Jefferson Arts Gallery invites you to the opening of \"The North Florida Dream of a Native Son: This is My Place, These are My People\" paintings by Nathaniel Pye on Saturday February 4,2023. The Exhibit will continue through March 4. Nathaniel Pye is a North Florida native, whose family came to Leon County over 150 years ago. He was born at the family homestead, the second youngest of 18 siblings, and there he grew up, surrounded by the bounty and natural beauty of rural North Florida. His love of art began at his mother\'s kitchen table, where he spent happy hours drawing pictures and dreaming of being an artist someday. As the youngest son in a large, loving, and talented family, he was especially encouraged by his elder brother Jerome, also an artist. Jerome gave Nathaniel drawings, books, and art supplies. Most importantly, Jerome believed in Nathaniel\'s dream of becoming an artist and helped him to grow and achieve that dream. Jerome\'s guidance, support, and talents continue to influence his youngest brother to this day.   Nathaniel began working with water colors, his favorite painting medium, in elementary school. A self-taught artist, he has always learned from observing nature and studying the techniques of other artists. His landscapes of animals, plants, rivers, forests, canopy roads, and lighthouses, bring to life the rural South where he grew up.   His drawings of notable African-American achievers, such as Dr. William Foster, Dr. Sybil Mobley, and Dr. LaSalle Leffall, are part of the permanent collection on display at the Meek-Eaton Black Archives of the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University.