Janelle VanderKelen
- Film / Video Arts 2026
Janelle VanderKelen is a filmmaker and artist currently based in Knoxville, TN.
She is an assistant professor of Cinema Studies at the University of Tennessee Knoxville and received her MFA from the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee. Her films and ceramic sculptures imagine alternative acts of relation between imperfect bodies (human, vegetal, geological, or otherwise) and make the agency of plants visible.
VanderKelen’s work has been exhibited at institutions including the The Museum of Moving Image in New York; Ann Arbor Film Festival in Michigan; and Bow Arts in London.
Her current feature project, The Golden Thread, received funding from a 2025 Creative Capital Award. Other recent honors include a Nohl Fellowship and residencies at MacDowell and the Ellis Beauregard Foundation.
VanderKelen’s work has been exhibited at institutions including the The Museum of Moving Image in New York; Ann Arbor Film Festival in Michigan; and Bow Arts in London.
Her current feature project, The Golden Thread, received funding from a 2025 Creative Capital Award. Other recent honors include a Nohl Fellowship and residencies at MacDowell and the Ellis Beauregard Foundation.