As the American frontier expanded into the prairies of the Midwest, a voracious appetite for tree planting arose. F. K. Phoenix, who opened his Bloomington Nursery in 1852, possessed a love of nature and a missionary zeal to plant the prairies. In 1867, having established the largest nursery in the "West", he hired artist William Henry Prestele to oversee the design and production of exquisite hand-colored lithographs for the trade. The Prestele family pioneered this art form in America. Their carefully produced lithographs, combined with the boundless enthusiasm of Phoenix created a potent force for the planting of the prairies. This exhibit of their prints and the story of Phoenix's nursery provide an intimate window into the plants and people that helped shape an American landscape.
Want to know more about this topic? See our exhibit catalog, Gifts to the Prairie, by Daryl Watson in the Museum library.