After graduating from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam in 1994, Iris Eichenberg worked as an independent artist, art educator, part-time curator, and co-organizer of art-related events. She began teaching at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in 1996, where she became Head of the Jewelry Department in 2000. Eichenberg held this position until 2007. In 2006 she accepted an appointment as Artist in Residence and Head of the Metalsmithing Department at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and began teaching full time there since. She is regularly invited to lecture, act as visiting critic, and give workshops at various art academies in Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America.