Today we’d like to introduce you to Valerie Mann.
Hi Valerie, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I’m a Michigan artist who became a Michigander 34 years ago when I came here for my MFA at Michigan State University. But I grew up on a farm in very rural Indiana. I had great art teachers from 2nd grade through high school, and my mom, grandma, and aunt always encouraged my creativity and interest in making.
My undergrad studies were at University of Illinois in painting, and by the time I graduated, I was making 3D objects and painting on them. In grad school, I started in painting but quickly moved to sculpture to study structural problems and traditional sculptural materials (bronze casting).
I move back and forth between 2D and 3D methods of making, and I know the 2 different modes affect my ability to understand and translate ideas and images, whichever materials I am using.
I am the mother of 2 grown children, and I worked on my art, exhibiting it around the country, teaching part-time while raising them. I also became part-owner of WSG Gallery in Ann Arbor when my kids were adolescents. They grew up around artists, learning how to install shows, host opening receptions, etc.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Is anything ever easy and without challenge/obstacle??? It’s those bumps along the way that test our resolve and make us take pause to reassess, maybe take a path we wouldn’t have tried otherwise.
When I got out of grad school, there was a bit of a recession, so jobs – jobs I really wanted – weren’t plentiful. So, I put together income doing a few things. I worked as a studio assistant, which basically became me doing the artist’s work and them signing their name to it. This taught me to first ask for a raise, then stand up for myself and leave, eventually. It also was one of the several jobs that taught me how I DON’T want to treat someone else.
At the same time, I worked doing child care and eventually teaching at a wonderful Montessori school. This introduced me to Montessori philosophy and folks around Ann Arbor, many of whom I still see today. The philosophy was an epiphany to me and gave me tools to be a better mother and teacher than I otherwise would have been.
So, I cobbled together some teaching experiences for myself, thinking I wanted to be a full-time college professor and building toward that. Over the years, I’ve found that I would much rather teach part-time.
It maybe hasn’t been totally smooth, but I have built a strong exhibition career. Currently, I am at the point where folks are asking me to have a show rather than having to hustle so hard to find shows for myself. It’s a continuum…
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
I make work that translates ideas between 2D and 3D objects. Sometimes I paint flowers and landscapes, and sometimes, I make abstract sculpture with repurposed materials that speak about things like joy/luck, mass shootings, or grief. That’s quite a range, I know, but my sculptural pieces usually take quite a bit longer than my paintings and give me the chance to think about what I want to say, ask and process with each body of work. I had my installation piece, ‘The Gun Show,’ at ArtPrize in 2017. I was proud to be able to show that piece and have conversations with hundreds of people for the duration of ArtPrize.
Currently, I have a solo exhibit at Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center called ‘Good Grief.’ It’s a body of work that contemplates grief. The body of work deals with the fact that we are all experiencing some level grief every day, but the pandemic really brought it to the forefront, and in some ways, grief has the capacity to connect us if we let it.
What sets me apart is my experience and use of both 2D and 3D techniques, my use of materials, and using my bodies of work to engage viewers in important, often uneasy conversations.
What do you think about luck?
Luck has had a large role in all of it – starting with being adopted as an infant and growing up on a farm. Growing up on a farm is a lot of work, but the work ethic I have today comes from that formative experience. I was lucky to have great, smart, and creative sisters.
Lucky to have my aunt advocate for me going to University of Illinois.
Lucky to have great female art teachers before college.
I had a great cohort in college and lucky to have a great female teacher at U of I who took a chance on me by coordinating an apprenticeship in her studio of artists and an internship in a Chicago gallery. Then, again lucky at MSU to have some great grad school colleagues and professors. I’m still in touch with so many of these folks! And there is where I’m lucky that my mom encouraged me to keep great connections with people.
Contact Info:
- Website: valerie-mann.squarespace.com
- Instagram: @valmannart
Image Credits
Cherna Bednarsh
