Bea Opelka was born in 1937 in Kaunas, Lithuania, and grew up on her grandparents’ farm in the northern part of the country. These early years were her first encounter with the wonders of nature that continue to fire her imagination. In 1949 she traveled to the United States to study at the University of Illinois, and moved to Kansas in 1971. Large oil paintings of vast spaces are typical of her work. She has participated in numerous exhibitions, including at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C., and the Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery, Lindsborg, Kansas, and her work is represented in many public and private collections nationwide.
