Issue link: http://maconmagazine.uberflip.com/i/1547005
68 maconmagazine.com | October/November 2026 declared she wanted to be known as an artist, not a doctor who painted. While still in healthcare, her work began showing around New York and her reputation developed positively, though not lucratively. Then, in making the jump from healthcare to art, Buchanan jumped to Macon in 1977. W h y M a c o n? A 2025 Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) article titled "Beverly Buchanan's Sites of Survival" off ers an explanation. In her article, Taylor Ndiaye "retraces the enigmatic artist's journey South" and quotes Buchanan answering the "going South" question by saying she "wanted to do something in a big landscape. Light and space had become very important to me." She was not fi nding light and space in the urban North. In a zine she created called "Hope This Helps You Survive Your Gallery Visit," she playfully but tellingly wrote: "In a loud, fi rm voice, say, 'hello everyone' as you enter. Smile broadly, walk up to the reception desk, hand extended…and then say your name! You'll be escorted immediately to the dealer's private offi ce… where 2 armed guards from the Art World Defense Action Team or (AWDAT) will beat you up and throw you out. Don't give up now!" As a part-time artist, Buchanan created well- received abstract works and relatively small, molded concrete sculptures. That changed when she headed to Macon as a full-time artist and boldly expanded her work. W o r k i n g l o c a l Though there are no records of her research for choosing Macon, Macon off ered proximity to wide- open Southern surroundings and culture. Given downtown's state of decline, she rented what must have been an aff ordable second-fl oor studio above a Cherry Street drugstore. Macon museums, collectors, and others embraced her. Signifi cantly, she created works showing artistic growth in Macon. Many refl ected her fascination with decay, the merging of nature and art, and the need for remembrance, key themes for her. In 1979, she created her fi rst major outdoor art, or land art, on the grounds of the Museum of Arts and Sciences. Called "Ruins and Rituals," it can be seen along the museum's Sweet Gum Trail. In 1981, she created "Marsh Ruins" in Brunswick along Georgia's coastal Marshes. In 1983, she created "Unity Stones" at Macon's Booker T. Washington Community Center. Buchanan continued painting and creating sculptures while developing and honing new ideas and work. Traveling through Georgia, she observed rural shacks. While in town, she took note of Macon's dilapidated "shotgun" houses. She sketched and photographed them, and they eventually led to oil pastels and small sculptures, thus beginning her LEFT © Estate of Beverly Buchanan/Jane Bridges, 2026. Photos by Matt Odom. RIGHT Flowers: An exhibit / Beverly Buchanan and Lawrence Mayer (Macon), 1985, Colored pencil and ink on paper, 5 3/4 x 4 1/2 in. © Estate of Beverly Buchanan/Jane Bridges, 2026. Courtesy Andrew Edlin Gallery. FAR RIGHT Final painting: Fallen Flowers, ca. 1987. Acrylic and oil pastel on linen, 20 × 24 in. © Estate of Beverly Buchanan/Jane Bridges, 2026. Courtesy Andrew Edlin Gallery.