Congratulations to Nancy Berliner
SBPC’s 2026 Artist of the Year

About the Artist

Nancy Berliner has been involved in art for a long time.  In high school, under Dean Barber at Myers Park High School in Charlotte, she received a Gold Key Award at the National Scholastic Art Awards.  She also received Honorable Mention awards in that program.  She went on to Western Carolina University and graduated with a BFA.  Nancy started teaching at Asheboro Junior High School and discovered she enjoyed this age group and remained there for 14 years before moving to Sanford, where she joined the Lee Middle Schools faculty.  Nancy has kept working with the Scholastic Art Awards Program over the years, and her art students have received National Gold Keys, as well as Silver Keys, and Honorable Mentions.  She always treated her students as artists and held them to a high level of achievement, often placing at the State Fair, as well. 

In 2009, Nancy retired from teaching and decided to pursue becoming an artist.  As a teacher, “you are a jack of all trades, you know a little about many types of art.” Nancy fell in love with watercolor and decided to take classes at Randolph Technical College and Sandhills Community College.  She has also enhanced her skills by taking classes and workshops at the Artist League of the Sandhills in Aberdeen, the Sanford Brush & Palette Club, and with Ryan Fox, Beth Bale, Bettie Hendricks, and Ludmilla Tomova, to name a few. 

Nancy is a true believer in volunteering.  She works tirelessly at the Sanford Brush & Palette Club’s Annual Art Show held every October, with the Lions Club and the arts program at the Lee Regional Fair every year, reads to preschoolers at Warren Williams, provides books to first graders in Key West, and is actively involved with the Artist League of the Sandhills in Aberdeen.  But most importantly, she serves as a committee member of the Sanford Brush & Palette Club’s Art Angels for Budding Artists program, which provides grants to art teachers to purchase materials for special art projects in Lee County. Art Angels also participates in Summer educational programs, such as the Lee County Sheriffs Day Camp.  Nancy has also served on the SBPC Scholarship Committee, which awards educational scholarships to Seniors planning on continuing their higher education in the visual arts.  She has also served on the SBPC’s Board of Directors.  All in all, Nancy Berliner is a busy lady. 

Nancy is currently a member of the Sanford Brush & Palette Club (since 2019), the Artist League of the Sandhills, and the North Carolina Watercolor Society. 

---