Past Exhibitions
Wildflowers of Baker Prairie: Botanical Paintings by Kate Nessler
27 March – 30 May 1997
Kate Nessler's paintings depicted approximately 50 of the wild plants growing in the Baker Prairie Natural Area, a tract of 71 acres (most of it virgin grassland), in Harrison, Arkansas. The traveling exhibition was a joint endeavor of Nessler, the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission and the Arkansas Arts Council. Nessler began painting the prairie wildflowers in April 1993 and completed the last painting in the fall of 1994. In documenting the wildflowers and grasses of the prairie through the seasons, she intended to "create a traveling exhibit for artistic and educational purposes ... [and] increase public awareness of the beauty and fragility of such a prairie."
Kate Nessler lives in Kingston, Arkansas. Throughout her years as a botanical artist, her botanical subjects have included wildflowers, garden bouquets and orchids, and she has won numerous awards, including three gold medals from the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) in London. Both the Hunt Institute and RHS hold Nessler artworks in their permanent collections, and her paintings are also in many private collections around the world.
