| The work of Sanpete County “pioneer” Ella Peacock is being featured in a special art show that coincides with the late artist’s 100th birthday. Paintings and prints by Peacock are being exhibited at the Museum of Utah Art & History, 125 South Main Street, through Sept. 4. The gallery is open Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The “Ella at 100: the Painting of Ella Peacock” exhibit features many of the renowned artist's oil and watercolour paintings. Most of the works are adorned by one of Peacock’s signature handmade wooden frames, each one constructed to harmonize with the colors and composition of the painting they frame. Some of the artists wood block and lino prints are also displayed. The works are on loan from Snow College, Brigham Young University, and private collectors. Born Ella Gillmer Smyth Peacock in Germantown, Pennsylvania, in 1905, Peacock moved to Utah in the 1960s with her husband, Bill, who died in 1979. Growing up, she originally planned to study music and enrolled at the Peabody Conservatory. She later switched to art, enrolling first at the Maryland Institute College of Art and then at the then-called Philadelphia School of Design for Women where she won a scholarship and several awards. But she “gave up” painting during the depression to support her family, doing a variety of design-related work and later completing a drafting course and working as a draftsman for nearly 30 years. She didn’t return to painting seriously until she moved to Spring City, where she was known for driving up and down historical U.S. Highway 89 looking for inspiration for her works. She called it her “full-time job” and was also notorious for painting in her cars so as not to be disturbed by passers by. Peacock painted local landscape and architecture scenes for nearly 30 years up until her death in 1999. Some of her well-known scenes include the oil painting of the Lehi Roller Mills; an oil painting of a Mt. Pleasant’s Main Street; and her “First Sight of the Desert” painting from the 1930s. Peacock was often hesitant to sell her works and rarely attended art opening or functions. It is said that she never really understood the true monetary value of her work. # # # | 
