Untold Stories

Untold Stories, a series of community-specific and site-responsive exhibitions that began in my hometown of Youngstown, Ohio, progressed into case-study exhibitions in the Industrial Midwest, and then expanded into a transnational narrative in the Industrial North of England. These shows included my imagery realism compositions, curated archival materials and media, on-camera interviews, and community discussions to fashion a social history of each disinvested city where exhibitions occurred. The Untold Stories exhibitions unveiled deindustrialization’s human cost, querying neighborhood decay and gentrification, segregation and integrated communities, and unemployment and economic redevelopment. The Ohio Arts Council, US–UK Fulbright Commission, British Academy Leverhulme Trust, University of California at Santa Barbara Research Grant, DéPOT (Deindustrialization and the Politics of Our Time)—sponsored by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada—and collaborating organizations in Germany, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the US all funded the development of my Untold Stories project.

Several public programs and collaborative community engagement projects emerged from Untold Stories, including the symposium Untold Stories: Creating Thriving Post-industrial cities, An Across-the-Pond Conversation at the 2023 Festival of Debate, Sheffield UK, as well as scholarly publications including an essay in Car Bombs to Cookie Tables: Youngstown Anthology, Cleveland, Belt Publishing and an article under review to be included in the anthology Gender, Family, and Deindustrialisation, Toronto, University of Toronto Press.

Untold Stories: Sheffield opens at Wentworth Woodhouse, Rotherham, UK in January 2026.
Untold Stories: Nottingham opens at The Harley, Worksop, UK in January 2026.

Untold Stories: Liverpool

Untold Stories: Liverpool

Untold Stories: Akron

Untold Stories: Akron

Untold Stories: Youngstown

Untold Stories: Youngstown

Car Bombs to Cookie Tables: The Youngstown Anthology (Belt City Anthologies)

Often portrayed as a tale of industrial decline and urban decay, Youngstown’s history is far more complex. This collection of essays offers a multifaceted exploration of the city, drawing on the personal experiences of its residents. From the perspectives of artists, activists, historians, and everyday citizens, readers will gain a deeper understanding of Youngstown’s past, present, and future…

Leiden, Netherlands | 2020

“Performing Imaginary Life,” Sensing Style: Subcultural Movements in the 21st Century, Leiden University

Flyer for Artist Talk, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands, “Performing Imaginary Life,” Sensing Style: Subcultural Movements in the 21st Century Conference. December 11, 2020
Ha Noi, Vietnam | 2021

Keynote Speaker, 'Surviving the Fantasies of Modernization' Ha Noi Ad Hoc and RMIT Vietnam, with support from UNESCO

Flyer for Keynote Speaker, 'Surviving the Fantasies of Modernization' Ha Noi Ad Hoc and RMIT Vietnam, with support from UNESCO, Ha Noi, Vietnam Jennifer discussed her ongoing project, Garment Girl, which investigates women's labor in the global textile industry. Her co-presenter was Mila Rosenthal, a human rights educator and professor at Columbia University's Institute for the Study of Human Rights. She spoke about the March 8 Textile Factory, a significant site for the Vietnamese Communist Party's efforts in the 1960s and 1970s to manufacture a modern socialist society, economy, city, and family. Michal Teague, Design Studies lecturer at RMIT Hanoi City campus, moderated the discussion.
Quito, Ecuador| 2021

Artist Talk, Flores para el Trueque Museo de Arte, Universidad San Francisco de Quito

Flyer for Artist Talk, Museo de Arte, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Quito, Ecuador November 18, 2021
Cardiff, Wales | 2022

Global Wales Fulbright Forum

Flyer for Artist Talk, Global Wales Fulbright Forum, Cardiff, Wales. April 8, 2022
Liverpool, UK | 2022

Centre for the Culture of Everyday Life, the University of Liverpool

Flyer for Artist Talk in Conversation with Dr. Vid Simoniti, Centre for the Culture of Everyday Life, the University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK May 17, 2022
Derby, UK | 2025

Untold Stories: Social Activism through Art and Research Arts and Humanities Research Institute, University of Sheffield

Flyer for Artist Talk, Arts and Humanities Research Institute, University of Sheffield, UK May 24, 2022
Sheffield, UK | 2023

Creating Thriving Post-Industrial Cities, Festival of Debate

Flyer for Symposium Creating Thriving Post-Industrial Cities, Festival of Debate, Sheffield, UK Jennifer and Dr. Lizzy Craig-Atkins, from the University of Sheffield, co-organized this event. The symposium evolved from Jennifer Vanderpool's ongoing social practice art exhibitions, “Untold Stories,” a series of community-specific and site-responsive exhibitions that have occurred in the Deindustrialized Midwest Region of the U.S.A. and the Industrial North of England. Panellists offered multivocal perspectives, including workers, activists, artists, and scholars from Liverpool, UK; Sheffield, UK; Akron, Ohio; and Youngstown, Ohio. May 22, 2023
Birkenhead, UK | 2023

Crafting a Vibrant Future, Open Door Charity

Flyer for Artist Talk and Craftivism Workshop at Open Door Charity, Birkenhead, UK.

Mary 31, 2023
Belfast, Northern Ireland | 2024

Queen Mary’s University Deindustrialization and the Politics of Our Time, Summer Institute

Flyer for Lecture, Deindustrialization and the Politics of Our Time, Summer Institute, Queen Mary’s University, Belfast, Northern Ireland. Jennifer co-taught the Graduate Workshop Integrating Arts-Based and Community-Based Approaches in Post-Industrial Memory Research with Dr. Guilherme Pozzer from the University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK. June 2024
Glasgow, Scotland | 2024

Gender, Family and Deindustrialization, University of Strathclyde Deindustrialization and the Politics of Our Time, Annual Conference

Flyer for Artist Talk, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland, at the Deindustrialization and the Politics of Our Time, Annual Conference June 20, 2024
Sheffield, UK | 2024

Crafting the Past, University of Sheffield

Flyer for Artist Talk, Empowering Communities through Creative Writing, Visual Narratives, Memory, and Place-Making, The University of Sheffield. June 29, 2024
Sheffield, UK | 2024

Festival of Archeology, Council for British Archaeology

Flyer for Workshops, Sheffield Crafting the Past Online Workshops, Council for British Archaeology.

Dr. Gui Posser and Dr. Jennifer Vanderpool offered online workshops on creative writing and visual storytelling to address challenges faced by post-industrial communities.

July 27, 2024, and August 2, 2024

Los Angeles, CA | 2025

Call Festival, UCLA School of Law

Flyer for Artist Talk, Connecting Art and Law for Liberation, UCLA Law School Visionary artists, activists, attorneys, advocates, legal scholars, and community members shared innovative, cutting-edge collaborations at the intersection of ART and LAW - aimed at imagining a world without prisons, policing, and surveillance. Presented with Los Angeles-based curator Rachel Schmid. April 19, 2025
Derby, UK | 2025

CivicLAB Annual Conference, University of Derby

Flyer for Artist Talk, CivicLAB Annual Conference, University of Derby

Neighbourhood Assembly: Arts-led, co-productive research & practice for comfortable, energy-efficient homes, green skills and quality jobs, and thriving places.

Presented with Dr Rachel Macrorie, Nottingham Trent University.

June 25, 2025