Jen is an arts and heritage curator and projects co-ordinator based in Birmingham, UK.
They are currently Projects Manager at Bertz Associates and Community Curator at Wolverhampton Art Gallery.
They graduated History of Art BA First Class with Hons from University of Birmingham in 2020, and History of Art MA Distinction from University of Birmingham in 2021. Their academic research explores the construction of gender in early photography.
During their time at University, Jen researched the little-known Birmingham photographer Lisel Haas, and presented their research paper ‘Lisel Haas: The Construction of Identity through Commercial Portrait Photography’ at the Another Eye conference in September 2020.
From August 2022 to August 2024, Jen was Exhibitions Co-ordinator at the RBSA Gallery in the Jewellery Quarter. They curated the RBSA Photography Prize 2023 Exhibition. In Autumn 2024, they were community curator on the ‘Your Art, Your City’ project at Wolverhampton Art Gallery.
Jen first worked with Bertz Associates as a research intern on Words and Walks: Women Between the Lines from Tower Ballroom to the Roundhouse. They co-presented the walk along with Iris Bertz. Jen began working as a Projects Assistant with Bertz Associates in Summer 2023, and became Projects Manager in early 2025. They are currently lead researcher on the Lisel Haas project.
CV
Employment History
- Bertz Associates, Project Manager, March 2025 – present
- Rolling at The Tower, Producer
- Discovering Lisel Haas, Lead Researcher
- Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Community Curator, August 2024 – April 2025
- Co-curator on Your Art, Your City project
- Bertz Associates, Project Assistant, July 2023 – March 2025
- Rolling Out Podcast, Producer
- Ladywood Arts Forum, Organiser
- RBSA Gallery, Exhibitions Co-ordinator, August 2022 – August 2024
- Curated the Photography Prize 2023
- RBSA Gallery, Retail Co-ordinator, August 2022 – November 2023
- MAC, Creative Learning Administrator, October 2021 – July 2022
- RBSA Gallery, Gallery Assistant, July 2018 – October 2021
- University of Birmingham, Student Ambassador, January 2018 – September 2021
Internships
- Bertz Associates, Experience Arts Intern, June 2021 – October 2021
- Words and Walks, Research Assistant
- University of Birmingham, Undergraduate Research Scholar, June 2019 – August 2019
- Wrote the Midlands Arts Trail for Midlands Arts Papers edition 3
Education
- MA History of Art, University of Birmingham, Graduated with Distinction, 2020 – 2021
- Dissertation titled ‘World-Making and the Creation of Identity in the Private Photography of Marie Høeg and Bolette Berg’.
- BA History of Art, University of Birmingham, Graduated First Class with Honours, 2017 – 2020
- Dissertation titled ‘Deconstructing the Hegemony: Claude Cahun and the Queering of Surrealism’
Conference Experience
- Association for Art History Annual Conference & Bookfair, Conference Assistant, April 2021
- Another Eye Conference, Speaker, September 2020
- Finding Our Way Together, Speaker, June 2020
Jen Wilbur 