Nora Valdez is an Argentine artist working and exhibiting since 1977. In 1982 she graduated from the College of Fine Arts (Mercedes San Luis, Argentina) with the title of Professor of Fine Arts and went on to teach classes there. During this time she showed her work throughout Argentina, winning prizes and critical acclaim. In 1984 she moved to Brazil where she continued her work. Later that year she moved to Europe. First living in Perugia, Italy, where she further developed and exhibited her work, in 1985 she moved to Zaragoza, Spain where she started working in marble at the "Matadero", a sculptors' studio funded by the city of Zaragoza. In 1986 she moved to the Boston area. She has shown her work at the Fuller Museum of Art, the DeCordova Museum, the Artists' Foundation, Mobius, the Harbor Gallery at UMass, the Institute of Contemporary Art, the Boston Center for the Arts, the Danforth Museum and other venues. In 1997 she moved to Austin, Texas where she worked in marble and limestone. She gave classes at the Elisabet Ney Sculpture Conservatory and the Austin Museum of Art. She was commissioned by Art in Public Places to develop a fountain and mural for Austin’s Plaza Saltillo. She moved to Jekyll Island, Ga. in 1999 where she began developing work in conjunction with the environment. This culminated in the Driftwood Beach Project, a 2-day installation/performance piece on the beach followed by a month long show at the Jekyll Island museum and a comprehensive video documentary. At the end of 2000, Valdez moved back to New England. Residing in western Massachusetts, she directed and created numerous public art projects and sculptural installations including “The Journey” at the University of Massachusetts (2000-2004); the Manhan Rail Trail mural in Easthampton; the restoration of the Hestia mural “History of Women in Northampton.” She also created an installation for Amnesty International in Japan. In 2004 Valdez returned to Boston. She was invited to carve a granite piece at the 6th International Sculpture Symposium at the Andres Art Institute in Brookline, NH. In 2005 she participated in the International Snow Sculpture Symposium for Quebec’s Winter Carnival, where her team won 1st prize. She also participated in Sculpture Symposiums in Murnau, Germany and the island of Thassos, Greece. In September she installed “Connections/Connexiones”, a permanent outdoor sculpture installation in Sumter SC for Accessibility 2005. In 2006 she received the New England Foundation for the Arts Fund for the Arts grant to create a sculpture garden at the Boston Day and Evening Academy. She was curator and resident artist in 2006 for the 1st International Sculpture Symposium in Sumter, SC. She has also participated in an annual cultural exchange with Ayacucho, Peru and the Vermont based Carving Studio and Sculpture Center since 2006. Valdez participated in the International Sculpture Symposium in Brussels (Belgium) in June, 2007. In 2008 she will be traveling to China to create sculpture at SIAS International University. Valdez has been selected for inclusion in Who's Who in the World since 2001 and has appeared in numerous publications, including a review of “the Journey” in Sculpture Magazine in 2003. Her work has received funding from a variety of public and private institutions including the New England Foundation for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the Georgia Arts Council. From the beginning, Valdez has utilized sculpture and installations to create images that reflect on the nature of change, the life of the individual and the natural or societal forces that buffet our souls. While her earlier installation work explored the effects of alienation caused by various forms of repression, her stone work seeks to make more subtle comments on these concerns. Her thematic concerns are also reflected in her involvement with the community: doing public art projects and giving workshops at a variety of urban institutions. Art becomes not just a way to explore issues of human rights but to have a direct effect on them as well.