Jon Ferrer
may Featured Artist
Artist Bio:
Jon “Bailarin” Ferrer is a photographer, poet, and U.S. military veteran from the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Mostly self-taught, Jon honed his craft through years of observation, practice, and patience—learning to see the world through a lens shaped by experience. The streets of New York City were his first and most faithful client, offering endless lessons in light, emotion, and human truth.
Influenced by the cultural richness of NYC and time spent in North Carolina, Jon’s work explores themes of identity, resilience, and the often unseen moments that shape us. His photography and poetry have earned national recognition, including first-place awards in both categories at the Veterans Creative Arts Competition.
Jon’s work has been featured in several group exhibitions, and he currently serves as a teaching assistant for the International Center of Photography’s Youth Programs, guiding the next generation of image-makers. His creative journey is one of healing and connection—using the camera not just to capture, but to express.
Artisan’s Palate Exhibit
Finding the Light
Finding the Light is a photographic meditation on the quiet war between shadow and illumination—a visual poem about mental health, struggle, and survival.
These images do not scream. They whisper. They ache. They reflect the silence of minds burdened and the beauty that still dares to rise. Light and darkness are not just contrasts here; they are characters in an ongoing story—a dance of pain and possibility.
In a world where someone is lost to suicide every forty seconds, this exhibition is both elegy and encouragement. It is a call to recognize art as more than a luxury. For many art is a lifeline. A silent therapy. A mirror for the soul. A language for those who cannot speak.
Finding the Light was created in honor of the unseen artists—the ones still in the dark, the ones holding on, the ones yet to discover that creation can be salvation.
This is not just photography. It is testimony. It is hope, captured.
