Artist Bio: L. Jo Valandry

Jo Valandry is an artist and art educator with an MFA from the University of Arizona and a BFA from the University of South Dakota in studio art: printmaking. Her work blends figurative realism with abstraction to capture slice-of-life imagery, while a merging of printmaking and painting techniques lend elegance and emotional impact to her work.

Jo Valandry’s prints and portfolio boxes have been featured in several national printmaking exhibitions in Arizona, New Mexico, South Dakota, West Virginia, Ohio, and Wisconsin. She was the featured visiting artist in two national handmade book demonstrations: The 2001 Intercollegiate print portfolio exchange workshop, The University Of South Dakota, College of Fine Arts, Vermillion, SD, 2001 and The 22nd Bradley National Print and Drawing Exhibition: A Bradley Forum on Printmaking, Bradley University, Peoria, IL, 1989.

Ms. Valandry has been commissioned to produce numerous painted and mixed media portraits and was selected to create the 26’ sesquicentennial mural for The Sisters of St Frances of Assisi a permanent installation at the St Frances Convent, St Frances Wisconsin.

As a new member of the Vila Foundation, Jo Valandry has exhibited in five consecutive exhibitions in 2008-2009 and will be the featured artist in a solo exhibition in August 2009. Throughout her career, she has exhibited both locally and nationally. Local galleries include El Ojito Springs Gallery, 801 Gallery, Pima Community College Center for the Arts Gallery, Central Arts Collective Gallery, and the University of Arizona Museum of Art, to name a few. On the National scale Ms. Valandry has exhibited at Warren M. Lee Center for the Fine Arts, Vermillion, S.D.; Eastern New Mexico University, Portales, NM; Creative Arts Center, Morgantown, WV; Burke Hall Gallery, Granville Ohio; Heuser Arts Center, Peoria, IL; W.H. Over Museum, Sletwold Hall, Vermillion S.D.; Sioux City Art Center, Sioux City, IA; Rudell Gallery, Spearfish, S.D.

Jo Valandry lives and works in Tucson, Arizona. She is a member of the Arizona Commission on the Arts and was a Roster Artist in 2002-04. She is also a member of the Tucson TRAC artists and the National Arts Education Association. In addition to working as a studio artist, Ms. Valandry is currently teaching art and the Chair of the Art Department at Salpointe Catholic High School, August 2009.