Hidden Treasures

Perspectives from The Artist's Road

Tobacco Plant. John Steuart Curry

When we talk about finding “diamonds in our own backyards”, we are usually referring to good painting subjects nearby to where we each live. (See: Perspectives No. 119 - Diamonds in Our Own Backyards). However, there can be other kinds of diamonds in our backyards worth seeking out as well. We recently discovered a real jewel near to us in the tiny town of Garnett, Kansas, (pop. 3400), where the Mary Bridget McAuliffe Walker Art Collection is housed in a dedicated wing of the public library. Why we hadn’t known about this prominent collection before is a mystery to us! It contains works by Jean Baptiste Camille Corot, John Steuart Curry, Edouard Manet, Robert Henri, John F. Carlson and more. At the time we visited, the gallery was also host to a national juried art exhibition of two and three-dimensional artworks. There was plenty to see both contemporary and otherwise.

The collection was established by Maynard Wal…