Valerie Eickmeier is a studio artist and Professor of Fine Arts and Dean  Emerita, at the Herron School of Art and Design at Indiana University.  She taught studio fine art courses and served in multiple academic and  administrative roles throughout her 39-year career at Herron including  the position of Dean from 1998 to 2018. Eickmeier earned a Master of  Fine Arts degree in Sculpture from Washington University in St. Louis in  1982 and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Kansas City Art  Institute in 1979. Eickmeier’s career encompasses numerous visiting  artist lectures, private and corporate commissions, and more than 60  gallery and museum exhibitions. She is the recipient of many awards  including two National Endowment for the Arts Special Project Grants,  two Creative Renewal Grants from the Arts Council of Indianapolis, an  Individual Artist Fellowship from the Indiana Arts Commission, and six  research grants awarded through Indiana University. In 2005, Eickmeier  was identified by Dialogue Magazine as one of the Midwest’s “Top 25 Most  Influential People in the Arts.”