Valerie Zimany serves as Chair & Professor of Art at Clemson University, SC. After completing her MFA studies at Kanazawa College of Art as a Fulbright Fellow and Japanese Government (Monbusho) Scholar, Valerie spent three years in residency at the Utatsuyama Craft Workshop in Kanazawa, Japan during which she researched contemporary craft and Kutani overglaze enamels. She was recently honored with a Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research Abroad Grant by the U.S. Department of Education and returned to Kanazawa’s Institute of Art & Design as a guest researcher. She has also served on the faculty at Lawrence University, WI; Hope College, MI; and the Urban Institute of Contemporary Art, MI.

Zimany is an elected member of the International Academy of Ceramics. She exhibits both nationally and internationally, and her work is held is in multiple public and private collections, including the Taipei Yingge Ceramic Museum, Taiwan; the American Museum of Ceramic Art, Pomona, CA; the World Ceramic Museum at Icheon, Korea; and the Slovenia National Museum in Metelkova, Slovenia. Valerie’s work is featured in the Lark Books 500 Ceramic Sculptures and 500 Prints on Clay, Ceramics Art and Perception magazine, and is the subject of a full feature article, “Valerie Zimany: Recasting the Japanese Tradition” in Ceramics Monthly magazine. She was named an American Craft Council Searchlight Artist, a Ceramics Monthly Emerging Artist, and a Finalist for the Society for Contemporary Craft’s Raphael Founder’s Prize. She has received multiple international prizes including the Award of Excellence at the Cluj International Ceramics Biennale in Cluj-Napoca, Romania and the Grand Prize of Medalta International Artist in Residence’s annual juried exhibition. Major residencies include the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts (USA), C.R.E.T.A. Rome (Italy), Medalta International Artists in Residence (Canada), Utatsuyama Craft Workshop (Japan), STARworks Ceramics (USA), 701 Center for Contemporary Art (USA), Wildacres Retreat (USA), and as the Antinori Distinguished Fellow at Hambidge Center for Creative Arts and Sciences (USA).