Bio


“Terry Berlier makes conceptual art of unusual intelligence, humor and sensitivity to the impact of materials.”—Kenneth Baker, San Francisco Chronicle

I am an Associate Professor of Art and an interdisciplinary artist teaching classes primarily in sculpture. I acknowledge that Stanford University occupies the unceded lands of the Muwekma Ohlone Nation, and honor the ancestral and ongoing relationships between the Muwekma Ohlone and these territories. I acknowledge that I am a settler on these lands with an obligation to humility; gratitude; and contributions to Indigenous rematriation and sovereignty, wellness and well-being, and the collective struggle against colonization and oppression.

Terry Berlier is an interdisciplinary artist who investigates the evolution of human interaction with queerness and ecologies. She has exhibited in solo and group shows in North America, Europe, Asia, South America, and Australia. This results in sculptures that are kinetic and sound based, and multi-media installations. She emphasizes the essential roles played by history, cultural memories, and environmental conditions in the creation of our identities. Using humor, she provides tools for recovering and reanimating our faltering connections with self, queerness, nature, and society. Interweaving movement, sound, and interaction as a metaphor for both harmonious and dissonant interactions, Berlier acts as an archaeologist excavating material objects to challenge our understanding of progress and reveal how history is constructed within a cultural landscape.

Recent exhibitions include the Yerba Buena Center for Arts, Contemporary Jewish Museum of San Francisco, Catherine Clark Gallery, Southern Exposure, Contemporary Art and Spirits in Osaka Japan, Arnoff Center for the Arts in Cincinnati, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, Thomas Welton Stanford Art Gallery at Stanford University, Montalvo Arts Center, Weston Art Gallery, Babel Gallery in Norway, Richard L. Nelson Gallery, Center for Contemporary Art in Sacramento, Kala Art Institute Gallery, San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery, Natural Balance in Girona Spain and FemArt Mostra D’Art De Dones in Barcelona Spain. She has received numerous residencies and grants including the Center for Cultural Innovation Grant, the Zellerbach Foundation Berkeley, Artist in Residence at Montalvo Arts Center, Arts Council Silicon Valley Artist Fellowship, Michelle R. Clayman Institute for Gender Research Fellow at Stanford University, Recology San Francisco, Hungarian Multicultural Center in Budapest Hungary, Exploratorium: Museum of Science, Art and Human Perception in San Francisco, California Council for Humanities California Stories Fund and the Millay Colony for Artists. Her work has been reviewed in the BBC News Magazine, San Francisco Chronicle and in the book ‘Seeing Gertrude Stein’ published by University of California Press. Her work is in several collections including the Progressive Corporation in Cleveland Ohio, Kala Art Institute in Berkeley California and Bildwechsel Archive in Berlin Germany.

She received a Masters in Fine Arts in Studio Art from University of California, Davis and a Bachelors of Fine Arts from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Terry Berlier is an Associate Professor and Director of the Sculpture Lab and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Art and Art History at Stanford University where she has taught since 2007.

Academic Appointments


  • Professor, Art & Art History
  • Professor (By courtesy), Music

Administrative Appointments


  • Artist in Residence, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (2015 - 2015)
  • Artist in Residence, Montalvo Arts Center (2014 - 2014)
  • Artist in Residence, Lademoen Kunstnerverksteder LKV (2012 - 2012)
  • Artist in Residence, Recology, San Francisco, CA (2011 - 2012)
  • Michelle R. Clayman Institute for Gender Research, Research Fellow, Stanford University (2011 - 2012)
  • Artist Fellowship, Visual Arts Sculpture, Arts Council Silicon Valley (2011 - 2011)
  • International Artist in Residency, Hungarian Multicultural Center (2010 - 2010)
  • Fellowship, Residency and Exhibition, Kala Art Institute (2009 - 2010)
  • Residency at Exploratorium, Visions from the New California Artists Alliance (2008 - 2009)
  • Fellowship Recipient, Millay Colony for Artists Residency (2004 - 2004)

Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations


  • Affiliate Faculty, Woods Institute (2017 - Present)
  • Member, Board of Directors, Recology Artist in Residence Program (2013 - Present)
  • Affiliate Faculty, Product Realization Lab (PRL), Stanford University (2012 - Present)
  • Director, Undergraduate Studies, Stanford University (2009 - Present)
  • Member, Thomas Welton Art Gallery Committee, Stanford University (2009 - 2017)

Program Affiliations


  • Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Professional Education


  • Master of Fine Arts, University of California, Davis (2003)

2023-24 Courses