Emma Jo Vitallo is a photographic artist whose work investigates identity performance and interpersonal connection. By exploring (platonic, maternal, romantic) relationships through a shared dynamic of collaboration, questions of truth and histories begin to unravel. Vitallo is pursuing their MFA in Photography with a certificate in Art History at Northern Illinois University. Recently, their image Another Handmade Heirloom was displayed as part of the GETXOPhoto Festival in Algorta, Spain. Her photographs and visual artworks have been exhibited in galleries including the RIT City Art Space in Rochester, NY, online exhibitions including Lenscratch and the Texas Photographic Society, as well as various DeKalb spaces including the backspace Gallery, Jack Olson Gallery, Annette and Jerry Johns Gallery, and Gallery 215. Vitallo collaboratively holds the Guinness World Record for the World’s Largest Paper Snowflake with the NIU Photography Department.
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2025 | MFA (pending) | Photography | Art History Certificate | Northern Illinois University | DeKalb, IL
2022 | BFA (cum laude) | Photography | Northern Illinois University | DeKalb, IL
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March 2024 | 2024 Annual Juried Blick Art Materials Ars Nova Exhibition | Jack Olson Gallery | DeKalb, IL
November 2023 | Homecoming | RIT City Art Space | Rochester, NY
October 2023 | Belonging in STEAM: Create and Discover | Annette and Jerry Johns Gallery | DeKalb, IL
January 2023 | here but not here but here | Backspace Gallery | DeKalb, IL
December 2022 | No Restrictions | Hosted by NIU Graduate Arts Association | Jack Olson Gallery | DeKalb, IL
November 2022 | Multiplicity | First Year Graduate Exhibition | Annette and Jerry Johns Gallery | DeKalb, IL
May 2022 | BFA Exhibition | Jack Olson Gallery | DeKalb, IL
November 2021 | (un)process(ing) |ARTD469: Independent Projects | Gallery 215 | DeKalb, IL
Fall 2021 | Faces of Belonging | Annette and Jerry Johns Gallery | DeKalb, IL
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September 2024 | issue 49: play | carte blanche | Online Magazine | Canada
May 2024 | Masters of Domestic Animal Art | Wild Heart Art Gallery | Online Exhibition | Coachella Valley
April 2024 | #NewVisions2024 | Texas Photographic Society | Online Exhibition | Houston, TX
April 2024 | 2024 All Things Considered | Las Lagunas Art Gallery | Online Exhibition | Laguna Beach, CA
January 2024 | The Favorite Photograph You Took in 2023 | Lenscratch | Online Exhibition, (Part 10)
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December 2022 | Assistant Curator, Design & Coordination | Graduate Arts Association | No Restrictions, Jack Olson Gallery, DeKalb, IL
November 2022 | Assistant Curator, Design & Coordination Assistant Printer | ARTD465 Sequencing & Photobooks: Past and Pleasant. | Elwood House Museum, DeKalb, IL | Annette and Jerry Johns Gallery, DeKalb, IL
November 2022 | Design & Coordination | Multiplicity | First Year Graduate Exhibition | Annette and Jerry Johns Gallery, DeKalb, IL
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2024 - 25 | Graduate Teaching Assistant | Northern Illinois University | Art History Department | DeKalb, IL | ARTH292
2024 - 25 | Graduate Teaching Assistant | Northern Illinois University | Foundations Department | DeKalb, IL | ART102: 2D Foundations
2023 - 24 | Head Photography Lab Attendant | Northern Illinois University | Photography Department | DeKalb, IL
2023 - 24 | Graduate Instructor of Record | Northern Illinois University | Photography Department | DeKalb, IL | ARTD313: Beginning Photography, ARTD419: Intermediate Photography | View Student Work
2022 - 23 | Graduate Research Assistant / Teaching Assistant | Northern Illinois University | Photography Department | Foundations Department | DeKalb, IL
2021 - 22 | Undergraduate Photography Lab Attendant | Northern Illinois University | Photography Department | DeKalb, IL
2021-22 | AP Proctor | Lincoln Way Central High School | New Lenox, IL
2018 - 22 | Photographer’s Assistant | Andrew Ryback Photography | USA
2017 - 19 | Digitization Specialist | Richard J Daley Library | University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
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2022 | World’s Largest Paper Snowflake | Guinness Book of World Records | In Collaboration with Jessica Labatte and NIU Photography Department | London, UK
2021-22 | O’Malley-Pugh Fund | $1,000
2021-22 | AIM High TR Excellence Scholar | $1,500
2020-21 | AIM High TR Excellence Scholar | $2,500
2019-20 | AIM High TR Excellence Scholar | $2,500
2017 | 2x Golden Key – Photography, Scholastic Art & Writing Awards | Presented by Downers Grove North High School
2017 | 2x HM – Photography, Scholastic Art & Writing Awards | Presented by Downers Grove North HS
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September 2024 | Artist Talk | carte blanche | Online
August 2024 | Artist Talk | NIU Summer in the Arts | DeKalb, IL
Directed by Michael Leeson | 2024