Rick and Valerie Beck both graduated from Hastings College in Hastings, NE in 1982, where Rick received his B.A. in Art and Valerie received her B.A. in Human Services Administration and Political Science. They began working together in glass in 1984. After getting married in 1986 they went to Southern Illinois University at Carbondale to attend graduate school. There, Rick worked on and received his Master's Degree in Art while Valerie worked on her Master's in Educational Psychology, but spent most of her time in the art department.