teach English as a second language, reduce class sizes and fund public schools with money from the lottery, and she has sought funding for the handicapped, homeless, and for poor families to obtain child care. Van Landingham was the first woman to chair the Privileges and Elections Committee, and served as chair of the transportation and public education subcommittees. She retired in 2005, leaving as Virginia's most senior female delegate and the 11th most senior member of the house. Mark Warner, who then served as Governor of Virginia, described her work in the house as being "the voice that would step up and argue for what was right," in a conservative legislature, "even those that didn't agree with her views had a great respect for her." Van Landingham was an elector for Barack Obama and Joe Biden in the 2008 U.S. presidential election. Notable awards 1974; Washingtonian of the Year 1979; Virginia Governor Award for the Arts 1992; Governor's Award for Fighting Drugs 1993; Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy Legislator of the Year 2006; Women's History Month Honoree 2010; Virginia Women in History honoree, Library of Virginia Further reading Van Landingham, Marian. On Target: Stories of the Torpedo Factory Art Center's First 25 years. Self-published (1999). References External links Van Landingham's art on the Torpedo Factory website. Biography of Van Landingham on the Library of Virginia's "Virginia Women in History" website 1937 births 21st-century American painters American political scientists Painters from Virginia Emory University alumni Living people Democratic Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates People from Albany, Georgia Politicians from Alexandria, Virginia American women painters Women state legislators in Virginia Artists from Georgia (U.S. state) 21st-century American women artists 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American women politicians 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians Women political scientists