Art Gallery

Art Exhibits

Enjoy art inspired by both nature and the human experience of life in the world at The Green Center. Exhibits are free and open to the public throughout the year. Portions of proceeds of art exhibit sales support The Green Center's youth arts and restoration programs.

Contact us if you have nature-inspired artwork that you would like to be considered for a future exhibit in 2026. We're currently booked through 2025.

UPCOMING EXHIBIT

The Shape of CHange
Artists of The Green Center
November 8 - December 8, 2025

Featuring the art of:
Elisa J. Roth
Jolene Klingenberg
Linda Sachs
Amanda J. D. Smith
Nancy Thais
Mary Woodward

Artists' Statements:

Elisa J. Roth
I am a recently retired elementary art teacher discovering my creativity beyond the classroom. While teaching was an amazing career and offered me much growth, I am excited to begin my next chapter of creating art.

Prior to my teaching career, I spent most of my college years pursuing printmaking and acrylic painting. I enjoyed a year's study in the South of France at National D'Art Decoratif where I acquired both the French language and my love of travel. I spent a year teaching English in Milan, learning an additional language, Italian, as well as discovering my passion for teaching.

My travels, teaching, and nature have influenced my work. I was immersed in arts integration as an art teacher and I love the connection between words, poetry and the visual arts.

I firmly believe that art can empower and engage a community. Mosaic was one historical anchor as well as a means to include many artists into one cumulative art work. My elementary students and I produced over 60 mosaics that adorned the walls of my school. We created unique murals that reflected our community and talents. I am very proud of what we accomplished over the years. If you are interested in me working with your students to create mosaic or mural work please reach out to me to discuss your project ideas.

All of these experiences have taught me to explore multiple art mediums and embrace new themes in my work.

Jolene Klingenburg
In both science and in art, the power of observation is the basis for learning, and The Green Center's nature-play gardens are the perfect place for sparking creativity while discovering the wondrous role plants serve in our ecosystem.
As a child, I was always compelled to make art, and that interest drove me to pursue a degree in graphic communications in college. I spent my career working in advertising and marketing, initially as a graphic designer, and later as a marketing manager, creative director and brand identity steward. Now in retirement, volunteering at The Green Center has reignited my passion for making art as a way to explore Missouri's ecosystem and learn about native plants.

For this exhibit, I have created a series of images on the biennial life cycle of our native Common Evening Primrose. It grows a basal rosette leaflet in the first year and a sturdy stalk in the second year, which is lined with buds that open up in the evening to reveal clusters of delicate yellow flowers. The subtle lemony scent and ultraviolet patterning of each day-long bloom attract the pink Primrose Moth, Hawk Moth, and Sphinx Moth, specialist night-time pollinators which depend on this plant to support their life cycles. At the end of the plant's life, goldfinches flock to the brown stalks full of nutritious seeds to feed throughout the winter.

Influenced by the decorative graphic styling of the Arts & Crafts Movement and the patterning of quilting squares, I chose to work in a square format using cut paper. The images are set on a black background to signify this plant's nightblooming characteristic and to dramatically feature its basal rosette, which reminds me of the stained glass windows in old churches.

I had so much fun creating this triptych and sharing what I've learned from my observations and study of the Common Evening Primrose. I hope it inspires others to take a closer look at the native plants in their yards!

Mary Woodward
Like most of us, I have always had an affinity for the wonders of the natural world. Volunteering at The Green Center, whether it be guiding children on nature walks, propagating new plants, or assisting with garden maintenance provides many opportunities to experience and share the beauty of our planet through our local community.

My background includes studio art, a degree in art history, and a horticulture degree. The Green Center is a perfect incubator for combining creative skills with the science of nature.

The creations I have made in this exhibit are inspired by the gardens, trees, woods, prairie, and wetlands at The Green Center. Autumn leaves provide a kaleidoscope of millions of colors serving as a true sustainable resource in the form of art materials.

It is a privilege to be exhibiting with a community of so many creative artists. I am also grateful for all the other volunteers who so generously share their creative thoughts and comradery.

The Green Center community and employees continually use their ingenuity, talent, and vision to provide an atmosphere of ecological discovery and environmental education for our city in a most enriching way.

Linda Sachs
I have had a lifelong love affair with art and nature. Memories of growing up surrounded by the Missouri woods and painting watercolors with my dad shaped my art.

By teaching art lessons to students and showing them my love for the process of creating, I fulfill my desire to keep giving.

My designs in wool and hand embroidery reflect my passion for quilts, nature and folk art. I’m using upcycled materials with colorful fibers and embellishments to construct wearables, home decor and collages. With an idea, I survey my skills, materials and play with arrangements of color, design to express the essence of the object.

I use what I collect and experiment with stitching, textures and colors.. Designs range in all sizes of shapes with color combinations. I enjoy the excitement of piercing materials together then the quiet mediation of hand embroidery on top. Designs may start with a wood block print onto fabric or a drawing of a sketched idea. I’m known for jacket collages, stitched fabric patches, layered textile earrings, patched hats and scarves.

Stuffed hearts made from loved fabrics and quilts are a part of a story of remembering the ones you love. My hope that joy is sparked by wearing or displaying my designs.