Biography

Janie Ritter is a graduate of George Mason University with a Bachelors of Arts degree in Art History and Clinical Psychology, and minors in Studio Art and Spanish. Dedicated to developing methods of audience engagement and making museum environments accessible to all persons, Ritter previously worked at the Artists in Middleburg in Middleburg, Virginia, the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, developing and expanding their education programs to welcome and educate visitors of all backgrounds and expertise. Ritter also served as the Programs Assistant with Justice Arts Coalition, a national non-profit working with incarcerated artists to exhibit their artwork in museum spaces across the U.S. In her belief that a work of art functions as an object of shared experiences, Ritter’s work at Justice Arts Coalition centered around preserving and archiving the artworks created in prison in order to share them with the free public and reunite incarcerated voices with their communities. While with Justice Arts Coalition, Ritter co-directed Prison Reimagined: Presidential Portrait Project (PRP3), the first art exhibition conceptualized from inside prison. Born and raised in the DMV, Ritter is delighted to serve Howard’s collection and community.