‘Kentucky Afield Illustrated’ Art Exhibition Open Through June 5

​FRANKFORT, Ky. (April 8, 2021) — Experience Kentucky nature through the eyes of fish and wildlife artist Rick Hill during a special exhibition this spring at the Janice Mason Art Museum in Cadiz.

Hill is an artist for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources and paints the covers for Kentucky Afield, the department's quarterly magazine.

The "Kentucky Afield Illustrated" exhibition, featuring many of the Shelby County resident's meticulously crafted paintings, opens April 16 and continues through June 5, 2021.

The display includes acrylic paintings specially created by Hill over the past two decades for the covers of Kentucky Afield. Subjects include a timberdoodle, shellcracker, American kestrel, gray fox, elk, various sporting scenes and more. Also featured are an ecosystem painting and a stunning portrayal of a Kentucky bobcat prowling the ridgetops of the Red River Gorge.

The Cadiz Community Arts Center worked closely with Kentucky Fish and Wildlife and the Kentucky Arts Council to help make the exhibition possible.

"I am looking forward to this nature exhibit," said Joan Demers, director of the Janice Mason Art Museum. "It fits in perfectly in our western Kentucky location. Wildlife, fishing and nature are western Kentucky, and Rick Hill is a very accomplished artist."

Hill is a self-taught artist and naturalist.

His career with Kentucky Fish and Wildlife started as a Fisheries Division creel clerk in 1986. In 1994, he became the department's full-time artist.

Hill's works rely on the interplay of light with the subjects. As a naturalist, his accuracy of fish and wildlife subjects in their natural environments is unmatched.

Five of Hill's nature subjects, including a bobcat, deer, cardinal, quail and smallmouth bass, currently appear on Kentucky specialty license plates.

The Janice Mason Art Museum is open to visitors from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Central time) Tuesday through Saturday and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. The museum is located at 71 Main St. in Cadiz.