Artist Talk with Carolyn Schmitz

Join us for an evening with artist Carolyn Schmitz, whose imaginative creations transform the familiar into something extraordinary. In her current exhibition, Return to Stone, Carolyn turns from paint and canvas to celebrate her lifelong fascination with the “ordinary” rocks she has gathered and studied for decades. From these unaltered stones, she builds miniature worlds—tiny cities, factories, and faces—that remind us of both the endurance of the Earth and the fleeting nature of human invention.

During this special presentation, Carolyn will also share insights into her broader body of work, including her beloved animal portraits adorned with hats made from native plant materials, and her inventive nature-based sculptures—polar bears molded from clay circling a pool of crude oil, or a shoe crafted from agave leaves.

A lifelong naturalist as well as an artist, Carolyn translates her deep curiosity about the natural world into art that surprises, delights, and connects us to the living Earth.

Come be inspired by her stories, process, and playful imagination.

Doors open at 6:30pm. The presentation starts at 7:00pm.

*The event is FREE, but space is limited, and registration is required. For those unable to attend in person, the talk will be live-streamed on our YouTube Channel.

Carolyn Schmitz was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and moved with her family to the mountains outside Prescott, Arizona, in 1952. Drawing, painting, and sculpting from an early age, she completed foundation courses at the Kansas City Art Institute before earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in graphic design from Arizona State University. For nearly 30 years, she lived in the raw desert near Phoenix, working as a freelance illustrator and muralist, before returning to her forest home.

Carolyn’s small, whimsical portraits of the wildlife of the American West are known for their intricate botanical detail. Her line of greeting cards, Desert Dada, has shared the subtle beauties of the arid Southwest with people around the world, inspiring them to discover the hidden treasures in their own local habitats.

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Host or Publisher Natural History Institute