Alfredo Ratinoff was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he trained in ceramics with his master Teodolina Garcia Cabo starting at the age of eleven. He then studied at the National School of Ceramics and also studied drawing and painting at the National Art Academy.
Alfredo specialized for many years in large scale installations of tile and mosaic murals and his works are in many private collections all over the United States and have been exhibited at the Museum of the Americas at the Organization of American States, The N.A.S.A Headquarters in Washington D.C, The AT&T Headquarters in Oakton ,VA, Barnes & Noble Corporation in Rockville, MD and New York, N.Y, Strathmore Hall Art Center, Bethesda, MD, The Target Gallery at the Torpedo Factory Art Center, Alexandria, VA and the South Florida Art Center in Miami Beach, FL. He also has the distinction to be in the permanent collection at the Embassy of Argentina in the office of the ambassador.
In 2004 Alfredo created a stained glass piece for the mausoleum of the renowned Cuban singer Celia Cruz in Bronx, N.Y commissioned by Hispanic TV host Cristina Saralegui. Most recently, Alfredo was selected to be the artist in residence for the AARP Foundation during the 2007 Women's Vision Summit in Tucson, Arizona where he created one-of-a-kind pieces that were presented to corporate donors at the event.
Alfredo Ratinoff is currently a faculty member for the ceramics department at the Resident Associates Program at The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. He was selected by the Education office from the Embassy of Italy to work in the 2004 summer program at Georgetown University teaching mosaic workshops sponsored by a grant from the National Endowment of Humanities in Washington D.C.
In 2007 Alfredo was invited by the Center for Renaissance and Baroque Studies at the University of Maryland as a faculty member to teach ceramics at the Multi-Disciplinary Summer Institute for Maryland School Teachers. In 2008, as the current artist-in-residence for Lee Arts Center in Arlington, Virginia, he designed mosaic columns for the center's Butterfly Garden for Arlington County residents. During fall 2008, he completed his installation of "Zodiac Art", an interactive piece involving mosaics, the twelve signs of the zodiac, and kaleidoscopes, at the mansion at Strathmore Music Center in North Bethesda, Maryland. He serves also as a curator for the art committee at the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington D.C. Alfredo currently resides in Hyattsville, MD where he also has his private studio.