VICTORIA
MARIE
BEE

I dwell in Possibility—  (Emily Dickinson)

Victoria Marie Bee is an artist, educator, printer, photographer, & art worker. She exhibits, & is published, nationally & internationally. Bee’s work is in public & private collections around the world.

Some recent recognitions include: commissioned by the Dallas Museum of Art for letterpress artwork regarding their van Gogh exhibition of his Olive Trees series; commissioned by Planned Parenthood for letterpress artwork regarding birth control; letterpress printing & design of the 2021 Visitor’s Guide for VISIT LUBBOCK; selected for What We Eat & Wear, a juried exhibition at the CICA Museum (Czong Institute for Contemporary Art) in Gimpo, South Korea; invited for Eat Lead, an international exhibition of letterpress printing at Atom Gallery in London, curated by Pixel Press; invited & featured on the front cover of the 50 year anniversary journal of Southern Humanities Review, published from Auburn University; selected for the juried exhibition RED, at SE Center for Photography in South Carolina; the juried exhibition Still Life: The Ordinary Made Extraordinary, at PhotoPlace Gallery in Vermont; Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum's "New Impressions: An International Exhibition of Letterpress Printing" in Two Rivers, Wisconsin & Brisbane, Australia & Armadale, Australia;  selected for West, Far West in Marfa, Texas; awarded the SPE National Award for Innovations in Imaging; a Penland School of Crafts Scholarship in Letterpress; the Penland Partners Program Award; the Helen DeVitt Jones Print Studio Fellowship; & multiple awards / grants. She has numerous poetry publications, & is working on translating a book of poetry from French, written by a poet in Tunisia. Bee also has art publications & press in many journals, books, & more.

She has been involved with Charles Adams Studio Project since graduate school; Bee is constantly engaging with the community through curation, leadership, education, grant writing, volunteering, fundraising, & organizing events. Some recent events that she has coordinated include: FLIP OVER CASP, CLIP: AN INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION OF WORKS ON PAPER, CASPFEST:ART+FILM+MUSIC, CENTRAL PIVOT, & many more. Bee has installed, handled marketing, curated, & controlled finances, of over 150 exhibitions. She also initiated & continues to grow engagement with the Helen DeVitt Jones Print Studio, focusing primarily on letterpress printing & community education, having exposed printmaking to thousands of people. Often collaborating with or teaching others, she is very passionate about community building: whether printing for social issues,, photographing important moments, coordinating large events, hosting Sunday dinners, or curating inspiring exhibitions.

Bee holds an MFA in Studio Arts, Photography & Letterpress / Printmaking, from Texas Tech University (December 2016), where she also earned her MAE in Art Education & Creative Writing / Poetry (December 2013). She was an Adjunct Professor at Texas Tech University's School of Art; an Adjunct Professor of Art at South Plains College, & was the Graduate Part-Time Instructor for numerous courses during graduate school. She also has taught many classes & workshops to people of all ages & levels.

Born in Houston & raised across the country, she found her passion for the arts in the south (particularly during time spent with her grandparents in New Orleans). Victoria has always had a love for art & language: her first art award was a blue ribbon at age 5, for a drawing of mermaids & trees; she fell in love with photography & poetry while in New Orleans, as her first camera came from her grandparents & they frequented trips to the public library there; &, letterpress printing while starting graduate school in Lubbock, by first printing broadsides of poetry with wood type, Garamond type, lace, & real tulips on a tabletop Linoscribe press in her tiny darkroom. Bee is dedicated to her artwork & developing career, but also very involved in collaborations with other artists & writers (nationally & internationally), teaching all ages in a variety of settings, & being actively engaged in the community in which she is living/working by sharing her love of art there & beyond.