Judson Newbern

I've painted my entire life since my first watercolor classes at age 10 when I announced I wanted to learn to paint clouds. Developing the skill sets to handle watercolors, oils and acrylics was necessary for me to capture the range of moods that Nature creates in the subject matter that I most love it paint.

I chose to make my living in the media of landscape architecture where design and the natural environment merge. This evolved into urban planning and thirty years at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. that culminated with my serving as Deputy VP for Design & Facilities, responsible for overseeing the total environment on the 330-acre campus.

In 2015 I left Vanderbilt to engage fulltime with nonprofits involving both the environment and art. I've twice served as president of a 100-member Plein Air nonprofit, The Chestnut Group, that in 2026 celebrated its 25th year of partnering with the Nashville parks to host art shows of paintings produced by its member artists. Almost half of the sale proceeds from each show is donated back to the park. These donations have exceeded $500,000 over the organization's history.

Continuing to study and instruct, staging exhibits, and participating in numerous outdoor and juried art ...

Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, Master of Landscape Architecture

North Carolina State University, School of Design, Bachelor of Environmental Design

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, major in studio arts

One-person, solo exhibit at The Centennnial Club of Nashville in 2018

Co-chairman of The Chestnut Group's joint venture Warner Parks Art Show, Spring 2018
Co-chairman of The Chestnut Group's joint venture Centennial Park Art, Memorial Day weekend 2019

Numerous shows in association with membership in The Chestnut Group, plein air painting non-profit in central Tennessee; serving on Board of Directors

Solo art exhibition, Harvard Graduate School of Design, Gund Hall, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Juried student select exhibition, Ackland Art Museum, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Finalist, National Scholastic Art Awards, Union Carbide Exhibition Center, New York, New York

Finalist, National Grumbacher Award, National Scholastic Art Awards, New York, New York