Marian Van Landingham
Member of Virginia House of Delegates
Marian Amelia Van Landingham (September 10, 1937 – April 4, 2026) was an American artist, community leader and Democratic politician. She served in the Virginia House of Delegates for 24 years and spearheaded the transformation of a former military warehouse into the Torpedo Factory Art Center, in Alexandria, Virginia. In 2006 she was designated a Women's History Month Honoree by the National Women's History Project.
Early life and education
Marian Van Landingham was born in Albany, Georgia and graduated from Druid Hills High School in Atlanta in 1955. She received her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in political science at Emory University.
Career
In 1967 Landingham moved to Arlington County, Virginia to work as an information specialist for the National Air Pollution Agency before moving to nearby Alexandria, Virginia four years later. She worked part time for Alexandria's Bicentennial office, and by 1973 was the president of the Alexandria Arts League, as discussed below. She also worked with Georgia Congressman Phil Landrum. A painter herself, she continued to live and work in Alexandria, for more than five decades, accompanied in her final years by two dachshunds, which she named "Arthur" for former President Chester A. Arthur
, and "Alexander" for the historic city. A member of a local Methodist church, the educational Delta Kappa Gamma society and numerous local neighborhood associations, Landingham would also serve as vice chairman of the Alexandria Democratic Committee.
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