Artist: Anna Valenti
Anna Valenti, COLORADO
Bio
Anna Valenti is a ceramic artist born in New York. Stemming from family traditions of weaving, gardening, and jerry-rigging, her work centers around gathering spaces and the domestic objects that cultivate connection. She weaves and pinches clay vessels ranging from pots to chairs to screens. Anna graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder with her BA, practiced there again as a ceramics post-baccalaureate student and received her MFA from the Maine College of Art and Design.
Anna has exhibited nationally at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Maine, Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts in Maine, Bray North Gallery in Montana, The Clay Studio in Pennsylvania, Tippetts & Eccles Gallery in Utah , Soo Visual Arts Center in Minnesota, and the Hyde Museum in New York. She is the recipient of the 2019 Professional Development Grant, 2020 NCECA Graduate Student Fellowship, and 2021 Colorado Arts Grant. Her research is in fiber clay bodies. Currently, Anna serves as a Board Member for East Side Art Institute and is an Assistant Professor in Fine Arts and the Ceramics Coordinator at Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design in Denver, CO.
EDUCATION
2020 MFA in Studio Arts, Maine College of Art, Portland, ME
2017-18 Post-Baccalaureate in Ceramics, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
2014 BA in Psychology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
EXHIBITIONS
2022 Made Known (forthcoming), Union Hall, Denver, CO, Curator: Nathan Michelson
Above Board, Above Board Ceramics, www.aboveboardceramics.com
Common Thread, Belger Crane Yard Studios, Kansas City, MO
2021 Who’s Home?, Ohio University, Athens, OH, Curator: Logan Reynolds
Vase, Alma’s, Richmond, VA
Sorry We Missed You, Institute of Contemporary Art, Portland, ME
Open Wall, Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Boulder, CO
Small Favors, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA, Juror: Kensuke Yamada
2020 Outstanding in the Field, Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, Newcastle, ME
The Clay Studio National, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA, Jurors: Sana Musasama, Kukuli Velarde, & Lauren Sandler
MFA Exhibition, Social Distance Gallery, www.instagram.com/p/CBqexT6liKa
MFA Thesis Exhibition (online due to COVID-19), Maine College of Art, Portland, ME, www.portfolio.meca.edu/view-project/2214
Your Color My Line, Able Baker Contemporary, Portland, ME
Paper & Clay Juried Exhibition, Tippetts & Eccles Gallery, Logan, UT, Juror: Jessica Brandl, First Place Award $500
Get Lucky, Soo Visual Arts Center, Minneapolis, MN
2019 Laundry Day, New System Exhibitions, Portland, ME
Emotional Value Auction, SPACE Gallery and The Andy Warhol Foundation, Topsham, ME, Curator: Adriane Herman
NCECA Juried Student Exhibition, Soo Visual Arts Center, Minneapolis, MN, Jurors: Linda Lopez and Steven Young Lee
2018 After You Were Here, Zand Head Gallery, Portland, ME
10
th Annual Beyond the Brickyard, Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts, Bray North Gallery, Helena, MT, Juror: Kristen Morgin
2017 My Body My Home, Visual Arts Complex at University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
2014 Imagine Your World, Chiang Mai University Art Museum, Chiang Mai, Thailand
2013 A Shared Moment, Visual Arts Complex at University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
2009 Eighteenth Annual Regional Juried Student Art Competition, Hyde Museum, Glens Falls, NY
AWARDS
2021 Colorado Arts Grant, Colorado Creative Industries, Denver, CO, Grant $2500
2020 CERF+ Grant, Montpelier, VT, Grant $1000
Watershed Outdoor Sculpture Project, Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, Newcastle, ME, Honorarium $1000
NCECA Graduate Student Fellowship, National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts, Grant $2000
2019 Professional Development & Entrepreneurship Grant, Artists at Work: Maine College of Art, Portland, ME, Grant $500
2018-20 MFA Presidential Scholarship, Maine College of Art, Portland, ME
COLLECTIONS
The Betty Woodman Study Collection, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
Ceramics Collection, Maine College of Art, Portland, ME
PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
John Bisbee, Portland, ME
Judy Pote, Philadelphia, PA
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2022 Ceramics Coordinator, Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, Denver, CO
Workshop Assistant to Holly Walker & Lynn Duryea (forthcoming), Stretch the Limit, Penland School of Craft, Penland, NC
2021 Studio Technician, Washington Heights Art Center, Lakewood, CO
Store Manager, East Side Art Institute, Lafayette, CO
2019 Installation Assistant to Lynn Duryea, Darkness and the Light, Institute of Contemporary Art, Portland, ME
2017-18 Studio Assistant to Kim Dickey, Ceramic Sculpture, Boulder, CO
2022 Assistant Professor, Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, Denver, CO
Adjunct Faculty: Contemplative Ceramics, Naropa University, Boulder, CO
Adjunct Faculty: Studio Seminar - Methods of Inquiry, Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, Denver, CO
2021 Adjunct Faculty: Ceramics II - Fall B, Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, Denver, CO
Adjunct Faculty: Ceramics I - Fall B, Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, Denver, CO
Adjunct Faculty: Ceramics I - Fall A, Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, Denver, CO
Adjunct Faculty: Studio Seminar - Methods of Inquiry, Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, Denver, CO
Instructor: Ceramics - Handbuilding for Sculptural Work, Washington Heights Art Center, Lakewood, CO
Instructor: Ceramics - Weaving Colored Clay Workshop, Washington Heights Art Center, Lakewood, CO
Instructor: Ceramics - Handbuilding Positive & Negative Space, East Side Art Institute, Lafayette, CO
Instructor: Ceramics - Introduction to Fiber Clay, East Side Art Institute, Lafayette, CO
Instructor: Ceramics - Weaving Clay Workshop, East Side Art Institute, Lafayette, CO
Demonstrating Artist: Boulder Arts Week, Boulder, CO
2020 Demonstrating Artist: Clay Week, Longmont, CO
Teaching Assistant to Cathy Hammond: Ceramics - Tableware, Maine College of Art, Portland, ME
2019 Teaching Assistant to Julie Cunningham: Ceramics - Handbuilding, Maine College of Art, Portland, ME
Teaching Assistant to Sharon Portelance: 3D Design, Maine College of Art, Portland, ME
2018 Teaching Assistant to Marian Baker: Ceramics - Wheel Throwing, Maine College of Art, Portland, ME
Teaching Assistant to Scott Chamberlin: Ceramics - Introduction to Wheel Throwing, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
2016-18 Instructor: Ceramics and Painting, Community Montessori, Boulder, CO
Teaching Assistant to Susan Allman & Page Zekonis: Studio Arts, Open Hands Clay Studio, Boulder, CO
2014 Instructor: Studio Arts, Art Relief International, Chiang Mai, Thailand
RESIDENCIES
2020 Islesford Pottery (postponed due to COVID-19), Islesford, ME
2019 Fornace Masini Terrecotte di Impruneta, Impruneta, Italy
2016 Hoi Polloi Ceramics Workspace, Boulder, CO
LECTURES
2021 Visiting Artist Lecture, Undergraduate Ceramics, Naropa University, Boulder, CO, March 4
2020 Visiting Artist Lecture, Undergraduate Ceramics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, October 26
FEATURED ARTIST
2022 Northern Clay Center (forthcoming), www.store.northernclaycenter.org/featured-artists
2021 Artaxis, www.shopartaxis.org
East Side Art Institute, www.eastsideartinstitute.org/featured-artist
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2021 “Rivers, Reflections, Reinventions: Within the Breeze", NCECA Journal, Volume 41, page 108
"Clay Weaver: An Interview with Anna Valenti", East Side Art Institute, Sarah Bennett, 10 October 2021, eastsideartinstitute.org/post/interview-with-anna-valenti
“Weaving Clay”, Apricity Magazine, Volume V, May 2021
2020 “Her Creative Approach to Clay”, The Potters Cast, Paul Blais, 17 December 2020, www.thepotterscast.com/690
“Harmony and Contrast”, Ceramics Monthly, September 2020, page 45
“Interiors: High-Style Homeware Made From Hemp”, Roddy Clarke, Financial Times, June 2020, www.ft.com/house-home/interiors
“Behind the Scenes at MECA”, MECA Magazine, June 2020, www.issuu.com/meca/docs/mm_summer_final_2020
“Maine College of Art Class of 2020”, June 2020, www.issuu.com/meca/docs/maine_college_of_art_class_of_2020_catalog
“The Empaths”, Hilary Irons, The Chart, May 2020, www.thechart.me/the-empaths
“May Team Picks”, Clay Crits, May 2020, www.claycrits.com
“Student Excellence: Anna Valenti”, Maine College of Art, February 2020, www.meca.edu/stories/nceca-fellowship20
“The Creative Heartbeat of Portland”, MECA Magazine, February 2020, Maine College of Art
2019 "MFA Programs - Maine College of Art", BOMB Magazine, September 2019, www.bombmagazine.org
“Claytopia: National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts 53rd Annual Conference”, NCECA Journal, Volume 40
AFFILIATIONS
2020-Present Artaxis, Member
Crafting the Future, Member
2019-20 Clay Club: Maine College of Art, President
2017-Present National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts, Member