BRIDGEWATER, Va. (Bridgewater College) — Beverly Perdue Jennings, a 1968 Bridgewater College graduate who paints professionally as Beverly Perdue, will have a retrospective exhibition of her paintings in the College’s Beverly Perdue Art Gallery from Monday, Sept. 30, through Wednesday, Oct. 30.
The exhibition, “An Artist’s Journey,” is themed around Perdue’s professional art career and the many paths it has taken. Her successful artistic career has fueled a lifelong pursuit of creativity, innovation and personal growth. The exhibition will include watercolor and oil paintings that charted the new territories she experienced while working in multiple mediums of art.
Perdue’s artist statement for this exhibition is: “I strive to paint what an apple tastes like, not what it just looks like. I paint a feeling or mood of a subject or landscape.”
Perdue has painted “en plein aire,” a French phrase referring to painting on location, in many areas in the U.S. and around the world, including Virginia, Maine, First American reservations in New Mexico, Caribbean islands, France and Italy. She holds signature membership in the American Watercolor Society and the Transparent Watercolor Society of America—two top international watercolor societies—and has won “Best in Show” status in multiple exhibitions.
Perdue is represented at Crossroads Art Center in Richmond, Va., and is one of a select group of artists in the online art enterprise Dream Big Artworks. One of her oil paintings was recently selected for inclusion in a showcase of Virginia artists at Virginia’s Executive Mansion in Richmond, where it will be on display for the next year. A portfolio of Perdue’s award-winning paintings can be viewed at her website: www.beverlyperdue.com/works.
Outside of her professional work, Perdue is an active patron of the arts. In 2021, Perdue established the Bev Perdue Jennings Assistant Curator of American Art Endowment at the Virginia Museum of Fine Art, which provides the VMFA with ongoing curatorial funding. She has taught art at the Virginia Correctional Center for Women in Goochland, Va., for the past ten years as a volunteer through the nonprofit organization Art for the Journey. Perdue also serves on the organization’s board of directors.
“Giving back through teaching art is healing for the instructor and the student,” Perdue says.
The art exhibition will have an opening reception in the gallery from 5-7 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 30, with an artist’s talk at 5:30 p.m. The exhibition, opening reception and artist’s talk are free and open to the public. The gallery is open from 7:30 a.m. to midnight Monday through Thursday; 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday; 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday; and noon to midnight on Sunday.
AT A GLANCE
“An Artist’s Journey” by Beverly Perdue, AWS, TWSA
When: On display Monday, Sept. 30 – Wednesday, Oct. 30. Opening reception 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 30, with an artist’s talk at 5:30 p.m.
Where: Beverly Perdue Art Gallery, first floor of the John Kenny Forrer Learning Commons
Hours: The gallery is open from 7:30 a.m. to midnight Monday through Thursday; 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday; 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday; and noon to midnight on Sunday.
Cost: Free and open to the public.
