Macon Magazine

October/November 2026| maconmagazine.com 71 "Her work focuses on memory and place and making memorials. Her environmental sculptures physically relate and interact with nature." As part of a European survey of her work and influence, "Beverly Buchanan: Weathering" just opened at Spike Island in the U.K. Maconites can also enjoy the sculptures of Buchanan and more locally at the Museum of Arts and Sciences. "Her work focuses on memory and place and making memorials. Her environmental sculptures physically relate and interact with nature and memorialize something that's deteriorating. I think that really drew me in." Coincidentally, Curtis now works at the museum and leads groups who come to see Buchanan's work. F r i e n d s h i p a n d p e r s o n a l g l i m p s e s Carey Pickard of Carey Pickard Consulting pulled out a handwritten note from Buchanan as we talked. It included a self-portrait. "I haven't gotten this framed," he said — though as her friend and collector of her work, he has numerous framed pieces. "I'm delighted she's getting more and more of the recognition she deserves." Pickard was executive director of The Tubman from 1992 to 2005 and was familiar with Buchanan's works at the museum and the impression she made. At one point, recognizing Buchanan's talent, The Tubman was proud to organize an exhibit of her work. But realizing she was on shaky financial ground, though a rising star, they gave her the total amount from each work sold rather than take a standard museum percentage. "If you asked the staff at the time, they would agree that of all our distinguished visitors, Beverly Buchanan made the biggest impression," he said. "She's remembered with tremendous fondness as a human. She was larger than life, had a great sense of humor, and loved to laugh." Pickard recalled when an Oregon television crew was in town filming a documentary on Buchanan. They were shooting off College Street where a group of "shotgun" shacks were about to be taken down. A nicely dressed woman from across the street called out, saying it was about time "those nasty shacks" were being torn down. Knowing Buchanan's regard for such shacks, Pickard said he was horrified. "I was like, 'Oh my gosh, don't use that in the documentary,'" he said. "But Beverly just fell over with laughter. She recognized the woman considered them an eyesore. Beverly was amazing and could appreciate it all. She got the humor in it. I did not think it was funny until years later." Pickard's and others' knowledge of Buchanan reveal more than an artistic genius: she was a warm, fun-loving individual. "She made a lot of friends," Pickard said. A g r o w i n g , b i g g e r p i c t u r e Welsh said that during her years leading the Museum of Arts and Sciences, she was awestruck by the number of art lovers and scholars who traveled great distances to see Buchanan's work, not too unlike music tourists who come to town. In January, Welsh hosted Andrew Edlin and Aurélie Bernard Wortsman of the Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, to see local work by Buchanan. Edlin's gallery shows Buchanan's work, and Wortsman is editor of a monograph on Buchanan's work set for late-September publication called "Ruination and Regeneration." "The first thing I ever saw of hers was a collection of her shacks and, you know, they just oozed soul," Edlin said. "In the context of the contemporary art world, which can be saddled with academic theory, her work has a visceral impact. It doesn't need explanation. You feel its power. "Beverly has never been more influential and important than she is now. She's a star of the current iteration of the Venice Biennale (the world's most prominent international art exhibition held in Venice, Italy) and there's this major monograph coming out. It's certainly going to be an important document for her posterity. She's showing in the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston and will be featured at an art fair in London called 'Frieze Masters' in October. There are too many shows ahead for me to even recount. It's an honor and a joy to be associated with Beverly Buchanan and her work." ABOVE Buchanan installs a sculpture on the MAS campus. LEFT Clockwise from bottom left, a self-portrait of Buchanan that was a gift to Carey Pickard; a painting depicting shotguns on Madison St. in Macon;"* "Gone But Not Forgotten" 1990, Beverly Buchanan. Gift to the MAS by the artist in memory of Valeria Murphy. * ©Estate of Beverly Buchanan/Jane Bridges, 2026. Photos by Carey Pickard and courtesy of the Museum of Arts and Sciences.

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