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Michael Francis Reagan

Michael Francis Reagan was born in El Dorado, Arkansas and earned a B.A. in Art and American Literature, along with a M.F.A. from the University of Arkansas. Reagan served in the U.S. Navy and then with the Peace Corps at the Ivory Coast in West Africa. He has worked as an artist and illustrator for more then 40-years. He and his wife Christine, also an artist, currently live with their dog Becky Thatcher in the mountains of western North Carolina.

Reagan’s work is included in many notable collections including: The Map and Atlas Museum in La Jolla, CA (the museum owns 225 of Reagan’s original maps); The Library of Congress; The National Park Service; The National Zoo; The Peace Corps; The Nature Conservancy; Tampa History Center; The National Archives; San Diego Zoo; Alleghany Trail Alliance; Heifer Project; Ducks Unlimited; Jane Katcher Collection of Americana; Florida Wildlife Initiative; Napa Valley Appellations; Architectural Design Guild; Freer Gallery; Christie’s; Patagonia; The Coca-Cola Company; McDonald’s; and American Airlines. Clients have included National Geographic, Smithsonian, The New Yorker, Audubon, Outside, Harper’s, On Earth, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Architectural Digest, Travel & Leisure, Orion, Bon Appétit, and South Dakota Magazine. He has also worked with the following book publishers: Doubleday, Time-Life Books, Little Brown, Harcourt Brace, Vintage Books, St. Martin’s Press, Chronicle Books, Bloomsbury Children’s Books, McGraw Hill, Avon Books, and Marshall Cavendish.

Exhibitions of Regan’s paintings have included: Gallery C, Raleigh North Carolina (solo exhibit 2020 – “Falling”); The Map & Atlas Museum of La Jolla California – In 2018 the museum purchased 225 of his illustrated maps for their permanent collection to be eventually donated to The Library of Congress; The Grovewood Gallery, Asheville North Carolina (solo exhibit “Falling” 2018); Gallery C, Raleigh North Carolina (group show 2017); The Annesdale Park Gallery, Memphis, Tennessee (solo exhibit “Charted: Natural Studies” 2016); Carolina Gallery, Spartanburg, South Carolina (group exhibit 2016); Alex Gallery, Gallery A in Washington, DC ( solo exhibit “Ways of Flying” 2014 & solo exhibit “The Heart of the World” 2013); Gallery 10 in Washington, D.C. (solo exhibit “Blood Trail”); Brody Gallery in Washington, D.C. (group “Bones”); Tula Foundation Gallery in Atlanta, Georgia (group); 45th North Carolina Artists Exhibit at North Carolina Museum of Art (group); The Mint Biennial in Charlotte, NC (group); Kinston Center for the Arts in North Carolina (solo); Durham Arts Council, North Carolina (solo); The Paper Plant Gallery in Raleigh, North Carolina (solo); Fayetteville Museum of Art in North Carolina (group); Second Street Gallery in Charlottesville, Virginia (solo); Hand Gallery – Richmond Virginia Center for the Arts (group); University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (solo); Danville Museum of Fine Arts in Virginia (solo); Urbi et Orbi Gallery in Little Rock, Arkansas (solo); and Arkansas Museum of Fine Art – “The Delta” Art Exhibit (group).

My watercolor paintings are what I know – the woods, the mountains, the rivers, lakes, oceans, and birds. A feeling stirred by a bird calling at twilight, or the scent of wood smoke on the wind, or the reflection of a passing hawk on the water, or the great stillness of the mountains we live in. Rivers. Lakes. Remote camp scenes. Barns. Stillness. Moments of time stopped. In solitude there is not always peace, but there is almost always beauty and truth. – Michael Reagan

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