UMW Studio Art Major Paints a New Path as a Nontraditional Student

Kathleen Trenchard was walking on the University of Mary Washington campus early one morning when something caught her eye next to Melchers Hall. The giant cedar tree bathed in sunlight soon became the subject of her first piece for her Topics in Painting course.

“In the class, we were focusing on our personal canon and how we wanted to grow as an artist,” said Trenchard, who captured the evergreen in a photo and amplified the colors before bringing it to life on canvas with vibrant blue, red, green and gold oil paint and pigment powder. “It was an exercise to push myself in ways that are not normal for me.”

Kathleen Trenchard came to the University of Mary Washington as a nontraditional student and is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Liberal Studies degree in studio art. She was the only current UMW student selected to have work in the Mid-Atlantic New Painting Biennial exhibit, which was on display in the UMW Galleries throughout much of the fall semester. Photo courtesy of Kathleen Trenchard.

Trenchard’s oil and pigment powder painting, ‘On the Way to Class,’ was featured on the cover of the 2023-24 Endowment Report, published by UMW’s Office of Advancement and Alumni Engagement. Photo courtesy of Kathleen Trenchard.

Trenchard and her husband, Terry, pose with the portrait named after him, which was displayed in the UMW Galleries as part of the Mid-Atlantic New Painting Biennial, which ran Nov. 7, 2024, through Jan. 19, 2025. Photo courtesy of Kathleen Trenchard.

After decades as a self-taught artist and military spouse, Trenchard is pursuing a Bachelor of Liberal Studies degree in studio art at Mary Washington – and earning recognition for her work in the process. Her painting, “On the Way to Class,” spent several months hanging in Brompton, home to UMW President Troy Paino and wife Kelly. The piece also graces the cover of the 2023-24 Fiscal Year Endowment Report, recently published by the Office of University Advancement and the UMW Foundation.

Trenchard was also selected from over 600 professional artists from New Jersey to South Carolina to have her work displayed in the Mid-Atlantic New Painting Biennial exhibit. The oil painting of her husband, “Terry,” and more than 70 other works – including those by Mary Washington alumni Heidi Reszies ’86, Emma Knight ’92 and Jasper Drilling ’22 – were on view in the UMW Galleries throughout much of the fall semester.

“I didn’t realize the caliber of artists who were considered, so I was really surprised to find out I was the only current UMW student with a painting in the show,” Trenchard said. “It was such an incredible honor.”

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