Project InSECT

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Author/Artist/Educator

James Huebing-Reitinger James Reitinger was born in Wisconsin, USA in 1969. As a youngster, he loved building forts out of sticks and preferred playing with insects over store bought toys. His adventurous and tenacious spirit transferred into adulthood. With worldly travels and many professions behind him, James and his wife Jessa, founded Project InSECT in late 2002.

James Painting Bug Art As an artist and educator, James has developed a new frontier of educational programs focusing on art, insects, and conservation. His teaching methods incorporate humor and self awareness with live skits, props, and animated body language. His instruction style has had a great impact on people of all ages as James has created a fun way for people to learn. James’ educational programs are not limited to just the exhibition space or auditoriums filled with hundreds of students but also are incorporated into online programs that span the globe.

Illustrator/Artist/Educator

Photo by Stephen Locke

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.

Still from documentary by Bright Eye Features

As a live performance painter, Jessa accepts many challenges daily. Her creative aspirations have found her at center stage where the environment and focus changes from second to second. There is physical and mental pressure when painting microscopic details of an insect on an enormous canvas while balancing from a ladder in front of an audience. There is also great reward and joy when the audience interacts, learns, and understands something they haven’t seen before. With a combination of a subject that binds us as human beings and interaction with an audience who knows or cares little about them makes for a magical experience. The process and outcome of Jessa’s work has become full of life, thanks to the crazy idea of creating art for the sole purpose of education and conservation.

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