Dan Van Tassell is a ceramics and mixed media sculptor who was born and raised in Janesville, Wisconsin. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in ceramics at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in 2008, and his Masters of Fine Art in ceramics in 2012 at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville.  He was an artist in residence at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, North Dakota in 2012. 

Upon completing the residency, he accepted a position in that department both as an Instructor, and as Preparator and Registrar of the University of North Dakota’s Art Collections. Dan joined the faculty at Emory & Henry College in the summer of 2015 as Curator. In 2019 he became the chair of the Art Department and teaches full-time. 

As Curator at Emory & Henry College he has curated numerous exhibitions including the popular shows, A Wing and A Prayer, by prominent artist Jennifer Angus, and also Portraits, Landscapes and Still Lifes: A Distinguished Collaboration of Artworks Provided by James W. and Frances G. McGlothlin.

Dan has exhibited throughout the United States, and his work has been published in the popular “500 Series” book 500 Ceramic Sculptures: Contemporary Practice, Singular Works. Currently, he and his wife reside in Glade Spring, Virginia. He remains an active studio artist, as well as a fanatically avid fisherman, fly tyer, and outdoor enthusiast.