Vera Baney was born in Trinidad in 1930. She attended Brighton College of Art in England as a part time student studying crafts (1959-61) and Alfred University NY, (Summer 1968). In 1971 she left Trinidad to study at University of Maryland from where she got the BA degree in Studio Art. (1971-80).
She has had 9 solo shows including a show at Washington County Museum of Fine Arts in Hagerstown MD, (1985) and Art Creators Gallery (1981). She has participated in numerous group shows in the U.S., Canada, England, Trinidad and Yugoslavia.
Her commissions include a 6'x8' mosaic mural for Bishops' High School in Port of Spain, a 16'x4' ceramic mural for Scotia Center, Port of Spain and a bison for the Central Bank in Trinidad. She was invited to participate in a Ceramic Symposium in Yugoslavia and conducted a Raku workshop in Trinidad for the National Cultural Council (1981). She did pioneering work in Studio Ceramics in Trinidad, using local materials.
She taught ceramics at CCBC - Dundalk from 1980 - 1996. Vera Baney is listed in Who's Who in American Art, Who's Who in Women International and she was honored by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago with an award of the Humming Bird Gold Medal. In 2007, Vera was awarded an Honorary Doctorate (DLitt) from the University of the West Indies in recognition of her lifetime achievements in ceramic sculpture.
Photographs of her work have been reproduced in "Responding to Art" by Bob Bersson, McGraw Hill (2003), Contemporary Crafts of the Americas (1976), Ceramic monthly magazine and Crafts Horizons. She was married to Sculptor Ralph Baney and has a son. She lived in Ellicott City, MD where she had her studio. In 1999 Vera suffered a severe stroke which left her without the use of her dominant side. She trained herself to use the other hand, and began working in clay again, and created a vast quantity of hand-built ceramic sculptures after her stroke, some of which she exhibited in Maryland.
Vera died at home on 20th of May 2008 from heart failure, where she lived with her husband, master sculptor Ralph Baney, and their son.
