Jane Couch-Osmelowski

Jane Couch-Osmelowski is retired from a combined 38-year career as an art educator, both as an elementary art teacher and an adjunct instructor in art education at USC.  She focuses on ceramics, sculpture and fiber arts.

Artist Statement

I create to explore social and political themes in sculptures and create functional sculptures through a variety of processes.  The pieces can vary from hand building, traditional wheel thrown, and slab thrown forms on the wheel.  I use red clay from my yard to pigment the clay and explore surface enhancements through a variety of glazes, multiple firings and rust techniques. I have been creating sculptural crowns and figures for commentary on society, narrative themes, politics.


Presented by the Jasper Project, The Degenerate Art Project II is the answer to an overwhelming request by artists and patrons of Jasper's inaugural Degenerate Art Project (July 2025) for an additional exhibition which will involve an open call for visual artists. This 3 week-long multidisciplinary arts event (Feb. 11–28 at Stormwater Studios) invites Midlands artists to respond to today's socio-political climate, and unite our local arts community—physically and in spirit—in support and solidarity during challenging times. Inspired by—and reclaiming—the legacy of the Nazi-labeled "Degenerate Art" of 1937, this project champions creative resistance and free expression through a visual art exhibition, featuring over 40 Midlands artists.