Val 2021

ABOUT VAL

Val Sivilli is primarily a painter that utilizes printmaking & storytelling in her work.  Val is originally from Brooklyn then Long Island and then Brooklyn again. Val’s home and studio are currently in Hunterdon County, NJ. Having completed her graduate work at Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers, she studied under both Judith Brodsky and Lynn Allen. She was also the director of the SilkScreen Shop at MGSA during her 2 years as a Graduate Student.   Val studied printmaking as an undergrad with Antonio Frasconi at SUNY Purchase. At Alfred University, she studied ceramics with Val Cushing and Wayne Higby, printmaking with Jesse Schefrin and John Wood.  Between undergrad and graduate school, Val lived in NYC travelling and working with the artist couple Leon Golub and Nancy Spero and was a long time member of the Bob Blackburn Printmaking Workshop.  Since 2003, Val has been an Adjunct Professor of Fine Art at both Bucks and Raritan Valley Community Colleges. After a 2-year run as the director of a cooperative gallery called The Steamroller Gallery in Frenchtown, NJ, Val created Civilian Art. Civilian has been, and still is, her identity as a T-shirt and graphic designer. While living and working in Frenchtown, New Jersey, Val became totally immersed in her community by engaging in the local schools, youth, and professional organizations through a large variety of locally produced art related projects, many of them fundraisers.  Civilian’s graphics were used for Riverfest from 2006 – 2016. She established The Hunterdon Art Tour in 2016, a self-guided tour of artist studios throughout Hunterdon County, NJ. Until  2021, she created all of the imagery and graphics associated with THAT, the Hunterdon Art Tour.  She is currently building ‘The Civilian School of Art’ combining her experience as an art foundation educator and small business entrepreneur into a series of courses delivering excellent and accessible artistic skills in a virtual and affordable environment.   Quite often, Val can be found playing her accordion somewhere not too far from the Delaware River in Western New Jersey.