The newest addition to PBS Wisconsin Education’s Wisconsin Biographies collection, Georgia O’Keeffe: Painting Her Own Path, is available online now.

Watch the animated video, read a digital book with audio, view galleries of historical images and more at pbswisconsineducation.org/bio/georgia-okeeffe.

Georgia O’Keeffe was one of America’s most important artists. She grew up on a farm near Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, where she explored the outdoors and developed a love for nature. Deciding early on to become an artist, she worked hard to reach her goals, continuing to study and create even when money was tight or her ideas were different from others.

She trained in Chicago and New York City, developing a bold, modern style, painting close-up flowers, animal bones and dramatic landscapes in ways people had never seen before. In the 1940s, she moved to New Mexico, where the desert inspired her for the rest of her life.

Through her determination and creativity, O’Keeffe not only changed American art but also showed future generations that it is possible to succeed by staying true to your vision.

“This biography shows young learners that persistence matters,” said Ryan Hendricks, PBS Wisconsin Education executive producer. “Georgia O'Keeffe faced doubt and setbacks, but she never let them define her. Her journey from Sun Prairie to becoming one of America's most celebrated artists is a lesson in resilience and the power of believing in yourself.”

Wisconsin Biographies is a collection of free-to-use, educational, online media resources to enrich social studies and literacy curriculum through the stories of notable people in Wisconsin history. All of these related resources and all of PBS Wisconsin Education’s free-to-use, standards-aligned, Wisconsin-focused material are available to access at  pbswisconsineducation.org.

PBS Wisconsin is a service of the Educational Communications Board and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

PBS Wisconsin is a place to grow through learning on WHA-TV, Madison; WPNE-TV, Green Bay; WHRM-TV, Wausau; WLEF-TV, Park Falls; WHLA-TV, La Crosse; and WHWC-TV, Menomonie-Eau Claire.

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