By DIANA PESCHEL, JRN 111 STUDENT
Surrounded by vibrant works of art and diverse creativity, Dan Jarvis, Moraine Valley’s art gallery coordinator, assembles the local art room with energy, transforming the gallery into a dynamic canvas of creativity and community expression.
“Art is such a personal experience,” Jarvis said. “I think it’s really interesting to hear different perspectives and ideas from fellow artists and figure out how their process can inform your own methods of making art.”
His ability to curate and bring energy to a local gallery is a reflection of his lifelong commitment to art–one that began in the small moments of his childhood.
Alongside photography, Jarvis also developed a love for music, and is a member of a successful Chicago-based band, Bev Rage and the Drinks. Like his visual art, music has played a significant role in his creative journey. In fact, his musical creativity often complements his visual art, with both helping him explore new ways of expression.
Jarvis’s journey includes many milestones, one of the most significant being the prestigious Albert P. Wiseman Award from Columbia College Chicago. This award, which is only granted to 20 students a year, comes with a $2,200 grant and recognizes exceptional talent in the arts. For Jarvis, it was a defining moment that fueled his artistic growth.
The journey began in Orland Hills, where he spent most of his childhood exploring and capturing moments with friends. These experiences, along with the support of his encouraging parents, laid the foundation for his future in art.
Jarvis considered himself a troublemaker. Every few weeks, he and his friends would adventure into the local cemetery, ghost hunting in hopes of uncovering something paranormal. It was more than just a thrill–it gave him the chance to capture moments that would later lead to his career as an artist.
“Me and my friends would always go out there and take photos by the graves and see if we could catch anything weird. It was us being stupid,” he said. He remembers a specific incident involving his friend Zack: “Some reporter from the Southtown paper noticed us walking out of Bachelor’s Grove and interviewed us about what we were doing, and we ended up in the paper because we were trying to find ghosts.”
Photography wasn’t just about his spontaneous adventures, though. His father, Robert, a tech enthusiast, introduced him to photography at a young age. Jarvis was given a film camera that had been passed down from Robert’s sister. It was a gift that he cherished during high school, and he still uses it every now and then.
He would often travel with his family when he was little, visiting 20 states by the age of 10. These family trips gave him not only memories, but a unique perspective of the world from a photographer’s lens.
Beyond photography, his family instilled a sense of comfort and tradition. One of Jarvis’s favorite foods is his mother’s homemade aglio e olio, a comforting Italian dish that always reminds him of home. He described the dish as having a rich, olive oil and garlicky smell to it.
“My mom used to make it for me, and she still makes it. We would make homemade pasta together,” Jarvis said. “If my wife and I go to a fancy Italian restaurant, I would just get aglio e olio because it’s got memories.”
While his early artistic experiences laid a solid foundation, Jarvis’s journey truly evolved when he stepped into the doors of MVCC the summer after he graduated from Andrew High School in 2004.
“I was really excited about darkroom photography after taking it in high school, I actually immediately started at Moraine and took a darkroom class here,” Jarvis said. “I didn’t even take any kind of break.”
Tyler Hewitt, Jarvis’s first photography professor at MVCC, helped him refine his skills in darkroom photography and lay the foundation to begin his career as an artist.
“Dan is a pretty low-key person, but also very friendly and warm,” Hewitt said. “Always nice to talk with.”
As he continued his studies, Jarvis encountered another professor who would become not just a mentor, but a coworker and friend.
Erik LaGattuta, drawing professor at MVCC, first met Jarvis when the latter was taking several of LaGattuta’s classes in the early 2000s.
If LaGattuta could sum up Jarvis in a few words, he would describe him as smart, funny, soft spoken, and multi-talented. “Plus: reliable, responsible, and hard working.” LaGattuta added.
However, it wasn’t just Jarvis’s natural talent and work ethic that stood out to LaGattuta, but the way he handled challenges that defined his development as an up-and-coming artist.
“Life does not always give us exactly what we want. I am impressed by Dan’s ability to keep at it until opportunities emerge,” LaGattuta said. “For example: he applied several times–over many years–for the MV art gallery coordinator job before he was hired for that position.”
Jarvis earned his associate of arts degree in 2008. From there, he transferred to Columbia, where he created a project, The Dead Highway, that would become his best yet, earning him the Albert P. Weisman Award.
Always open to learning something new, he would take both classes if he had to decide between two. He eagerly seized every opportunity that would help him create the perfect print.
“It bums me out when people decide not to go to college just because of the cost of the loans, or call it a scam,” Jarvis said. “I get that point of view, and I get that walking out with an art degree is not the most practical of things, but I think you should view it more as the experience you’re given, and how that’s going to change your life, rather than, is this going to find me a job?”
“I get that point of view, and I get that walking out with an art degree is not the most practical of things, but I think you should view it more as the experience you’re given, and how that’s going to change your life, rather than, is this going to find me a job?”
During this time, he and his family moved to Frankfort. When they discovered the house would come with its own darkroom, the decision to buy was instant. The previous owner even sold him materials, giving Jarvis the opportunity to immediately start working on his own time.
“Later on when I got more into darkroom, my dad never played around the darkroom. He shot film, but back then you just dropped it off at the Walgreens and got prints,” Jarvis said. “I got to teach him a little about the darkroom, like he taught me how to use the camera.”
Columbia professor Steve Liss was the most influential on his photographic style. Liss encouraged him to dive into documentary photography, which opened his eyes to the power of storytelling in photos.
“He was really supportive. He would introduce me to his photographer friends who would come to visit class, and he would say, ‘Oh, Dan’s a master at medium format,’” Jarvis recalled. “Just him saying that about me was a huge compliment.”
Liss, a prominent photojournalist with multiple Time magazine covers to his name, brought valuable real-world experience to his class. Some of his most notable works include a photograph from John F. Kennedy Jr.’s wedding and Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential victory, which landed in Time.
Jarvis also had another teacher who nurtured his experimental side at Columbia. While others didn’t understand the abstract nature of his work, Anna Kunz, color strategies professor, saw its potential and encouraged him to continue pushing those boundaries.
“A lot of my photography teachers couldn’t get their heads around it, or thought it was kind of dumb,” Jarvis said. “But Anna, being a painter, thought it was interesting and fostered that and encouraged me to keep pursuing it.
“Anna was one of my experimental sides and Steve was more of the photojournalist side. I really like both, so I still kinda like to dabble in both sides of photography.” Jarvis added.
When Jarvis completed his BFA, the experience and knowledge he gained from Columbia, along with his hands-on work at MVCC of being an On-Call Art Staff, put him in an ideal position to return to the college in a more permanent role.
For Jarvis, returning to Moraine Valley wasn’t just a career move–it was a return to his roots.
“The gallery coordinator at the time needed help hanging the upcoming art show, so I volunteered—mostly because I needed the extra hours,” Jarvis explained. “But it turned out to be something I enjoyed and happened to be pretty good at. I stuck with it and ended up helping hang all the exhibitions that came through the gallery until I graduated.”
Stepping into the role of an Art Gallery Coordinator marked both a professional achievement and personal fulfillment.
“It was the first gallery I ever got my artwork in, and now I’m managing it,” Jarvis said.
His journey at MVCC has evolved in ways he hadn’t anticipated. What began as a volunteer position has transformed into a role where he not only curates exhibitions, but also works closely with artists, students and the community.
“I don’t always have time to make art of my own, but just being around all the artists and artwork on display in the DeCaprio Art Gallery keeps me connected to the art world as a whole,” Jarvis said. “I view the gallery as a safe space for people to discuss and interpret the art on the wall any way they want.”
He hasn’t left behind his other creative pursuits. Music, which has always been an important part of his life, is now making a bigger presence.
“Since I was 14, I picked up the bass guitar first, and learned guitar after that on my own,” Jarvis explained. “My cousins are all musicians; we just started learning Nirvana songs.”
Jarvis’s band, Bev Rage and the Drinks, a dynamic, visually exhilarating, and brash queer garage-pop band from Chicago, will be traveling to California for their tour next month.
Looking back at his long road to artistic fulfillment, Jarvis acknowledges the many lessons he’s learned along the way. He’s eager to share the advice he’s picked up over the years with up-and-coming artists.
“Don’t get discouraged,” he said. “Even the really good photographers had to take a lot of photos before they got something amazing. Don’t feel that every photo needs to be incredible.”
Jarvis encourages people to focus on the process rather than perfection. “Take photos that are interesting to everyone. Take things less seriously, especially art. Art can be funny, it can be silly, it doesn’t need to be painfully serious all the time,” he added.
Jarvis also acknowledges that, in both his art and life, the ability to loosen up and not overthink things has been essential.
“I was a pretty high-strung kid for a while. In my college days, I took things too seriously and I made more out of situations,” he said. “Now I worry about the things within my control.”
This mindset allows him to enjoy the creative process and stay focused on what matters most: connecting with his art and the people around him, and recognizing that his journey is far from over.
Jarvis is eager to see how his creativity will continue to evolve and where it will take him next. As he reflects on his journey, he says, “I’ve learned to just go with the flow.”
Velocity 
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