Ka cika wannan magana: A shekara ta 1949, Jess ya shiga Makarantar Kayan Zane ta California (yanzu San Francisco Art Institute) kuma, bayan ya rabu da iyalinsa, ya soma kiran kansa "Jess". A ƙarshen 1940s, Jess ya sadu da Robert Duncan da mai zane-zane Lyn Brockway, kuma ya zama mai aiki a cikin nune-nunen da yawa, tarurruka na shayari, da kuma ayyukan kirkira ta hanyar da'irar su. Ya sadu da Robert Duncan a 1951 kuma ya fara dangantaka da mawaki wanda ya kasance har zuwa mutuwar Duncan a shekarar 1988. A shekara ta 1952, a San Francisco, Jess, tare da Duncan da mai zane-zane Harry Jacobus, sun buɗe King Ubu Gallery, wanda ya zama wuri mai mahimmanci don zane-zane na banbanci kuma wanda ya kasance haka lokacin da, a cikin 1954, mawaki Jack Spicer ya sake buɗe sararin samaniya a matsayin
Gidan kallo na shida.