Von Venhuizen earned his M.F.A. from Indiana University, Bloomington, in 1996. Von is currently an Associate Professor of Ceramics and an Associate Director at the Texas Tech University School of Art. He exhibits nationally and internationally, contributing to the ongoing and evolving world of ceramics. His pieces are in numerous private collections, university collections, and museums and have been published in multiple books and periodicals. His students also know him for his colorful stories of ceramics, his love of cars and motorcycles, his search for the elusive chupacabra, as well as being an armadillo whisperer.