A BFA graduate of Fiber Art at the Kansas City Art Institute (08) Jacob returned home to New Orleans with a new passion for textile, wearable, and green art. Jacob’s art celebrates the rebirth of materials down to the molecule and the joy in life. Missing the sense of community and collaboration that he experienced in school, he decided to purchase a large Katrina ravaged building in New Orleans’ Bywater and, with a lot of hard work and generous help, turned it into what became the Aquarium Gallery and Studios. In 2016 the building was almost entirely destroyed by a large fire. The very next day, Jacob started rebuilding with help from his community. During the rebuilding process, finding himself without a home or studio, Jacob started the performance group The Flaming Flagettes, opening a new arena for artistic instincts and costume-making. With the Aquarium Gallery and Studios reopened with 11 studios, a gallery and artist residency, Jacob Reptile continues to nurture the skills in collaboration and community-building that he discovered in himself due to necessity, while also renewing focus on fiber art inspired by nature that brings much needed joy but highlights different environmental problems. Inspired by the cultural phenomenons of legendary species, garbage, and the myth of recycling, Jacob Reptile creates worlds from waste. Society demonizes trash and many other things we don’t understand, rather than see potential. We’ve left a massive mess for the next generation. Our contribution for radical change is to transform trash into beautiful beasts and safe spaces for audiences of all ages and abilities to experience art. EDUCATION2008 Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO, BFA in Fiber Art2004 New Orleans Center for Creative Art, New Orleans, LA, Visual Arts FEATURED EXHIBITIONS2026 “Crypto-Zoology”, Alabama Contemporary Art Center, Mobile, Al2025 Bayou Installation, JAMNOLA, New Orleans La2024 Mutant Menagerie, Calder Kamin and Jacob Reptile, LeMieux Galleries, New Orleans, La2024 SUPERNOVA, Light art Festival at Lafitte Greenway New Orleans, La2024 Tales Of The Cocktail, Fiber installation and Mural, J.W. Marriott, New Orleans La2024 Mural Assistant to Jasmine Zelaya, Meow Wolf, Houston, TX2024 "LOUISIANA WILDLIFE: WHERE Y’AT?,” Ogden Museum, New Orleans, La2023 “STAY CLEAR OF DITCHES,” Contemporary Art Center, New Orleans, La (Solo)2022 “Forever Green”, Aquarium Gallery, New Orleans, La (Solo)2021-22 "Trickle Down”, 5Press Gallery at N.O.C.C.A., New Orleans, La (Solo)2021 Mural Assistant to Jasmine Zelaya, Live Nation Worldwide, Inc & OMA NY for 713 Music Hall VIP Room at The Post, Houston, TX RESIDENCIES2025 Joan Mitchell Spring Residency, New Orleans, La2024 Artist and Sense of Place Residency, Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, LA2023 Contemporary Art Center, New Orleans, La