Alex C. Jacobs

     Alex C. Jacobs is a sculptor and educator whose work transforms censorship into platforms for community dialogue and resistance. Originally from Fenton, Missouri, Jacobs creates sculptural libraries and public interventions that challenge systems of control while fostering access to contested knowledge.

     Jacobs is the founder and director of The Free Pages Project, an ongoing initiative that creates sculptural libraries housing banned and challenged books. These installations serve as both functional book distribution systems and confrontational monuments, transforming acts of censorship into opportunities for public engagement and cultural resistance.

      In 2025, Jacobs presented their solo exhibition Enduring Words: Resistance Through Sculptural Libraries at The Alfred C. Glassell Jr. Exhibition Gallery at the Shaw Center in Baton Rouge. The exhibition featured large-scale installations, including Lex Illuminatorum, a lighthouse-inspired tower containing banned literature, and Stacks Against Us, a destabilizing library structure made from over 800 censored books.

     Working primarily with steel, wood, concrete, and found materials, Jacobs constructs installations that occupy contested spaces between the private and public, the institutional and civic. Their sculptural approach combines traditional fabrication techniques with conceptual frameworks drawn from social practice and community engagement, creating works that invite direct participation rather than passive observation.

     Jacobs holds an MFA in Sculpture from Louisiana State University (2025) and a BFA from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (2018). Their work has received support from the LSU School of Art Graduate Student Fund and the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge's Get Ready Grant. From 2019 to 2022, Jacobs worked as an artist assistant to sculptor Wiktor Szostało on large-scale public installations in both St. Louis and Kołobrzeg, Poland, expanding their international perspective and collaborative practice. During this period, they also worked as a historic restoration specialist, including ornamental plaster restoration at the Nazareth House (circa 1906) in St. Louis. With over 15 years of metalworking experience, Jacobs brings comprehensive technical expertise in welding, casting, and large-scale fabrication to their artistic practice.

     As an educator, Jacobs has taught sculpture courses at Louisiana State University, where they also served on the Graduate Student Committee for Diversity & Inclusion. Their teaching philosophy emphasizes the intersection of technical proficiency and creative exploration, fostering inclusive learning environments that recognize art's potential for social engagement.

      Jacobs' work has been featured in Reveille and Luer Magazine, and their installations continue to expand beyond gallery spaces into public contexts where art can intervene in ongoing cultural conversations about intellectual freedom, community access, and the vital role of creativity in democratic society.