS FROM THE FIELD: BEAUTY IN TRANSITION – FEBRUARY 18, 2015

A conversation with Jody Wood and project participants Jerry Anderson, Joann Copeland, Nahomie Marcena, and Carol Thomas, moderated by ABOG Programs Director Elizabeth Grady.

Reports from the Field presents the voices of community participants and collaborators in ABOG Fellows’ socially engaged art projects, both in-person and online. Click here to explore ABOG’s public programs.

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Beauty in TransitionEconomic JusticeHousingJody WoodNYC