Joan Sterrenburg joined the faculty of the School of Fine Arts at Indiana University in 1970 and was a full professor from 1983 until her retirement in 2004. Primarily a textile artist, she was responsible for founding and directing the Indiana University Handmade Paper Facility from 1979-1989. Sterrenburg taught freshmen through graduate students and offered courses in textiles, papermaking, design, professional practice, and teacher education.

Sterrenburg was born on March 18, 1941 in Chicago, Illinois. She began her distinguished career at the University of Wisconsin where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Multitalented, Joan earned degrees first in humanities before embarking on a career in the visual arts. She received her graduate degrees from Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley. Once she made the transition into art, she quickly became one of the most prominent textile artists in the country.

Her creative work has been exhibited nationally and internationally in more than 175 invitational exhibitions and 70 juried exhibitions. Her textiles and paper works are represented in more than 40 public and private collections, including the American Craft Museum in New York, which houses the premier works in the traditional craft fields such as textiles, ceramics, and metalsmithing. Sterrenburg was invited to present lectures and workshops at conferences, art schools, and universities all over the world.

Sterrenburg's technical range continued to evolve over the years as she moved into stone carving and a variety of materials and sculptural processes, in addition to her wealth of knowledge of textiles and papermaking. Sterrenburg's art reflected her ingenuity in working with material, choosing color, building patterns, and emphasizing texture.