An Iowa Artist Explores the Kansas Prairie
by Thomas Agran
  • photo essay

Thomas Agran—painter and creator of numerous public murals—was recently awarded the Tallgrass Artist Residency in Matfield Green, Kansas. A collage of images and words inspired by the residency and created by Associate Editor Maizie Schaffner brings the artist’s experience to our pages.

decorative header image from Volume X Issue 1 · Spring 2024

The Tallgrass Artist Residency (TAR) is a program located in the small town of Matfield Green, Kansas, near the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve. Matfield Green lies in the Flint Hills, which contain some of the greatest grassland biological diversity in the world. TAR hosts artists, most of whom are from the prairie region, for two weeks at a time. This residency program provides artists time to explore the beauty and importance of the Kansas tallgrass prairie.

Thomas Agran had already been exploring the Iowa prairie and the theme of community through his work. Community involvement, ecosystems, and agriculture coalesce in the many public murals that he has painted. As a 2022 TAR resident he expanded his work to Kansas. The following photo collages are made up of excerpts from his time in the Matfield Green and what he created.

A collage of pictures of a person in a truck
A collage of art
A collage of pictures of trees and a painting
About Author Thomas Agran
Portrait image of author Thomas Agran.
Photo courtesy of Thomas Agran.
Born in Kentucky, raised in Ohio, and currently residing in Iowa City, Iowa, Thomas Agran is very interested in the Midwest—for both its charms as well as its challenges. He is dedicated to the Midwestern landscape, its total transformation through agriculture, and the political, social, and environmental consequences of that change. Some of his paintings also explore the complicated nexus of food, agriculture, nostalgia, and marketing. Agran’s work involves, studio practice, mural work, and teaching. His murals focus on participatory work or address issues of social and environmental justice in a community.