Beverly Buchanan

Buchanan was born in Fuquay, NC and raised in Orangeburg, SC. Her father was dean of the School of Agriculture at South Carolina State College in Orangeburg. As a child she often accompanied her father as he visited farmers across the state, and she became fascinated with the vernacular architecture, the environment and the people she encountered.

Although Buchanan liked to draw she decided to pursue a career in medicine. She enrolled at Bennett College in Greensboro, NC and received a degree in medical technology in 1962. She received two master’s degrees, one in parasitology (1968) and the other in public health (1969), from Columbia University in New York City. After Buchanan had been accepted into medical school she made the bold decision to focus on her art instead.

In 1971 instead of medical school, Buchanan enrolled in an art class at the Art Students League. While there she studied with Norman Lewis. She also received guidance and support from Romare Bearden. Buchanan had her first solo exhibition at the Cinque Gallery in New York in 1972. She moved to Georgia in 1977 to devote her full attention to art. She currently lives and works in Ann Arbor, MI.

Buchanan has received fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. She received an Anonymous Was a Woman Award in 2002. In 2005 she was a distinguished honoree of the College Art Association Committee for Women in the Arts. Her work is in the collections of Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA; Philadelphia Museum of Art; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA; Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA; Whitney Museum of Art, New York City and the Asheville Art Museum.

[Source: Museum Staff]