Marian A. Van Landingham (born September 10, 1937) is American

community leader Community leader is a designation, often by secondary sources (particularly in the media), for a person widely perceived to represent a community. A simple way to understand community leadership is to see it as leadership in, for and by the communit ...

, politician and artist. She served in the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-number ...

for 24 years and spearheaded the transformation of a decrepit former military storage building into the

Torpedo Factory Art Center The Torpedo Factory Art Center is the former U.S. Naval Torpedo Station, a naval munitions factory on the banks of the Potomac River in Old Town, Alexandria, Virginia which was converted into an art center in 1974. The facility is located at 105 ...

, in Alexandria, Virginia. In 2006 she was designated a

Women's History Month Women's History Month is an annual declared month that highlights the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society. It is celebrated during March in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, corresponding with ...

Honoree by the National Women's History Project.

Personal life

Marian Van Landingham was born in

Albany, Georgia Albany ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Georgia. Located on the Flint River, it is the seat of Dougherty County, and is the sole incorporated city in that county. Located in southwest Georgia, it is the principal city of the Albany, Georgia m ...

and graduated from

Druid Hills High School Druid Hills High School is a high school operated by the DeKalb County School District. It is located at 1798 Haygood Drive, in the Druid Hills CDP in unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States.Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

in 1955. She received her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...

. In 1967 she moved to Arlington County, Virginia to work as an information specialist for the National Air Pollution Agency before moving to Alexandria to work under Phil Landrum. She is a member of her local Methodist church, is involved in numerous local neighborhood associations, served as vice chairman as the Alexandria Democratic Committee and is a Delta Kappa Gamma. In December 2004, she was diagnosed with cancer, which led to her retirement in 2005. A painter, she lives and works in Alexandria, Virginia with her two dachshunds. In 2010 Van Landingham was honored as one of the

Library of Virginia The Library of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia, is the library agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia. It serves as the archival agency and the reference library for Virginia's seat of government. The Library moved into a new building in 1997 and ...

's "

Virginia Women in History Virginia Women in History was an annual program sponsored by the Library of Virginia that honored Virginia women, living and dead, for their contributions to their community, region, state, and nation. The program began in 2000 under the aegis of th ...

" because of her contributions to the arts.

Torpedo Factory

In 1973 Van Landingham proposed that a 20th-century, "leaky, drafty, pigeon infested" former military factory, located in Alexandria, Virginia, be transformed into an artist studio space and

art center An art centre or arts center is distinct from an art gallery or art museum. An arts centre is a functional community centre with a specific remit to encourage arts practice and to provide facilities such as theatre space, gallery space, venues for ...

. The space would also provide regional artists an affordable option to the overpriced rental spaces of the area. She served as the volunteer president for Alexandria's Art League, and she succeeded in convincing the city to fund the $140,000 for the renovation. Artists volunteered and cleaned out the building and creating studio spaces. The

opened in 1974 with 140 artists. The Factory's renovation also helped trigger the revitalization of the city's waterfront along the

Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augu ...

, housing 150 artists. By 2017, the art center had become the top tourist attraction in the city.

Virginia House of Delegates and community service

The Torpedo Factory Art Center was Van Landingham's first

political campaign A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referend ...

, which helped launch her political career in the

, serving parts of Alexandria, Arlington and Fairfax. In 1980 she established Volunteer Alexandria, and in 1982 became a delegate. As a delegate, she has supported education and community based legislature to teach

English as a second language English as a second or foreign language is the use of English by speakers with different native languages. Language education for people learning English may be known as English as a second language (ESL), English as a foreign language (EFL ...

, reduce class sizes and fund public schools with money from the lottery, and she has sought funding for the handicapped, homeless, and for poor families to obtain child care. Van Landingham was the first woman to chair the Privileges and Elections Committee, and served as chair of the transportation and public education subcommittees. She retired in 2005, leaving as Virginia's most senior female delegate and the 11th most senior member of the house. Mark Warner, who then served as Governor of Virginia, described her work in the house as being "the voice that would step up and argue for what was right," in a conservative legislature, "even those that didn't agree with her views had a great respect for her." Van Landingham was an

elector Elector may refer to: * Prince-elector or elector, a member of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Holy Roman Emperors * Elector, a member of an electoral college ** Confederate elector, a member of ...

for

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

and Joe Biden in the

2008 U.S. presidential election The 2008 United States presidential election was the 56th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008. The Democratic ticket of Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, and Joe Biden, the senior senator from ...

Notable awards

*1974; Washingtonian of the Year *1979; Virginia Governor Award for the Arts *1992; Governor's Award for Fighting Drugs *1993; Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy Legislator of the Year *2006; Women's History Month Honoree *2010;

honoree,

References

External links