HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 216 Offered January 14, 2008 Celebrating the life of Mary Ann Sanders Brandt. ---------- Patron-- Hall ----------

WHEREAS, Mary Ann Sanders Brandt of Midlothian, aged 85, a respected and gifted artist, died on March 8, 2007; and

WHEREAS, a native of Iowa, Mary Ann Brandt painted from early childhood with little formal art training; and

WHEREAS, after attending Iowa State College, Mary Ann Sanders married Paul E. Brandt and worked for two years on the graveyard shift at Boeing Aircraft Company in Seattle, building B-17 and B-29 bombers during World War II, while Paul was serving in the Pacific in the U.S. Navy; and

WHEREAS, during the 1970s, Mary Ann Brandt discovered and developed the unusual art of finger painting during personal involvement in a Jungian dream analysis group; and

WHEREAS, her talent, vision, and pioneering use of finger painting as a legitimate medium of fine art gained national attention and respect; and

WHEREAS, while the majority of Mary Ann Brandt’s paintings measured 22 by 28 inches, she discovered beauty and intricacies in them through a viewfinder, which led to creation of miniature finger paintings, some as small as postage stamps; and

WHEREAS, Mary Ann Brandt, a treasured and uniquely gifted artist, served as a resident fellow at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts at Mount Saint Angelo on several occasions; and

WHEREAS, in 2004, the still productive 82-year-old artist was honored by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts with “Landscape Miniatures: the Finger Paintings of Mary Ann Brandt,” an exhibit of more than 60 of her paintings; and

WHEREAS, Mary Ann Brandt will be fondly remembered and greatly missed by her devoted husband Paul; her children, Martha, Paul, and Thomas; her seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild, and her many friends and admirers; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly mourn the passing of an outstanding Virginian, Mary Ann Sanders Brandt; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Mary Ann Sanders Brandt as an expression of the General Assembly’s respect for her memory.