Harrison Public Library presents ¿Cómo diría eso? Portraits, Paintings and Sketchbook Pages by Johnny Jackpot

Exhibition is on display December 7, 2025 to January 2, 2026.

Gallery is open to the public during regular library hours.

Artist’s Statement: Whether the subject is the notes of a melody, the contours of a face, or a language (as is the case with many of the examples in this exhibition), study is the perennial theme of my existence. During freshman year of high school, my first Spanish teacher was Miss Sepe.  In a pleasant and memorable manner, she presented to the class lessons which gave me a nice foundation for comprehending the Spanish language.  I studied with a different teacher in my second year of Spanish at my high school.  The second teacher  created an entirely different classroom setting.  I remember two words (guitarra and lápiz) from the entire class.  My formal study of Spanish continued again at The New School.  After graduation, it was clear to me that much more language study would be necessary.  My Spanish (and English) self-study has continued until the present moment.  

Fortunately, I married a woman named Luisa, who grew up in South America.  Our friendship has enabled me to make incalculable progress.  Together, we’ve visited her family in various sections of Paraguay, Argentina and Spain on multiple occasions.  We’ve also visited Brazil, Puerto Rico and The Dominican Republic together. 

The most impactful way a word or phrase stays in my memory is through a related experience.  Another of my memorization techniques involves the use of illustrations.  I always have a pen and paper with me.  With regard to language learning, my belief is that many can benefit by creating their own sketches in conjunction with new vocabulary words, phrases or even an entire conjugation chart.

About the Artist: Johnny Jackpot’s first professional artist assignment was as a storyboard artist for an independent film. Shortly afterwards, he attended Parsons School of Design, graduating with a BFA as an Illustration major. He studied figure painting with Dean Hartung at The Art Students League. He studied life drawing with Audrey Flack at The New York Academy of Art. Johnny’s clients include Ralph Lauren, Bloomberg News, Moncler, Macy’s, Metro, Newsday and The Daily News. Johnny is also a musician.