Val graduated from Northfield School for Girls, Northfield, MA and Beloit College, Beloit, WI with a BA degree in Art/Art Education and a minor in Archaeology. After a lifetime of volunteering and rearing 3 children in NJ and TN, Val returned to art as her main creative outlet after the family moved to Signal Mountain. After assisting at Angel Reed & Co. as an artist for several years, Val brought her studio to the MACC. Since then, she has been teaching and mentoring basic and intermediate painting and drawing classes in a working studio environment, with classes especially designed for adults and children who want to explore and exercise the creative side of their brains.