Jack Nielsen holds a BA with honors from California State University, Sacramento and his MFA with honors is from University of California, Davis. While in college he was already an exhibiting sculptor and ceramists, with shows at Artist Contemporary Gallery, Open Ring Gallery in Sacramento, CA, Richmond Art Center in Richmond, CA and University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada. While in graduate school he was an instructor at University California, Davis, California State University, Sacramento, and American River College, Sacramento. His first commissioned work was for the City of Davis in 1984, when he designed and fabricated a sculpture for the Veterans Memorial Community Center. Following this early success, Nielsen was commissioned by both public and private entities, throughout the 1980's including the City of Sacramento, City of Folsom, Bramalae Pacific Corporation in Oakland, CA. In 1995 Nielsen was commissioned after a national search by the City of Fairfield, CA to create a site-specific environmental sculpture in a rural setting that was the city's first public art project. The piece was designed to encircle an ancient oak grove, spanning about a quarter acre. This was a three-year process for Nielsen from design through fabrication to installation. "Renewal", the title of the work, became one of Northern California's most important pieces of public artwork. The success of "Renewal" led to the commission by General Services Administration for the new Federal Court House in Sacramento, CA. This sculpture concentrates on the on the visual impact of letters as objects, not as text. This piece exhibited in Berlin, Germany. He has also exhibited his work American Institute if Architects, Michael Himovitz Gallery and the Center For Contemporary Art, Sacramento, CA, Solano College, Fairfield, CA and the Triton Museum of Art in Santa Clara, CA.