The first in a series hosting Maine-based artists looking at the intersection of nature and art. Join award-winning artist Simon van der Ven for an art pop-up and presentation.

Having received an undergraduate degree in printmaking with a minor in sculpture, Simon ‘Siem’ van der Ven worked as a goldsmith and carpenter/builder before becoming an award winning high school art teacher.  Seventeen years in the classroom were interrupted only by a year-long sabbatical in the south of France, where van der Ven worked in Atelier Buffile clay studio and studied painting and critical theory at the Marchutz School. Later, while still teaching, van der Ven earned an MFA  concentrating his studies on ceramics and drawing.

Simon has been an adjunct instructor at the University of Maine Augusta, University College Rockland, and Unity College. He’s facilitated workshops at Haystack Mountain School of Craft, Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts, and the Farnsworth Museum, and has been a resident artist at Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Colorado and Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts in Maine.

Van der Ven’s work has won awards in several national juried competitions. It is held in both private and public collections including the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, the Canton Museum of Fine Arts, and Harrisburg Community College.

Today, van der Ven works as a full-time studio artist and part-time educator.