THE GALLERY

AT ART LEAGUE ACADEMY

Artist Biography

Dr. Virginia Bergin MacKenzie was born and raised in Orlando, Florida.  She is a graduate of Trinity University in Washington, DC, and holds a PhD from the University of Buffalo Graduate School of Management.  She was a member of the Political Science faculty of Nazareth College in Rochester, NY, and is a retired Executive Supervisor for the Marriott Vacation Club International.  She is an avid water and snow skier, scuba diver, and world traveler with four children and five grandchildren.  Hilton Head has been her home since 1996.

Virginia began art with the study of Calligraphy and Oriental Brush Painting.  She was one of twenty people selected for a year long Calligraphy and Gilding course with Reggie Ezell of Chicago.  She studied Oriental Brush Painting with Dr. Ning Yeh at UCLA and on Dr. Yeh’s American Artists’ Tour of China in 2002.  She has also been a student of Dr. Josh Yu at the Savannah College of Art and Design.  Virginia studied Pastels at the Woodstock School of Art.  She was one of eleven women to paint Pastels in France with Uschi Niner in the summer of 2000.  She also paints in oil and acrylic, and uses surfaces such as glass, wood, silk, and tiles.

Virginia now paints Encaustics with hot pigmented beeswax.  She has studied this ancient art form at Rochester Fine Arts, the Artarama, R & F Handmade Paints, the Montserrat College of Art, and the Truro Center for the Arts on Cape Cod.  She belongs to the Secular Franciscan Order.

“A painting is a success when it is beautiful and it evokes emotion.”

Artist Statement

The current instructor exhibition at Art League Academy Gallery represents the styles and media taught by Art League Academy’s full time faculty.

The exhibit features exquisite works from over 15 faulty members. The artwork does a great job at showing potential students the styles they could be learning in the different classes and workshops offered all year around at Art League Academy.