Jessa Huebing-Reitinger was born in Wisconsin in 1971. Her career as a visual artist began at the age of 12 with her first commission. In 1989, Jessa was accepted to the Kansas City Art Institute and in 1993 she graduated with a B.F.A. degree in painting.

In late 2002, God inspired Jessa with a vision to paint large robust portraits of insects using a specimen and a microscope. Her husband James Huebing-Reitinger, in support of the idea, thought the paintings should be executed and performed within a public space so the process of the paintings would become educational. The idea grew into an interactive and creative traveling exhibition that evolves on a daily basis through live performance. After teaming up with the Kansas State University Insect Zoo and Kansas University, Project InSECT was born. Our project began in May 2003 and has been exhibited within several science museums, zoos, art centers, botanical gardens, libraries, and universities all over the Midwest. It is estimated that Jessa and her husband have interacted with over 1 million people since the birth of Project InSECT, yet they continue to build the size of the exhibition within each location. This has led Jessa to produce 18 completed insect portraits in just 3 years, and has already been revered by many as the “John James Audubon of insects”. Recently, Jessa was invited into the elite WNAG (Worldwide Nature Artists Group) in recognition of her astounding work and project.