b. 1980

Education
MFA, Virginia Commonwealth University, Craft/Material Studies Graduate Program, 2014
BFA, UNC-Charlotte, Visual Art - Fibers, 2003

Awards

Elsewhere Museum, Residency, Summer, 2018
Regional Artist Project Grant, Arts and Science Council, 2018
Happenings CLT Visual Artist Grant, 2017
Visual Artist Fellowship, North Carolina Arts Council, 2016-17
Goodyear Arts Residency, Charlotte, NC, 2016
Richmond Arts and Cultural District Micro Grant, CultureWORKS, 2013
Graduate School Thesis Assistantship, Virginia Commonwealth University, 2013
William B. Clopton Scholarship, Virginia Commonwealth University, 2013
Graduate Teaching Assistantship, Virginia Commonwealth University, 2013
Graduate Student Travel Grant, Virginia Commonwealth University, 2013
Summer Affiliate Artist Residency. McColl Center for Visual Art, 2012

Selected One and Two Person Exhibits

2018
Resident Exhibition (July), Elsewhere Museum (Curator: Emily Ensminger), Greensboro, NC
Artificial Habitats, Waterworks Visual Arts Center (Curator: Anne Scott Clement), Salisbury, NC 

2014
WOVEN Community, Sediment Gallery, Richmond, VA
2013
The secret lives of the inanimate (Rachel Emily Simpson and Andrea Vail), Student Union Gallery, UNCC, Charlotte, NC
2012
TranscendingScape, Curated by McColl Center for Visual Art, Transamerica Building, Charlotte, NC

Selected Group Exhibits

2018
NC Artists Fellowship Exhibit, Cameron Art Museum, Wilmington, NC 
Textures: CLTextile showcase, C3Lab, Charlotte, NC 
2017
Crossing Generations, Curator: Jane Sauer, Hoffman Gallery, Oregon College of Art and Craft, Portland, OR 
Instructor Exhibition, Sandra J. Blain Gallery, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN
2016
Showcase, Goodyear Arts, Charlotte, NC 
In Esse, Emily Davis Gallery, The University of Akron, Akron, OH 
Faculty Biennial, UNC-Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 
Open Occupancy, McColl Center for Art + Innovation, Charlotte, NC 
Residency, Form & Concept, Santa Fe, NM
BOOM, Charlotte, NC
Site Seeing, C3Lab, Charlotte, NC
2015
Visual Arts Faculty Exhibition, Pease Gallery, CPCC, Charlotte, NC
2014
MFA Thesis Exhibition - Panoramic Sham, the Depot, VCU, Richmond, VA
2013
Metal 3, LIGHT Art+Design, Chapel Hill, NC 
Radius 250, Juror: N. Elizabeth Schlatter, Director and Curator of Univ. of Richmond Museums, Artspace Gallery, Richmond, VA
FO/MENT, Artspace Gallery, Richmond, VA
Altered, Cornelius Arts Center, Corneluis, NC
Wickham House 200: Inspiring Art Two Centuries Later, 1812 Wickham House, The Valentine Richmond History Center, Richmond, VA

Community

2018 
Signalling Hello, Elsewhere, Greensboro, NC
A process-based greeting initiative that shares genuine encounters with pedestrians informed the daily practice of walking and greeting others with a “Hello.”

COLLECTING_PILE, Goodyear Arts, Charlotte, NC, Supported by North Carolina Arts Council
An interactive art work which involves the community as both content and collaborator.

2015 - Present
Friendge, ongoing - www.andreavail.com/friendge
An initiative that invites people from all over the world to create tassels that I will fashion into a large border

2014
WOVEN Community Project, Candela Books + Gallery, Storefront for Community Design, Coalition Theater, Black Iris Gallery, Anchor Studios, Quirk Gallery, Richmond Public Library, Sediment Gallery,Richmond, VA Supported by CultureWORKS - Richmond Arts and Cultural District Micro Grant
Three-part community-focused exchange, involves collecting donated crochet goods from the community,unraveling the goods to reclaim yarn, and welcoming Richmonders to join me in weaving the yarn.

2013
Gathering Clouds: A Quilting Bee, The Anderson Gallery, VCU, Richmond, VA
In conjunction with Sanford Biggers: Codex, The Anderson Gallery collected submissions of original cloud photographs from participants via tumblr. With help from the VCU’s Fashion Department the photos were printed on cotton fabric, later to be pieced together as a quilt. Community members joined me with finishing stitches. The evening concluded with the completed quilt raffled off to a participant.

2012
Two Plus One: A 5 Hour Creative Interaction (co-organized with Rachel Emily Simpson), McColl Center for Visual Art, Charlotte, NC
Rachel and I, along with ten other artist sought to investigate the possibilities and challenges presented while working collaboratively. Our effort was to combine the visions, ideas, and styles of two plus artists throughdialogue and unrestricted materials. 

ONE HUNDRED CIRCLES, Elizabeth Traditional Elementary School, Charlotte, NC Permanent Public Installation
100 individual circular tapestries joined to make one permanent public work. From
April 9 - May 30, 2012, through a series of examples and lessons, the entire Fourth Grade class at Elizabeth Traditional Elementary School (100 Students) worked together to produce a textile rich in color, texture, and pride

Bibliography

‘Color: Outside the Lines’ Waterworks Summer Exhibition. Salisbury Post, 7 June 2018.
Lacy, Justin . "Cameron Art Museum exhibit shows off best of North Carolina art." Star News [Wilmington] 10 Apr. 2-18 Web.
Sauer, Jane. “CROSSING GENERATIONS.” Surface Design Journal, pp. 6–11.
"ARTFUL: VISUAL ARTS, What to Do and See in Charlotte. Who to Meet." The Charlotte Observer 21 May 2017: 3C. Print.
"Carolina Art Crush: Andrea Vail." Interview. Blog post. Happeningsclt. 17 May 2017. Web.
Trenning, Lynn. “Salt and Tassels, Weaves and Clay – and $10KEach.” The Charlotte Observer. McClatchy, 5 January 2017. Web.
De La Canal, Nick. "McColl Center Tackles House Bill 2 With An Art Exhibit - Where Else? - In The Bathrooms." Weblog post. WFAE 90.7. NPR, 7 Sept. 2016. Web.
Price, Mark. "Bitter HB2 Dispute Basis for Provocative Restroom Art Show in Charlotte." The Charlotte Observer. N.p., 18 Aug. 2016. Web.
Spruill, Aerin. "Balance Is Key When It Comes to Work and Play." QC After Dark. Creative Loafing Charlotte, 25 Aug. 2016. Web.
Toussaint, Katie. "Yep, There's a Bathroom with a Disco Ball in Charlotte - CharlotteFive." CharlotteFive. 18 Aug. 2016. Web.
Hopper, John. "INSPIRATIONAL 10 - the Textile Blog 2008-2016." Inspirational. N.p., 2016. Web.
Vail, Andrea. "Woven Community An Invitation To Work Shoulder-to-Shoulder." Surface Design News. Surface Design Association, 28 July 2.
"Exposure." Surface Design Journal: Textiles Winter 2014: 68. Print.
Greenberg, Blue. "Many Configurations of Metal at Chapel Hill Gallery." The Herald-Sun. N.p., 9 Jan. 2014. Web.
Adams, Amanda Dalla Villa. "The Practice of Thinking Artspace's "Radius250" Has Some Compelling Work Hiding in Its Corners." Style Weekly. N.p., 6 Aug. 2013. Web.
Lord, Jo. "Please Drink and Quilt Responsibly." Sifter. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 June 2013.
Slipek, Edwin. "Pimp My House, A 200-year-old Landmark Mansion Gets a Facelift from VCU Students." Style Weekly 19 Feb. 2013: 45. Print.
Overcash, Anita. "Two Plus One and Squared Closing Reception." Creative Loafing Charlotte 26 July 2013: n. pag. Web.
Hopper, John. "The Symbolism of Personal Memory. The Artwork of Andrea Vail." The Textile Blog. N.p., 11 Jan. 2012. Web.
"Spotlight on Education." Surface Design Journal: Creative Explorations of Fiber and Fabric Summer 2009: 64-65. Print.

Outreach, Workshops, and Volunteer

2018
PADME Visiting Artist, Bloomsburg University, Department of Art & Art History, Bloomsburg, PA
2017
Juror, Future Tense: Student Exhibition, Surface Design Association, MK + AB Gallery, Portland State University
2015 - Present
Teaching Artist, Community School of the Arts, Charlotte, NC
2015
Teaching Artist, Sunday Fun Day: Project Ten Ten Ten/ Proyecto Diez Diez Diez, Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC
2014 
Visiting Artist, Experimental art workshop, The John Crosland School, Charlotte, NC
Representative - Craft/Material Studies, Graduate Artists Association, Richmond, VA
2013-14 
Student Advisory Committee. Surface Design Association, San Antonio, TX
2013 
Quilting Workshop, Crafts/Material Studies Department and VCU Freedom Quilt Project, Richmond, VA
2009-11 Public Relations Assistant. Charlotte Arts Catalyst, Charlotte, NC

Presentations

2018
Artist Talk, Elsewhere Museum, Greensboro, NC
2016
Faculty Biennial Discussion, UNC-Charlotte, Charlotte, NC
2015
SDA Craft + Concept Intensive 2015 Made/Aware: Socially Engaged Practices, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN
2013 
Graduate Artist Association, VCU, Richmond, VA
Artist to Artist. McColl Center for Visual Art, Charlotte, NC
2011 
Sheila Hicks: Celebrating 50 Years of Textile Design & Art. Friends of the Mint Lecture Series. Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC
Our Voices in Action: Discovering your Voice. Third Annual Women’s Leadership Conference. Davidson College, Davidson, NC

Professional Positions

AdjunctFaculty, Arts: Visual, Performing and Interior Design Division, Central PiedmontCommunity College, 2015-17
AdjunctFaculty (Sabbatical Replacement), College of Art + Art History, UNC-Charlotte, 2016
Adjunct Faculty (Sabbatical Replacement), Department of Art, Appalachian State University, 2014-2015
AdjunctFaculty, College of Art + Art History, UNC-Charlotte, 2008-2011

Memberships

Surface Design Association
Southeast Fibers Educators Association
CLTextile