Heather Mourer’s work as an abstract ceramic artist is influenced by her former career as a ballet and modern dancer as well as by the physical damages dance caused. Her earliest encounters with art galleries were as a performance artist; DIA gallery in New York and Pirate Contemporary Art Gallery in Denver were stages for her modern dance productions. Intense study of dance taught her the elements of art such as line, shape, and form, but also caused nerve damage, chronic back pain and an emergency spinal fusion surgery. Her work in ceramics is an expression of the joy and pain of dance and the associated damage to and repair of her body. Her latest pieces are built with slabs of clay patch-worked together, cut apart into many pieces, and then stitched back together as a meditation and celebration of healing.
With a degree from Parsons School of Design in New York and experience as a faculty member of the former Art Institute of Colorado, Mourer has mentored youth experiencing poverty by teaching ballet and assisting elementary through high school students with developing art portfolios for successful applications to art-centered high schools as well as college applications. She has served on committees for several events supporting the Denver Art Museum and has shown her ceramic art at the Kellogg Gallery in Pomona, CA, several galleries in Denver including Spark, LAB, Pirate Contemporary and BRDG, and is represented by Galerie Town in Scottsdale, AZ.
Heather Mourer
b. 1967
Nashville, TN
Education
Anderson Ranch
Snowmass, Colorado
Selected for three-year mentorship program
2026, 2027, 2028
Art Students League
Denver, CO
Ceramics, oil painting, figurative painting
2019-present
Parsons School of Design
New York, NY
Notable Alumni, AAS
Interior Architectural Design
1999
University of Colorado
Denver, CO
Honor Roll and Distinction, MA
Curriculum & Instruction
1995
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO
Honor Roll, BA
English Literature
1991
Merce Cunningham Modern Dance
New York, NY
Scholarship student, performed at DIA gallery, NYC
1987
North Carolina School of the Arts
Winston Salem, NC
Ballet Major, High School Diploma
Advanced Level HB-1
1986
Teaching Experience
Art Institute of Colorado
Denver, CO
Faculty, Studio Classes
2001-2004
Talks and Presentations
Presenter, “Living Anthropology”
NCECA
(Nat’l Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts)
Baltimore Convention Center
Baltimore, MD
March 2027
Artist Talk
The Eddy Hotel, Golden, CO
Opening event for Foothill Art Center’s Art Week
June 2025
Community Involvement
Luncheon by Design, event committee
Denver Art Museum
2024-2026
Judge for 7th Congressional District Art Competition
Red Rocks College, Lakewood, CO
2024
Mentor for underprivileged youth
Assisted with art portfolios for successful acceptance to Denver School of the Arts, colleges, employment
2001-2024
Design Council Board member
Denver Art Museum
2007-2009
Design After Dark, event committee
Denver Art Museum
2008
Exhibitions and Galleries
Center for the Arts, Member’s Show
Evergreen, CO
2026
The Eddy Solo Show, Opening for Foothills Art Center Art Week
Golden, CO
2025
Foothills Art Center, Juried Member’s Show
Golden, CO
2025
Kellogg Gallery, Ink & Clay, Juried Show
Pomona, CA
2024
LAB Gallery, Denver, The Space Between Juried Show
Denver, CO
2024
DonLo Gallery
Breckenridge,CO
2024
BRDG Gallery, True West Juried Show
Denver, CO
2024
Galerie TOWN
Scottsdale, AZ
2024-present
Urban Mud Gallery, Multiple Group Exhibitions
Denver, CO
2020-2024
IMA Gallery
Boulder,CO
2022-2024
Spark Gallery, Small Works Exhibition
Denver, CO
2023
Pirate Contemporary Art Gallery, Group Exhibition
Denver, CO
2023
Select Dance Performances
Pirate Contemporary Art Gallery, Hannah Kahn Dance Co 1995
DIA Soho Gallery (before the dirt installation!), New York City, Merce Cunningham Co choreographer 1992
Perelman Theater, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Ballet Co, Nutcracker 1987
DeMille Theater, Winston Salem, NC, Nutcracker 1986
Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Midsummer Night’s Dream 1985