DALLAS — Former President George W. Bush didn’t need to look too far for inspiration for his newest works of art.
The 78-year-old has brushed portraits of world leaders and people who immigrated to the U.S. But his newest collection draws on scenes much closer to home: his presidential library in Dallas.
The exhibit opened Thursday at the George W. Bush Presidential Center on the campus of Southern Methodist University. Bush and former first lady Laura Bush moved to Dallas after he left the White House in 2009, and he took up oil painting a few years later.
The 35 new works are an ode not only to life at the center but also SMU. The exhibit called “A Shining City on the Hilltop” is both a nod to SMU’s nickname — The Hilltop — and former President Ronald Reagan’s famous use of the phrase “shining city upon a hill” to refer to America, said Teresa Lenling, director of the presidential museum.
“This features not just the places around the SMU campus but it really takes a look at the people that are the heart of this campus and the community,” said Lenling, adding that Bush composed the paintings from photos taken around the center and campus.
One of the paintings comes from the center’s opening in 2013, when then-President Barack Obama and all of the still-living former presidents, including Bush’s father, George H.W. Bush, posed in front of the new building.
Devon Yarbrough, who works at the center, said she was “very surprised” but pleased to spot her herself in one of the paintings. She’s depicted reading a book on her lunch break while sitting on a bench under tree in the center’s 15-acre park.
This is the fifth exhibit of George W. Bush’s art to be featured at the center. His first exhibit was a collection of portraits of world leaders including including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Dalai Lama.
He’s also done a collection of paintings of military veterans, which were featured in his book “Portraits of Courage,” and painted portraits of people who immigrated to the U.S., which are compiled in his book “Out of Many, One.”
The exhibit is on display through Oct. 19.