Virginia Stebbins Ingram

Virginia Stebbins Ingram passed on January 22, 2015. VI was a beloved friend and family member to many, an adored aunt, and a great lover of nature and animals. As written by her dear friend Rick Mashburn, “Virginia Ingram keeps in touch with the heavens”, and now she has joined them. She was born February 14, 1929 in Winston-Salem, NC, the daughter of the late James Berkley Ingram Sr. and Virginia Stebbins Ingram. VI enjoyed a long career as an artist and was an active participant in the arts community.

Immediate family includes nieces Jane Berkley Ingram von Feilitzsch, husband Heribert, and sons Fabian, Philip, and Matthias, Amissville, VA; Karen Stebbins Ingram, Brooklyn, NY; Virginia Carter Ingram, husband Ariel Cintrón Arias, Johnson City, TN; Jody Totten, Hendersonville, TN; Priscilla Rolls, Wake Forrest, NC; nephews Shea Brown, Myrtle Beach, SC; John Bennett, Wake Forrest, NC; sister-in-law Connie Lancaster Ingram, Weddington, NC. She is preceded in death by her brothers, James Berkley Ingram, Jr. and Stebbins Brokenborough Ingram.

She was graduate of Women’s College (University of NC at Greensboro) in the 1940s with a major in graphic arts where she discovered the joy of printmaking, specifically Japanese woodcuts. VI had a16 year career as a medical illustrator at Bowman Gray School of Medicine and the University of Virginia Medical School. VI returned to Winston-Salem in 1956. Over the years she has been active in the arts community via the Arts and Crafts Association (now the Sawtooth Center for Visual Art), Associated Artists, the Gallery of Fine Arts (now SECCA), Artworks Gallery, and Piedmont Craftsmen, Inc. In 1962 she found camaraderie with Anne Kessler Shields, Martha Dunigan, Anne Carter Pollard, and Susan Moore. Together, they became the Five Winston-Salem Printmakers. She received her Masters in printmaking from UNCG in 1965. As a graphic artist, she was a book illustrator for John Blair Publishing and co-founded her own design company, Messagemakers. In 2004 she was selected as the Sawtooth Center’s “Artist of the Year”.

Her four legged friends Cayce, Venetia, Josh, Miss Kitty White, Mr. Big, Prince, Lady Jane Gray, and Snow, were lucky to receive her affection, and in turn they gave her inspiration.

Those of us with two legs will miss her sense of humor, her easy laugh and merry eyes, her thoughtfulness, and her quiet smile. Her kind demeanor earned her much affection from her friends and loved ones. We’ll think fondly of the social activities, parties, events, and travels we embarked on with her. In her artwork, she gave us many gifts through her imaginative visual interpretations; the rising moon over a carved thatching of branches, the winter sun reflecting on chiseled ice, the splayed pose of a cat at ease, an arranged alphabet, a flower shaped mandala. The unique beauty through which she viewed the world will always be ours to cherish.

A memorial service will be held 3 pm, Saturday, January 24th at Shallowford Presbyterian Church, 1200 Lewisville-Clemmons Road, Lewisville, NC with Pastor Jeff Sockwell officiating. The family will receive friends following the service in the fellowship hall.