Vendryes, who was an authority on artist Richmond Barthé visited Haiti several times during the course of her research for Barthé, A Life in Sculpture (2008). In addition, she authored Beyond the Blues: Reflections on African America from the Amistad Research Center Fine Arts Collection, the first major publication of works from Amistad Research Center’s permanent art collection and curated a show bearing the same name at the New Orleans Museum of Art in 2010.

Vendryes, who joined the faculty of York College and The Graduate Center in 2000. Following a seven-year hiatus from academia in which Vendryes re-dedicated herself to a successful studio practice, she served as Distinguished Lecturer in Fine Arts and Director of the York College Fine Arts Gallery “Vendryes is best known for her painting series The African Diva Project which merges African masks with commercial images of popular black women soloists.”

She was selected for several leadership positions including serving as Chair of the Department of Performing and Fine Arts at York College. Shortly before her death Vendryes was named Dean of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University in January 2022—an amazing career opportunity that was thwarted by her untimely death in April 2022.