Finding inspiration in the most unlikely places, Dorothy Fagan discovered the power of emotionally charged brush strokes of color to heal at an early age. Faced with multiple traumas as a young artist, she used her paint brush to proactively heal after an assailant tried to take her life, and again after losing her mother to cancer.

Armed with her BFA in Printmaking and Painting from East Carolina University, and a desire for peace ~ Dorothy invested thirty years experimenting with the creative process. Discovering the creative goddess within, her artistry expanded to include poetry, prose, fabric design, and video healing art channel on YouTube. 

Although she says she didn't want to be a victim of what happened, she acknowledges "the Creator compelled me to flex my 'Faith' muscle and grow into the name I'd chosen at Confirmation." Fagan’s story is, “in itself is so brave, so authentic, so honest and moving ~ she shines a light in this world!"

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Born in Morristown, New Jersey in 1953, Dorothy Fagan is the eldest daughter of a music teacher and a mechanical engineer. At age 8, through the encouragement of her mother Pauline, Dorothy discovered both her love of music and painting. Playing the organ at church, and taking sculpture and painting lessons with her mother, the foundation for her artistry had already begun.

At 14, Dorothy received her first award for painting and went on to win first place in a five-county student competition in Morristown, New Jersey. Graduating from East Carolina University with a B.F.A. in Printmaking and Painting, she married and moved to rural southeastern Virginia in 1974. Raising three sons, she painted at nap time and sent her paintings to New York City to compete in international juried exhibitions. At age 25, she achieved acceptance into the Pastel Society of America. 

Her paintings were exhibited at the prestigious National Arts Club in New York City, and purchased by the City University of New York. Her oil paintings followed with the American Artists Professional League at the famous Salmagundi Club in New York. At home, the Virginia Museum of Fine Art, the Hermitage Museum, and Virginia Contemporary Museum of Art exhibited her colorful paintings.

Her father, Jack Fagan, encouraged Dorothy in conversations about the nature of creativity. A WWII vet who was hit in the head during the  Battle of the Bulge, his life was itself was an inspiration to Dorothy and in living with the stigma of being a victim. Her paintings made during his passing in 2013, tell the final chapter of their special connection through the Creator within in her upcoming book, "Walk with Dad."

In 2013, Dorothy commenced the final steps of  of her healing journey in France when she was awarded an artist residency at Musee de La Grande Vigne in Dinan. There she developed her fusion mixed media process, combining pastel, oil, and watercolor painting. Her palette shifted again, and again in 2015 and 2017, as she traveled to Tuscany for extended residencies. Her most recent trip to Sorrento, Italy, amended her palette once again, adding orchid to her violet hues.

Dorothy Fagan's art is included in collections on five continents, including the Musee de La Grande Vigne, Dinan, France, Longwood University Art Museum, U Mass Memorial Hospital, Boston Children's Hospital, Camp LeJeune Mental Health Hospital, Emory University, City University of New York, International Paper, and numerous corporate and private collections.

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Represented by

Chasen Galleries, Richmond, VA.

Prince George Art & Frame, Williamsburg, VA

Solo Shows

Gallery Mayo, Richmond, VA 1979
Dorsey Gallery, Roanoke, VA 1980
Virginia Contemporary Museum of Fine Art, 1979
Century Gallery, Williamsburg, VA, 1981, 2006
Michelson's, Washington, DC, 1985
JSL Fine Art, 2015
Chesapeake Framing & Art Gallery, Kensington, MD, 2013
Stewart Gallery, Gloucester, VA 2017
Prince George Art & Frame, Williamsburg, VA 2018

 

International & National Juried Exhibitions

Musee de La Grande Vigne,  Les invites d’Yvonne Jean-Haffen Exposition, Dinan, France

Pastel Society of America, National Juried Exhibition, National Arts Club, New York
Pastel Society of Canada, International Juried Exhibition, Cambrian Rose Gallery, Ottawa
American Artists Professional League, National Juried Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, New York
G.V.W. Smith Art Museum, National Juried Exhibition, Springfield, MA
Virginia Museum of Fine Art, Prints & Drawings ’81 National Juried Exhibition, Richmond, VA
Virginia Contemporary Museum of Art, Virginia Beach, VA
The Copley Society, Pastel Society of America Members’ Exhibition, Boston, MA
Kansas Pastel Society, National Juried Exhibition
Hermitage Museum, Pastel Society of America Members’ Exhibition, Norfolk, VA
New Jersey Institute of Technology, Pastel Society of America Members’ Exhibition, Newark, NJ

 

Public Collections

MUSEUM COLLECTIONS Musee de La Grande Vigne, Dinan, France, City University of New York, Longwood University Art Museum, Emory University.

HEALTHCARE COLLECTIONS  U. Mass Memorial Hospital, Boston Children’s Hospital, Camp Lejeune Mental Health Facility, Riverside Cancer Center, Southampton Memorial Hospital.

CORPORATE COLLECTIONS General Electric, First National Exchange Bank, International Paper, Monarch Bank, Towne Bank, AAA, Raycom Media, Coldwell Banker.

PRIVATE COLLECTIONS in the United States, England, Italy, Iceland, Singapore, Jordan, Canada.

 

Residencies, Awards & Education

Artist Residency Florence, Sept – Nov 2015, Independent Painting Writing

Artist Residency Musee de La Grande Vigne, July – Sept 2013, Dinan, Provence, Paris.

Medal of Honor G.V.W. Smith Art Museum, Academic Artists’ Association

Best in Show  Virginia Contemporary Museum of Art

American Masters Painting Mentorship with Robert Bowers Mayo, Valentine Museum and Gallery Mayo, 1979 – 1989, Richmond, VA. Mayo guided Fagan in developing her unique approach to painting by imparting his understanding of the artist psyche through the works of George Inness, Martin J. Heade, Elliot Clark, and Walter Metcalf.

B. F. A. East Carolina University, 1974, Printmaking and Painting
At East Carolina University, she studied under printmaker Donald Sexauer and painter Ed Reep 1971 - 1974. 

Publications

Joy’s Garden, Embrace the Mountain Dorothy Fagan, 2018

CreativSOUP, Adult Creativity & Coloring, Dorothy Fagan, 2016

100 Plein Air Painters of the Mid-Atlantic, Gary Pendleton, Schiffer Publishing 2014

Joan Cawley Publishing, Fine Art Prints, 2001 - 2011

Teaching & Writing 

Fagan Studios, 1976 - present

Fagan Design Concepts, Inc, 1986 - 1997  creativity communications consulting

Fagan Studio Gallery, 1983 - 1990 custom framing gallery

Paul D. Camp Community College, 1983 - 1988 teaching

W. C. Rawls Museum, 1975 - 1983 teaching

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