My names are Jenny Stanjeski, Dorothy Darker, and Jenny Jeski.
I am a painter and performance artist.
I am a theater practitioner.
I am an arts educator.
I have been painting and working in the theater since I was a teenager. I have built a rewarding career collaborating with designers and directors across many disciplines for many of New York’s most famous stages.
My drag persona Dorothy Darker was created to be my not-safe-for-work persona and as Dorothy I have hosted and produced hundreds of art salons, cabarets, decadent parties, sexy soirees, mixers, and saucy readings.
In 2022 I concluded a decade of immersive rites and rituals that explored creative inspiration and catharsis. And, for Threshold, I invited my two separate identities, Jenny and Dorothy, back into one artist body with the aspiration of freedom to go between my creative selves, personas, and communities- day and night- freely.
Currently, I'm investing my performance interests into Cabaret, and reflecting on the the past decade of work I’ve done with others through my creative collective, House of Darker. I don’t know quite what’s next, and that’s an exciting place to be.
Theater, Scenic Art, & Teaching
I started painting in my teens, while immersing myself in New Jersey community theater.
After studying production design at the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama, I moved back to New York and pursued a career painting for theater while continuing to study fine art through the Art Students League of New York, New York Academy of Art, and through the many art reproductions that I was commissioned to create. I spent my summers in beautiful Boulder at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival.
While working Off Broadway, I started teaching workshops, and leading students in the scenic arts at universities including Columbia, Barnard, and Fordham.
I joined United Scenic Artists union local 829, and continued work as a scenic charge, managing the painting sets for Broadway, Fashion, and TV. First at Manhattan Theater Club, then for Showman Fabricators.
In 2013 I joined the staff at The Juilliard School, taking on the role of scenic charge artist and leading their scenic art apprenticeship. In 2014 Rachel Keebler invited me to be a visiting instructor at Cobalt Studios, where I teach Floors, Hard Scenery, and a whole bunch of self care.
I continue to work for Broadway and do art reproduction when an opportunity aligns . Recently I enjoyed creating a body of work for the character Allie in Broadway’s The Notebook and painted the palettes for Lempicka. Please reach out if you’d like to work with me.