Clemson Art Chair named to International Academy of Ceramics

Professor Valerie Zimany, chair of the Clemson University Department of Art, was one of ten U.S. artists inducted into the International Academy of Ceramics in 2021. Zimany was nominated by members of Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. Candidates elected by the Council will be introduced during the 2022 General Assembly in Geneva by the President of the Academy.

“I’m honored to be elected as a new member of the IAC,” Zimany said. “My international education established friends and colleagues around the world, and these relationships are among the most meaningful experiences that sustain me as an artist.”

Founded in 1952, the IAC promotes international communication and collaboration between ceramic artists and encourages the highest level of quality in all-ceramic cultures. It is the only association devoted to the medium of clay that functions on an international level. Since 1958, it has been a partner with UNESCO, preserving ceramic art from around the world. The organization’s membership represents 77 countries around the world.

I am a believer in diversity and inclusion as core tenets of Ceramics as a field and its shared global language across boundaries and practices.”

Valerie Zimany, Chair, Clemson Department of Art

To be an elected member of the IAC signifies the highest quality of excellence and achievement in the ceramic arts and introduces members to an international community that promotes contemporary ceramics through an extensive network of artists, critics, historians, writers, collectors, museums, galleries and institutions in the field. The interaction among its members promotes understanding and cultural exchange and its collective contributions significantly advance ceramic art worldwide. Members of the IAC are regularly invited to participate in Congresses, residencies, to submit articles for publication as well as being asked to jury international exhibitions and competitions.

“I am a believer in diversity and inclusion as core tenets of Ceramics as a field and its shared global language across boundaries and practices,” Zimany said. “I will wholeheartedly serve the IAC mission.”

Zimany’s career has followed an international path. She earned her MFA at Kanazawa College of Art as a Fulbright Fellow and Japanese Government (Monbusho) Scholar, and she spent three years residency at the Utatsuyama Craft Workshop in Kanazawa, Japan. In 2011 she returned to Kanazawa’s Institute of Art & Design as a guest researcher through the Fulbright-Hays program of the U.S. Department of Education.

Her work is also held or on exhibit in a number of overseas collections, including the Taipei Yingge Ceramic Museum, Taiwan; the World Ceramic Museum in Icheon, Korea and the Slovenia National Museum in Metelkova, Slovenia. She contributes to the international conversation about the expanded field of ceramics through her work, research, publications, travel, international workshops, grants, special projects and conference presentations. Her work is in public institution collections in nine countries and continues to be recognized on the international stage.

Learn more about Zimany’s artwork on her website and on her profile on the IAC website.