Jason Shin co-founded Wonderspaces Inc. with Patrick Charles in 2016. The pair met while serving in the US Marine Corps, where Shin was a communications officer.
Wonderspaces Inc. runs four immersive art spaces, with locations in Scottsdale Arizona, San Diego, Philadelphia, and Austin Texas. These spaces seek to provide access to art for a broad range of audiences and work to create experiences where people can connect both with the artworks and with each other.
The organisation believes that art is vital to society and enables the sharing of new ideas and perspectives, and that art can be enjoyed by more people if it is presented in more accessible locations. It is dedicated to supporting the artists that it works with, with a commitment to fair pay and clear crediting for the makers, and careful stewardship for the works.
Wonderspaces Inc. has a focus on developing touring exhibitions which recognise the different communities at each of its locations. It is working to reach non-traditional art audiences at an array of varied and unusual locations, such as a downtown cruise ship terminal, a converted movie theatre inside a mall, and a warehouse complex, among others.
One person who nominated Shin said: “Jason has created Wonderspaces, Inc. a pioneer in the immersive space focusing on arts and culture. The team’s focus is to remove barriers for accessing unique art- for guests to enjoy new experiences and expanding their learning and for artists to be seen in new and unique mediums.
“Wonderspaces emphasis is giving artists the platform, always crediting them and giving them the platform from which to grow their careers too,” they continue, “The growing collection of venues across North America (4 at present, with more in the works) allows works to travel too.”
Shin attended the MIT Sloan School of Management and is a cum laude graduate in economics from Yale University.