Gayle Cerlan has been an artist and teacher for more than 35 years. She received a BFA with a full scholarship from the Louisville School of Art and MA from the University of Louisville. She also completed coursework at Alfred University in new York. She has been an active member of the Kentucky arts community through her involvement as the creator and director of the Cityworks exhibition (1997-1998) and as curator of the National Dinnerworks exhibition (1994-1997).

She has served on the boards of the Kentucky Museum of Art and the Louisville Visual Arts Association. She has been an Adjunct Professor of Ceramics at Indiana University Southeast, Bellarmine College, and the University of Louisville. She has taught many workshops around the country and established a fine arts school for all ages, Artstudio (1997-2014). She founded Cerlan Gallery in Lexington, KY (1997-2007). She has exhibited her ceramic art nationally and internationally and has won many awards and grants, and has been in numerous public collections.