Bio & Resume

Diana Werts completed her MA degree in Painting at Emporia State University, in the heart of the Flint Hills. Teaching in various settings, from art museums and schools to artist-in-residencies throughout Kansas and Missouri, deepened her appreciation for the relationships between people and the natural world. Working in small rural communities allowed Diana to explore and examine her region with an artist’s eye, while engaging people of all ages in the artistic process. Matfield Green has recently become her new home, where she found a studio space in the old Hitchin Post Bar, renovated by Diana and her husband Kelly. Diana’s work is in many private and corporate collections throughout Kansas and Missouri, and she is currently represented by SNW Gallery in Manhattan, KS. 

DIANA C. WERTS – RESUME

dcwerts@gmail.com

www.artwerts.com

EDUCATION

M.A. Painting Emporia State University 1987

Teaching Certification Emporia State University 1983

B.S. Art Emporia State University 1976

Studied w/ Richard Slimon, Roberto Juarez, Gregory Kondos, Gregory Botts, Ray Olivera, Skip Whitcomb, Albert Handell, Charles Stegner, Phil Starke, Terry Ludwig, Lisa Grossman, Kim Casebeer, Michael Schall, Philomene Bennett.

TEACHING

WoodFest at Camp Wood, Elmdale, KS 2015, 2018

Bartlett Arboretum, Belle Plaine, KS 2015

Artist in Residence, Quincy Elementary School, Topeka, KS 2014 & 2015

Artist in Residence NOCCA  New Orleans, LA 2013

Secondary Art Instructor and Dept. Head Bishop Miege High School 2005-2012

Artist-in-Residencies Kansas and Missouri 1987-2008

Youth and Adult classes Nelson-Atkins & Wichita Art Museums 1991-5

Secondary Art Instructor Wichita Public Schools 1983-8

EXHIBITIONS

Open Studio – Werts Art Studio in Matfield Green, KS October 2024

Group Show w/ Re:Gen – “Resonance”, Leedy Voulkos Gallery, Kansas City, MO February-April 2024

Open Studio – Werts Art Studio in Matfield Green, KS October 2023

Two Woman Show w/ Bev Gegen – “A Brush with Nature”, SNW Gallery, Manhattan, KS July-September 2023

Group Show w/ Re:Gen – “(Women) Artists from the Collection 1800-2022” (catalog also), Albrecht-Kemper Museum, St Joseph, MO June-September 2023

Open Studio – Werts Art Studio in Matfield Green, KS 2022

Group Show – The George R. Schlegel Gallery, Roeland Park City Hall, Roeland Park, KS 2022

Group Show – “Kansas Land & Sky” at Strecker-Nelson West Gallery, Manhattan, KS 2022

Group Show – “What On Earth Is Happening” at Mark Arts, Wichita, KS 2022

Group Show – “IN (and out of) PLACE”, Volland Store, Alma, KS 2022

Solo Show – Anita Gorman Discovery Center, KCMO 2021

Group Show – Visions of the Flint Hills, Buttonwood Art Space, KCMO 2021

Group Show – “Time and Grace”, Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, MO 2021

Group Show – Strecker-Nelson West Gallery, Manhattan, KS 2020

Featured Artist – Ad Astra Food & Drink, Strong City, KS 2020

Group Show – Cottonwood Falls Chamber of Commerce, Cottonwood Falls, KS 2020

3 Woman Show – “Flint Hills | Fertile Ground” Thornhill Gallery, Avila University, KCMO 2020

Open Studio – Werts Art Studio in Matfield Green, KS 2019

Group Show – “Visions of the Flint Hills”, Buttonwood Art Space, KCMO 2019

Featured Artist – Ferguson-Phillips design firm, Wichita, KS 2019

Group Show – Cottonwood Falls Chamber of Commerce, Cottonwood Falls, KS 2019

Solo show – Bishop Spencer Place, Kansas City, MO 2019

Featured Artist – Little Green Gallery, Huntsville, AL 2019

Solo Show – Werts Art StudioMatfield Green, KS 2019

Group Show –  “Golden Valley – Endless Skyway” Strecker-Nelson West Gallery, Manhattan, KS 2019

Group Show, “Endless Line” Kansas abstract artists at Strecker-Nelson West Gallery, Manhattan, KS, 2019

Group show, “Picturing Kansas”, at Beach Museum of Art in Manhattan, KS, 2019

Group show, at Bank Art Space in Matfield Green, KS, 2018

Group Show, “Art Kansas” at Friendship Art Gallery, McPherson College, McPherson, KS, 2018

Group show, “Flint Hills Field Journal” at Symphony in the Flint Hills Gallery, Cottonwood Falls, KS, 2018

Group Show, “People’s Climate Change” at Just Off Broadway Theatre, Kansas City, MO, 2018

Group Show,  Re:Generation “Layers” at Thornhill Gallery, Avila University, Kansas City, MO 2018

Group Show, “Presents 2017”, Strecker Nelson West Gallery in Manhattan, KS, 2017

Featured Artist, “Art of Nature”, The Studio Above, Kansas City, MO, 2017

One-Woman show, The Bank Art Space in Matfield Green, KS, 2017

Featured Artist, “Swan Song“, Strecker-Nelson Gallery in Manhattan, KS, 2017

Group Show, “Only the Best”, Strecker-Nelson Gallery, Manhattan, KS, 2016

Featured artist, Art Source & Design, Overland Park, KS, 2016

Group Show “Re: generation”, Albrecht-Kemper Museum, St Joseph, MO, 2016

Group Show, “30 Women Artists Paint Kansas”, Coutts Museum, El Dorado, KS. 2016

Group Show, Essences: Abstracted Landscapes, Strecker-Nelson Gallery, Manhattan, KS 2016

Flint Hills Masters, Flint Hills Discovery Center, 2015

Earth Above, Sky Below, Strecker-Nelson Gallery, Manhattan,KS 2015

National Small Oil Painting Exhibition, Wichita Center for the Arts, Wichita, KS  2014

Group Show, Butler Community College, El Dorado, KS 2014

One-Woman Show, Prairie Village City Hall, Prairie Village, KS 2014

Visions of the Flint Hills, Buttonwood Art Space, KCMO 2013

One-Woman Show, Burr Oak Woods Conservation Center, Blue Springs, MO 2013

Through Artists Eyes, Flint Hills Discovery Center, 2013

Flint Hills Masters, Strecker-Nelson Gallery, Manhattan,KS 2013

New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, New Orleans, LA 2013

Paint the Parks, Coutts Museum/ Touring Show 2013-2014

Group Show, Main Street Gallery, KCMO 2013

Group Show – Featured Artist, Main Street Gallery, KCMO 2012

National Small Oil Painting Exhibition, Wichita Center for the Arts, Wichita, KS  2012

Brush Creek Plein Air, UMKC, KCMO 2012

One-Woman Show, John Wornall House Museum, KCMO 2012

Coutts Memorial Art Museum, El Dorado, KS 2010

Artist Studios-KC, Fairway, KS 2009

Open Studios_KC, Fairway, KS 2007

Spring Fever Solo Show, Trish Higgins Fine Art, Wichita,KS 2007

Surprise Beginnings Solo Show, Pi Gallery, KCMO 2006

Smoky Hill Exhibition, Hays Art Center, Hays, KS 2005

Group Show, Pi Gallery, Kansas City, MO 2004

Great Plains National, Fort Hays State University, Fort Hays, KS 2004

Pastel National, Wichita Center for the Arts, Wichita, KS 2004

MAPS Juried Show, Albrecht-Kemper Museum, St. Joseph 2004

Smoky Hill Exhibition – Landscape Award, Hays Arts Council, Hays, KS 2003

One-Woman Show, Stringer Gallery, Hutchinson, KS 2003

One-Woman Show, Winfield Arts Center, Winfield, KS 2003

Group Show, Strecker-Nelson Gallery, Manhattan, KS 2002

Alumni Show, Emporia State University, Emporia, KS 1995

CAC Staff, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, KCMO 1995

Group Show, Gallery V, KCMO 1993

Images 93 Regional Exhibition, Highland Community College, Highland, KS 1993

K.C. Site, Kansas City, MO 1992

Smoky Hill Exhibition, Hays Arts Center Gallery, Hays, KS 1992

Group Invitational Show, Wichita Art Museum, Wichita, KS 1992

One Woman Show, Friends University, Wichita, KS 1992

Kansas Ten, Mulvane Art Museum, Topeka, KS 1991

One Woman Show, Wichita Center for the Arts, Wichita, KS 1988

Two Person Show, Tech Art Gallery, Hutchinson, KS 1987

7th  Nat’l Small Oil Exhibit, Wichita Center for the Arts, Wichita, KS 1987

11th Ks. Nat’l Small Painting Drawing & Print Exhibition, Fort Hays State University, Hays, KS 1986

Various Solo and Group Shows Statewide 1986-present

GALLERY AFFILIATIONS – Past and Present

Strecker-Nelson West Gallery, Manhattan, KS; Trish Higgins Fine Art, Wichita, KS; Main Street Gallery, KCMO; Kansas City Artists Coalition, Kansas City, MO; Strecker-Nelson Gallery, Manhattan, KS; Pi Gallery, Kansas City, MO; Firehouse Gallery Wichita, KS; Anna’s Gallery, Wichita, KS; The Source Fine Arts, Kansas City, MO; Tech Art Gallery, Hutchinson, KS; Gallery V, Kansas City, MO

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS 

Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art at KSU, Manhattan, KS; Intrust Bank, Wichita, KS; Spencer Fane, Kansas City, MO; Emporia State University, Emporia, KS; KU School of Medicine, Wichita, KS; Hays Medical Center, Hays, KS; Wichita Center for the Arts, Wichita, KS; Hinkle Law Firm LLC, Wichita, KS;  Community Memorial Health Clinic, Marysville, KS; Meadowlark Hills Retirement Community, Manhattan, KS; Kansas Health Foundation, Wichita, KS; Piper Assisted Living, Kansas City, KS; Good Shepherd Hospice House, Manhattan, KS.