Zirrus VanDevere was born and raised in upstate New York, and has been interested in the visual arts since late childhood, and interested in the arts in general probably upon conception. Her father, a sociologist, and her mother, a nurse practitioner, were tie-dyed in the wool supporters of the arts and of civil liberties on the whole. She attended alternative public schooling which put a high value on creativity, individuality and the arts in all of its forms. It was not until she moved out of the alternative schools and into a traditional setting at a trade school that she recognized how very weird she was. The art room proved to be a safe haven in a sea of conventional schooling for her, and she majored in Graphic Design for three years there.

Zirrus then attended M.C.C., the local community college her father taught at, and majored in Fine Art, discovering painting and the art of critique. The art community there was lively ~ original, curious and inventive. Their influence is felt by the artist even now. She finished her BA program at SUNY Oswego (an amazing vortex of creativity and supernatural influences), focusing on Graphic Design, Photography and Painting, and meeting people she would eventually travel cross-country with and claim as her own clan.

In Alaska, she has thrown a few frozen fish around, done paste-up for the Clarion, had a couple odd graphic design jobs and worked for nearly ten years at Frontier Frame Gallery. She also completed the Secondary Art Education program at KPC, shortly before taking over the main framer position at the gallery, which she now owns and renamed a r t   w o r k s in 2001. She promotes local original work, and has worked to enliven the art scene, including starting up the “first thursday” ritual in the area and being a general artist-advocate. She exhibits regularly, and longs for the day the entire Peninsula is recognized as a vibrant and productive arts community.