John Cleaveland: Missouri Prairie Paintings

Missouri Prairie Painting Exhibit
September 10- November 11, 2018

John Cleaveland Missouri Prairie Painting Exhibit

Enjoy this exhibition of Missouri prairie paintings by artist John Cleaveland, a nationally recognized painter who captures the landscapes of the Midwest, focusing on the open prairies of Missouri with its diverse flora and expansive skies. Cleaveland created this exhibit in honor of the 80th birthday of Dr. Peter Raven. The exhibit is on view September 10 to November 11.

The artist is donating 10% of the proceeds from the sale of his paintings at this exhibit to the Missouri Prairie Foundation and Shaw Nature Reserve.

Ridgway Visitor Center
Missouri Botanical Garden
4344 Shaw Boulevard
St. Louis, Missouri 63110

Artist’s Statement:

“As an artist, a painter, I feel I am out of my element when I am asked to describe how I paint what I paint.

I have been painting for thirty years and it is still a struggle to understand how I build and create paintings that function in the manner that they do.

To start, I have to physically walk the places that I plan to paint and become intimate with them. I had the opportunity to do just that when I was asked to tour some of of the Missouri Prairies with Peter and Pat Raven and Susan and Stan Parrish.

It was an incredible experience.

I had done some research about prairies prior to going into the fields, but walking the Prairies with the the people who knew and loved so deeply the ecology of the land added an incredible amount to not only my education about the prairies, but how I felt to be there.

After visiting some Missouri Prairies I returned to these places to deepen my relationship with the landscape-the trees, the flowers, the ground. I still have a lot to learn.

This body of work has taken me a year to produce, and I feel that I have grown as a person, an artist, a painter, in this time. I feel that I will be involved in the subject that I have come to feel so passionately for many years to come.

I would like to thank the Ravens and the Parishes for sharing their passion with me and making it my own.”

 –John Cleaveland

About the Artist:

Cleaveland received his BFA degree from the University of Georgia and held a Graduate Assistantship in the Studies Abroad Program in Cortona, Italy. He has exhibited his work at the Albany Museum of Art (GA), University of Georgia, Madison Cultural Center (GA) and the Lyndon House Art Center (GA). His paintings are part of the collections of the Morris Museum of Art (GA), 3-M Company (MN), Bessemer Trust (GA), and the Alabama Power Company.