Valerie Van Horne (she/her) is an Iowa native who lives in an elementary school built in the 1940’s that was converted into artist work/live units in Valley Junction, Iowa. A lifelong artist, she has pursued a creative path that is distinctly unconventional. Following a career in catering, meeting and event planning, and hotel management, she returned to her artistic practice, drawing upon her background in both art and hospitality as the foundation for her work. She continues to build upon this foundation through ongoing art studies, community service initiatives, and work across a broad range of mediums, advocacy efforts, and related endeavors. Her art emerges as the culmination of these varied experiences.

Mediums & Skills

Illustration, Graphic Design, Printmaking, Maker, Painting, Photography, Writing, Community Service, Event Planning, Hospitality Management & Administration, Marketing, Sales, Networking, and Social Media.

Art Studies

Des Moines Art Center
Grandview College
University of Chicago
Iowa State University

B.S. Hotel/Restaurant & Institutional Management
• Minor Design Studies

Shows

Des Moines Women’s Club, 2014
DSM Girl Gang, Visitor//Inhabitant, 2016
DSM Girl Gang, Female Gaze, 2016
DSM Girl Gang, The Well-Read Woman 2017
Oskaloosa Art Center and Studios, Visible/Invisible, 2017
DSM Girl Gang, I Spy Spooky Night, 2017
Oliver + James Salon, Places We Go, 2017
Iowa CASA, #METOO: A Sexual Assault Awareness Art Campaign, 2018
Pop-Up Ames! ISU Design on Main, 2018
Women & Art, YWRC 40th Anniversary Art Exhibition, 2018
Oliver + James Salon, PLAY, 2018
INK365Draw, Pop-Up Show, Five Monkeys, 2021
Artists of Phenix & Friends, Art Week 2022
Des Moines Women’s Club, 2023
Artists of Phenix & Friends, Valley Junction Gallery Night, 2023
INK365Draw, Solo Show, Urbandale Public Library, 2025

Art Fairs

Summer Artisan Fair, St. Paul Presbyterian Church, 2024
Art in The Barn, Simpson Barn, Johnston Public Libaray, 2024

Commissions

Memorialized Emotions
Thunderbird

Community Service

After leaving a demanding career in hospitality, including hotel management, catering, conference operations, and special events, Valerie returned to her first love: art, applying her professional experience to support and elevate Iowa’s creative community.

Valerie’s art is guided by ideas rather than mediums, using whatever materials best bring her vision to life. This approach shaped her projects, River City Art and Music and Riverview Artist Salon, now known as Salonnière DSM Salon Series.

Since 2014, Valerie has promoted Iowa creatives through social media and events, holding twenty-five gatherings in Des Moines that featured poets and writers, music, art advocates, community leaders and visual arts at venues including the Des Moines Social Club, Pappajohn Higher Education Center, Mainframe Studios, xBk Live and Annex, The Venue and Five Monkeys. For this work, she received an Excellence in Community Service Award from the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution.