Olivia Peguero facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Olivia Peguero
Born	1961 (age 63–64) Las Salinas, Barahona Province, Dominican Republic
Nationality	Dominican Republic; United States
Known for	Painting, sculpture

Olivia Peguero (born 1961) is a talented artist from the Dominican Republic and the United States. She is known for her beautiful landscape and plant paintings, and also for her sculptures. Olivia spends most of the year painting in the Dominican Republic and Florida.

What makes her special is that she creates most of her art en plein air. This means she paints outdoors, right in front of what she sees. Unlike many artists from her home country, Olivia uses oil paints. She paints in a classic European style. Her art often shows life, birth, and death through flowers. Two main ideas in her art are protecting old forests in the Dominican Republic and showing pride in Dominican culture.

In 2007, Olivia started something amazing. With help from art collectors and companies, she created the Peguero Arte Libros Foundation. This foundation runs the Art Books for Education Program. A big part of the money she earns from selling her art goes to help this foundation.

Early Life and Artistic Beginnings

Olivia Peguero was born in Las Salinas, a town in the Barahona Province. She grew up in small towns like Miches on the east coast and Las Salinas in the southwest. After finishing high school in Santo Domingo, she moved to New York City. She joined her parents who had moved there earlier.

Even though she didn't have much art around her as a child, she loved the style of the Dutch Masters. These were famous painters from the Netherlands. She found a way to use their classic style in the bright, green Caribbean environment. Many people think Olivia's art is only about tropical islands. But she also spent time learning traditional ways to paint buildings, plants, and landscapes. Some of her first paintings were done around the Lake District in England.

Olivia Peguero painting in the hamlet of Stonethwaite, Lake District National Park, England

Learning and Growing as an Artist

Olivia went to college in New York and Florida. There, she kept making her painting style better. She earned a bachelor's degree in fine art studio painting from Florida Atlantic University. She also got a bachelor's degree in management information systems from Mercy College. Later, she earned a master's degree in business administration from Nova Southeastern University.

Helping Kids Through Art: The Peguero Foundation

Olivia Peguero is the founder of the Peguero Arte Libros Foundation. This foundation also runs the Art Books for Education Project. Its main goal is to bring art education to young children in rural areas of the Dominican Republic. In 2007, it was clear that many kids in these areas didn't get to learn about fine arts. They missed out on painting, sculpture, poetry, and story writing.

The foundation felt it was a shame for a country so rich in music and dance to not focus on these arts. One of their programs gives Spanish art books to rural schools. These books cover painting, sculpture, poetry, and writing. For schools without a library, these books are the start of a collection for all students. In 2013, the foundation started another big program. It's called "Education for Rural Children." This program helps keep young children from farm areas in school. It encourages them to stay out of the fields and focus on their education.

Summer Hay in Borrowdale, (2003)—Borrowdale, Lake District, England

Art for Nature: Protecting the Dominican Rainforest

The Mariposa Cocoa Preserve is a special place owned by the Peguero family. It's a private effort to protect nature. Here, they grow organic cocoa in a way that helps the environment. They also manage the forest and protect wildlife. This preserve is located west of Miches. You can only reach it by walking or riding a horse.

The beautiful countryside inside the preserve was a main subject for many of Olivia's first paintings. You can only visit the Mariposa Cocoa Preserve if you are invited. There is also an annual trip for artists to paint there.

Art on Display: Paintings in Embassies

In 2019, two of Olivia Peguero's important artworks were chosen for a special program. They were loaned to the United States Department of State's Art in Embassies Program. This program displays American art in U.S. embassies around the world. Her paintings were shown in the exhibition in Chișinău, Moldova.

The first painting is called “The Emerald Hills of Quisqueya” (2003). This artwork uses symbols to highlight social and environmental issues Olivia saw. She painted these issues while working in the Dominican Republic countryside. The second painting is “The Cow on the Beach” (2017). This piece shows the landscapes around Miches before new tourist buildings were built. It also shows the effects of climate change.

See also