Landscapes | Still life | Portraits
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Note: Most of these pieces have sold or are in public and personal collections. Gallery is meant to showcase type of work. Contact Artist for complete listings of available artwork.
Artist CV
Contemporary Representational Artist
Alabama, USA • vanessawithun.com
ARTIST PROFILE
Vanessa Withun is a contemporary representational artist with over ten years of professional experience and exhibitions throughout the United States. Working in oil, acrylic, watercolor, charcoal, and illustration, she combines realism with expressionism. Her current practice explores Black and African American literary traditions, history, and cultural memory, while her landscapes consider nature as a form of visual storytelling. Her work is grounded in the relationship between what is seen and what lies beneath the surface.
CURRENT PROJECT
The Human Tapestry — Illustrations and Paintings by Vanessa Withun, 2026. A current illustration and painting project centered on Anika Prather, Ph.D., and the exploration of Black and African American literary traditions through visual storytelling.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2024 Group Exhibition, “Artistry Unbound,” Johnson Center for the Arts, Troy, AL
2023 Beaches Fine Arts Series 50th Anniversary, Jacksonville, FL
2022 Solo Exhibition, JEA Gallery, Savannah, GA
2021 Group Exhibition, Kennedy Fine Arts Center Gallery at SSU, Savannah, GA
2021 “Esther Rolle Centennial Exhibition,” Ali Cultural Arts Center, Pompano Beach, FL
2020 Solo Exhibition, “Partaking,” JEA Gallery, Savannah, GA
2020 “FAAA Small Works Exhibition,” Telfair Museums’ Jepson Center for the Arts, Savannah, GA
2020 Arts on the Coast Virtual Exhibition, Richmond Hill, GA
2019 Oil Painters of America, “2019 Eastern Regional Exhibition,” Beverly McNeil Gallery, Birmingham, AL
2019 “FAAA Small Works Exhibition,” Telfair Museums’ Jepson Center for the Arts, Savannah, GA
2019 “Pirates, Boats, and the Oregon Coast,” Garibaldi Maritime Museum, Garibaldi, OR
2019 “Tondo in Toto,” Sulfur Studios, Savannah, GA
2019 “Earth Action Initiative Climate Art Show,” UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
2018 Solo Exhibition, JEA Gallery, Savannah, GA
2018 Online Group Exhibition, “The Time For Home,” Still Point Art Gallery
2018 “FAAA Small Works Exhibition,” Telfair Museums’ Jepson Center for the Arts, Savannah, GA
2018 “Connected to the Sea,” Deep South Photopoint Gallery, Richmond Hill, GA
2018 “Earth Action Initiative Climate Art Show,” UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
2017 Landscape and Seascape Juried Art Show, 311 Gallery, Raleigh, NC
2017 45th International Art Show, Brownsville Museum of Fine Art, Brownsville, TX
2016 Spectrum Miami Art Show, Miami, FL
PUBLIC COMMISSIONS
• Portrait of Anna Julia Cooper — commissioned for “Liberal Education and African American History: A Celebration of the Life and Legacy of Anna Julia Cooper,” Washington, D.C.
• Portrait of William Sanders Scarborough — commissioned for the Savannah Classical Academy Symposium on African American History and Liberal Education, Savannah, GA.
GRANTS & AWARDS
2021 J. Shepard Jr. and Mary Ann Bryant Arts Endowment / Art Ventures Grant, The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida, Jacksonville, FL
2019 Certificate for Artistic Excellence, FAAA / Telfair Museums
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
• Blacks in Classics Museum, Alexandria, VA — permanent collection
• Cultural Arts Division of Pompano Beach, Pompano Beach, FL — Woman with Pearls, 2020
• Allan P. Kirby Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship, Washington, D.C. — Portrait of Anna Julia Cooper, 2019
• Hospice Savannah, Savannah, GA — Sunset Marshes, acquired 2019
• Private collections in New York, Arizona, Texas, Florida, Minnesota, Michigan, and Georgia
PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT & INTERVIEWS
2021 Artist Talk, FAAA Group Show, Kennedy Fine Arts Gallery, Savannah, GA
2019 Interview, “Field Notes,” WRUU Savannah 107.5 FM
2018 Interview, “Art on the Air,” WRUU Savannah 107.5 FM
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
• Shanti Arts Still Point Arts Quarterly, Issue No. 40, Winter 2020
• The Freshwater Review, Vol. 22, Spring 2019
• Shanti Arts Still Point Arts Quarterly, Issue No. 32, Winter 2018
• Mangrove, University of Miami, Issue No. 13, Fall 2018
• The Raw Art Review: A Journal of Storm and Urge, Fall 2018
• Underground, Georgia State University, Issue No. 8.2, Spring 2018
• Cosumnes River Journal, Cosumnes River College, May 2018
EDUCATION & TRAINING
2021–2022 Academy of Realist Art, Boston, MA — Portrait Painting Course and Figure Drawing
2020–2021 Sessions College for Professional Design, Tempe, AZ — Web Design Certificate
2012–2016 American Military University, Charles Town, WV — B.S. Environmental Science and B.A. English