About

Jill Thayer intrerviews John Frame in Wrightwood, California for “In Their Own Words: Oral Histories of CGU Art.” Photo by January Parkos Arnall, 2011.

As a curatorial archivist, Dr. Jill Thayer brings insight to the contemporary dialogue by exploring the narratives of people and their contributions to the culture.

In 2011, Thayer received her doctorate in Cultural Studies with emphases in Museum Studies from Claremont Graduate University in the areas of Exhibition Theory, Contemporary Art History, Design Theory, and Visual Culture. This included a  transdisciplinary study in Global Strategy and Trade at St. Peter’s College, Oxford University, UK with Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management  exploring the effects of European Union expansion on artistic creation, commerce, and culture. The work informed her dissertation, “Artist Emergence in Contemporary Culture: A Dialectic of Social and Material Conditions of Southern California Artists” (ProQuest/UMI). 

Thayer was invited to produce and compile a post-doctoral oral history project for Claremont Graduate University School of Arts and Humanities. The interviews document the careers of CGU Art Alumni, Professors, and Professors Emeritus including: Karl Benjamin, Roland Reiss, Michael Brewster, Connie Zehr, Mowry Baden, Ted Kerzie, and John Frame. The yearlong project resulted in over 30 hours of digitally-recorded interviews and 900 transcribed pages. Dr. January Parkos Arnall contributed photography to the series. In Fall 2012, Thayer curated “In Their Own Words: Oral Histories of CGU Art,” an interactive, multi-media exhibition at CGU East and Peggy Phelps Galleries (Sept. 4-21, 2013). The audio and textual narratives are included in Archives of American Art at The Smithsonian Institution.

As adjunct faculty, Dr. Thayer teaches online courses in Art History at Santa Monica College in Art Appreciation: Global Visual Culture. She is an instructor for the Certificate in Visual Communication and Web Design programs offering professional design seminars through universities nationally. She is adjunct faculty for National University School of Business and Management, La Jolla; Strategic Communications MA, Department of Arts and Humanities in the College of Letters and Sciences, San Diego; and School of Professional Practice, Digital Journalism, San Diego. Dr. Thayer teaches online and blended courses in: Business Knowledge Management Strategies, Global Marketing, Services Marketing, Integrated Marketing Communications, Consumer Behavior, Marketing Management, Public Relations, and Content Development.

As an artist, designer, and marketing strategist, she produces visual communication in print and web for regional and global companies. Thayer is contributing writer for Artpulse, ArtsDisctrict, and Artvoices magazines. She works in tandem with academic and art institutions to develop education and cultural awareness in the Arts. 

For more information, contact Jill Thayer, Ph.D. at: jill@jillthayer.com or 661 428 4611, or visit: www.jillthayer.wordpress.com; www.jillthayer.com; www.linkedin.com/in/jillthayer.