June 18, 2010

Primitivist artist Essie Ward was born in 1902 in Nubbin Hill (Searcy County). After a diagnosis of cancer in 1959, she took a more serious interest in her lifelong hobby of painting and began to market her work. Her subject matter usually centered on Arkansas rural lifestyles. A series of paintings featuring a pioneer couple known as Miranda and Hezzakiah helped give her the title of “Grandma Moses of the Ozarks.” Many private collections and galleries hold pieces of her work. She died on July 23, 1981.