Virginia Dooley

Virginia Susan Dooley of Taos, NM, died on Friday, April 25th, after a prolonged illness. She was a fixture of the Taos art community, having been the long-time companion, publicist, promoter and gallery director for Navajo artist, R. C. Gorman. Virginia was born on March 7, 1943 in New York City, the daughter of Raymond N. Dooley and Lovilla Frederick Dooley. She moved with her family to central Illinois where her father was Director of Student Services at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington and later President of Lincoln College in Lincoln. Her mother died prematurely while Virginia was still very young; she and her brothers were later adopted by her father's second wife, Florence Adams Dooley. Virginia attended Lincoln public schools and Wayland Academy in Beaver Dam Wisconsin. She studied piano and voice at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and received her bachelor's degree from Mundelein College in Chicago. Upon graduation, Virginia moved to St. Michaels, AZ where she taught music at the St. Michael's Mission School and where she developed a deep regard and respect for Navajo traditions and culture. She then accepted a job teaching music in the Taos school system. It was in Taos that she met R.C. Gorman, then a promising but unknown artist. She posed for some of Gorman's early drawings and paintings and became both a close friend and early promoter of his work. It was she who launched an early publicity campaign of posters and bumper stickers with the legend "Who Is R. C. Gorman?" and a silhouette of Gorman's profile—an image that became his signature logo. For over thirty years, they worked together, he producing and she promoting, the iconic images of Navajo women drawn with the pure, spare lines that eventually earned him a world-wide reputation. They traveled extensively visiting galleries and meeting collectors of his work, including film stars Elizabeth Taylor, Lee Marvin and other film, entertainment and political celebrities. Virginia and R. C. loved to entertain, frequently hosting elaborate dinner parties at his house or hers. She was an accomplished and creative cook. Early in her days in Taos she won a national baking contest for her recipe for turquoise margarita pie, and she collaborated with Gorman on a series of books called "Nudes and Foods" which feature his drawings and recipes she collected or created. Music was always a big part of her life. She was a talented pianist and organist and she was an opera lover, making annual trips to the Metropolitan Opera in New York to, in her words, "overdose on opera." She also wrote witty and insightful reviews of the Santa Fe Opera productions for several state and local publications—reviews which were occasionally amusingly hard on the lead tenor. Virginia is survived by her two brothers, William Paul Dooley of Kent, CT, and Raymond W. Dooley of Belgrade, Serbia, as well as numerous cousins, most of whom came to love Taos while attending family reunions she organized at her home. Rosary will be recited on Friday, May 02, 2008 at 7 PM at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church. Funeral mass will be held on Saturday, May 03, 2008 at 12 noon at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church.