Dorothy McMurdie Award Winner 2005 VALERIE HEARDER Valerie Hearder has an international reputation as a quilt artist, teacher writer and curator and has made a lasting contribution to the Canadian quilting community. She is committed to supporting, mentoring and promoting Canadian quilters. Since her first teaching experience at Quilt Canada 84, Valerie has been known as a generous and empathetic teacher who fosters her student’s creative processes. Born in South Africa, Valerie came to Canada in 1975 at age 23. She lived in the Northwest Territories and in Labrador where she worked in community craft development for 3 years with Inuit, Innu and settler craft producers before settling in Nova Scotia. She also spent 7 years in St. John’s Newfoundland. The influence of Africa and finding a new home in Canada are strong themes in Valerie’s work. Known for innovative art quilts, she expresses her own design and voice in her quilts. Valerie is recognized as one of the pioneers of landscape appliqué quilts which she developed and taught extensively throughout Canada, the U.S.A., Europe, South Africa and Japan. Her book on landscapes, Beyond the Horizon: Small Landscape Appliqué (C&T Publishing 1995), is recognized as a classic on landscape design. Many credit Valerie’s teaching and book as playing an important role in popularizing the quilted landscape genre. With an extensive exhibition record to her credit, Valerie's work is frequently accepted into Canadian and international juried exhibitions. She was awarded the Mayflower Handquilters Guild of Nova Scotia’s Golden Thimble Award in 1987 and honorary life membership in that guild in 1995. Valerie was selected for the Nihon Vogue’s 88 quilt Leaders of the World (Japan, 1995). Her quilts are held in private and corporate collections in Canada, United States and England and her work has been published in more than 60 publications. In 2003 Valerie was nominated by the Newfoundland and Labrador Craft Council for the Saidye Bronfman Award for Excellence In Fine Craft. Valerie served on the board of the Nova Scotia Designer Craft Council, heading up the Standards Committee, and was awarded Juried Member Status by that organization. She also served as Chairperson of the Anna Templeton Centre for Art Craft and Design in St. John’s, Newfoundland.