Mary Kline-Misol
3/5/2025
Entering Mary Kline-Misol’s home art studio is like walking into a high-end art gallery.
Exquisite artwork spanning 50 years covers multiple walls, while Kline-Misol recounts stories and inspiration behind the pieces.
One element stands out, and it is not just one type of artwork, such as portraits. She has expanded her expertise with series of paintings, not just to challenge her technique but to promote causes, explore history and express herself.
Kline-Misol’s name may sound familiar in the Des Moines art scene. She was a founding partner in the Artisan Gallery 218 in Valley Junction for eight years.
“I had the luxury of putting up as many shows as I wanted,” she recalls.
Percival Gallery, a prominent longtime Des Moines art gallery (now closed), showcased Kline-Misol’s work. Her artwork revolves around figurative subjects, compositions, botanicals and landscapes.
One honored achievement includes a painting displayed in the Iowa Gallery at the World Food Prize Hall of Laureates in Des Moines. In her painting, Kline-Misol shows Gandhi and George Washington Carver, both at their desks in their offices, thousands of miles apart, writing to each other. Words from their actual letters are included at the bottom of the painting.
Another monumental art collection is a portrait series of 19 women, featuring 10 Black women in the “The Suffrage Project.” These portraits include women who were suffragists, pioneering civil rights and the right to vote. It includes Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony, Ida Wells and more, along with a written history of their contributions. A letter from Ruth Bader Ginsberg, a U.S. Supreme Court justice, recognized the series and important achievements in history.
Her homeless series was designed to show all walks of life. She donated pieces to the Beacon, a shelter for women. She explores and captures landscape scenery from her own back yard. Woodsy pieces include tall trees with crows, magpies and bluebirds.
Kline-Misol began painting at an early age.
“I was a hyperactive kid,” she says. “Instead of Ritalin, my parents gave me crayons and paper. I’d draw and color for hours.”
She graduated from Hoover High School and worked as an OR technician. When she returned to Drake University, she found her calling. She received her art and teaching degrees, teaching numerous classes throughout the decades.
“Being an art teacher, it was a goal to let my students know that creating art informs — and it’s not just to look pretty,” she reflects.
Fascinated with “Alice in Wonderland,” she is completing a series of paintings from various characters and passages in the book. In many of her paintings, she puts historical text on the bottom of the artwork.
A steady stream of art collectors await her next paintings and are quick to snap up new pieces. Since 2019, her focus shifted to activism.
“I feel strongly about focusing my imagery as a political statement,” she explains. “Some artists hesitate, as it might limit commercial sales.”
She says art fads change, yet hers endures due to her discipline, dedication and “stick-to-it-ness.”
“Art is trendy. People read art magazines and emulate what’s big,” she explains. “I can’t. I’ll never do that.”
With dozens of pieces displayed across Iowa, Kline-Misol’s long-term goal is to have her artwork outlive her.
“I think that goal has been met,” she says. ♦
