"Garden of Earthly Delights" 72.5x54.5 inches, oil on canvas, 2006

Virginia Derryberry, a noted painter and UNC Asheville art professor, will return to her alma mater for a solo exhibition at Vanderbilt University’s Sarratt Center Gallery. “Second Nature,” an exhibition featuring complex figure scenarios in Eden-like landscapes, will be on view October 1-28. The ideas for these paintings began during Derryberry’s 2004 residency in Auvillar, France. A reception and gallery talk by the artist will be held at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 27, in the gallery. The solo exhibit, held in conjunction with Derryberry’s award of the 2005- 06 juried Southeastern College Art Conference Artist Fellowship, will coincide with SECAC’s annual conference. The exhibition also represents a homecoming: Derryberry held her first professional solo exhibition in the Sarratt Center Gallery in 1980.

"Daphne and the Laurel Tree" 60x36 inches, oil on canvas, 2005

Derryberry is an actively exhibiting artist, and is currently planning her next solo exhibition at the William King Art Center in Virginia in 2008. Recently, her work was shown in solo exhibitions at the University of South Carolina Upstate, Gallery 1912 at Emory and Henry College and at the Tower Gallery at SUNY Brockport. Represented by Hodges Taylor Gallery in Charlotte and Cumberland Gallery in Nashville, her work has been included in numerous solo, juried and invitation exhibitions. These include “20th Century Painting in Tennessee” organized by Cheekwood Museum and “Convergence” and “20th Century American Drawing” at Forum Gallery in New York. Her paintings are also in the collections of the Knoxville Convention Center, Carnegie Museum of Art, Tennessee State Museum, Morris Museum of Art, and the West Virginia Permanent Collection. In recent years, Derryberry has received two Individual Arts grants from the Georgia Council for the Arts as well as the West Virginia Governor’s Award.

A Tennessee native, Derryberry received her bachelor’s degree in art history from Vanderbilt University, a master of fine arts degree from the University of Tennessee and master of arts degree from Peabody College. She joined the UNC Asheville faculty in 1996. In 2004, Derryberry received the UNC Asheville University Research Council Award for Professional Scholarship and Creative Activities, and in 2005, she was presented the Distinguished Teacher of the Year Award, the University’s highest faculty honor. In addition to teaching art courses, Derryberry is also director of UNC Asheville’s nationally acclaimed Undergraduate Research Program.