Murphy Debra Vanderlaan is an interesting and busy woman – so much so that her husband, David, sent her name to the Cherokee Scout. The woman of many talents has lived near downtown with her husband for 15 years and is very involved in the community.
She is president of the Valley River Arts Guild, which puts on the monthly Friday Night Art Walk. She does the advertising, grant writing and fundraising.
Vanderlaan is also involved in the MAX project – Murphy Art Xplosion. The project displays the work of different artists on the sides of several buildings around downtown.
Winners from all the entries are chosen to have their work enlarged and displayed for three months. Each quarter, different winners have their work displayed for a season.
Vanderlaan’s other community involvement is with Heritage Partners, for which she is a board member. Heritage Partners oversee and maintains the popular 5-mile stretch of the Murphy River Walk.
She is also working with the town and Downtown Development Director Laura Lachance on the Main Street America project’s Appalachian Culture Committee. Main Street America has partnered with the arts guild on the MAX project, which is providing large canvas art on the buildings. Grants to fund the project have come from the Cherokee County Tourist Development Authority and Cannon Foundation.
“My life’s been very full,” Vanderlaan said. “We are very blessed, and we feel like the more the Lord blesses us, we will bless others.”
Her passions include photography and digital art. She has an online gallery of her works, and items are also on display at the Murphy Art Center on Valley River Avenue.
The retired floral shop owner has also been physically active in her life – especially in cycling and road racing, for which she was national cycling champion in 1998. She learned to speak French, which has helped on her numerous trips to France. She has ridden with the French-American Cycling Group and cycled more than 100 miles a day for weeks at a time.
Vanderlaan’s travels have taken her to Holland, Spain, Czechoslovakia and Germany as well as Austria and Switzerland. She has also completed nine full marathons, numerous half marathons and several 5K runs.
One may think her life offers little time to do anything else, but Vanderlaan also enjoys growing plants. Her windowsills are adorned with orchids.
She loves dogs, especially dachshunds. The Vanderlaans do most everything together and have been referred to as “The Vanderlaan Team.”
While Vanderlaan is busy, she continues to find the time to devote to her community and the things she is passionate about.