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Lynchburg artist Ann van de Graaf was born in Africa and spent her childhood divided between East Africa and England. Africa continues to inspire and inform her work.
 
She studied painting and drawing under instructors associated with the Lynchburg Art Club and the Lynchburg Fine Arts Center.  In 1974 she graduated from Randolph Macon Woman's College with a double major in Art and Sociology.
 
Her work is found in both public and private collections in the United States, Europe, Africa and Australia.  Adept in different media, her work ranges from wall murals and large figurative oils to small egg tempera paintings.  She is also interested in combining graphic art with the written word, and her drawings have illustrated several books.
 
Ms. van de Graaf has exhibited in many solo and group shows in the Lynchburg area, Washington, DC and  New England. She has received recognition through national and local awards for her work. In 1982 she was a fellow at the Virginia Center for  the Creative Arts.
 
Much of her earlier work reflects her involvement with Civil Rights and the African  American community in Lynchburg.  A major commissioned work is a large, panoramic  triptych depicting the persons and landmarks associated with the civil rights struggle for racial equity in Lynchburg during the 1960s and '70s.  It is owned by the Legacy Museum of African American History, Lynchburg where it is on permanent exhibition.
 
Always interested in conveying the underlying spiritual dimension to life, Ann van de Graaf's work is currently influenced by the artistic expressions of indiginous people that reflect the human tie to the Earth and Spirit, and the mystery of that connection.

About Ann van de Graaf

 

ART RESUME, ANN VAN DE GRAAF

 

SOLO  EXHIBITIONS:

            LYNCHBURG ART CLUB, Lynchburg, VA 2015

            YWCA, Lynchburg, VA. 2014

            GALLERY 921, Lynchburg, VA. 2012

            LYNCHBURG FINE ARTS CENTER, Lynchburg, VA.  1998

            LYNCHBURG  ART  CLUB,  Lynchburg,  VA.  1987

            RANDOLPH  MACON  WOMAN'S  COLLEGE,  Lynchburg,  VA.  1986

            LYNCHBURG  FINE  ARTS  CENTER,  Lynchburg,  VA.   1984

            EVANS-TIBBS  COLLECTION,  Washington,  DC.  1984

            LYNCHBURG  NAACP  HEADQUARTERS,  Lynchburg,  VA.   1983

            SWEET  BRIAR  COLLEGE,  Amherst,  VA.   1983

            THE  FORBES  LIBRARY,  Northampton,  MA.  1982

            EVANS-TIBBS  GALLERY,  Washington,  DC.   1979

            LYNCHBURG  FINE  ARTS  CENTER,  Lynchburg,  VA.  1974

 

SELECTED  GROUP  EXHIBITIONS:

            RIVERVIEWS ART SPACE, Lynchburg, VA  2009

            GALLERY 921, Lynchburg, VA 2008

            LYNCHBURG ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS, National juried exhibit. 2007. Juror’s Award

            LYNCHBURG FINE ARTS CENTER, Four person exhibit.  2003

            BEDFORD PUBLIC LIBRARY, Bedford Blue Ridge Arts Council, 2002. 3rd. place award

            LYNCHBURG COLLEGE, Riverviews Artists Exhibition 1997

            LYNCHBURG  ART  CLUB.  Two  person  exhibit.   1991

            LYNCHBURG  ART  CLUB.  The  Feminine  Spirit.   1989

            THE  THIRD  NEW  WORLD  FESTIVAL,  Paramaribo,  Suriname.   1982

            LYNCHBURG  FINE  ARTS  CENTER  AREA  JURIED SHOWS.   1969 - 2004

 

FELLOWSHIPS:

            Virginia  Center  for  the  Creative  Arts :  Fellowship,  1982

 

PUBLIC  COMMISSIONS:

            Amazement Square, Lynchburg. 2000: 20ft mural celebrating children and the arts

            The Legacy Project, Inc., 1993: Large triptych on the Civil Rights Movement in Lynchburg, VA. entitled 

            Lord,  Plant  My  Feet  on Higher  Ground.

            Lynchburg Bicentennial Commission,1986: Large mural exhibit on the life of Booker T. Washington,

            in conjunction with the Booker T. Washington National Monument.

            .

COLLECTIONS:

            Represented  in  many  public  and  private  collections.

 

PUBLICATIONS:

           Lynch's Ferry Magazine, author and illustrator of an article on John Chilembwe: Summer 2007

           Lynch's Ferry Magazine, author of an article on "The Making of Lord Plant my Feet on Higher Ground:Fall/Winter 1994

           Illustrated Atlanta's Children, a book of poetry by L. Garnell Stamps: 1982

           Illustrated This Robe of Flesh,  a book of poetry by L. Garnell Stamps: 1983

           Ota Benga and the Pygmies: an Ongoing Story. Author  and illustrator for a  small book: 2006.

 

 

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