Carol Roark [NRA 2026]

First name: Carol ;
Middle name:  ;
Last name: Roark ;

Member: Non-Resident Artist Member ; 
Begin: 2026 ;
End: n/a ;

Biography:

Artist Carol Roark received her Bachelors of Fine Art from Mississippi State University in 1991 and has been a full time artist and instructor since that time.

Being an avid equestrian it was only natural that her art career start in the direction of equine portraiture and illustration. She worked freelance, designing covers for The Chronicle of the Horse, logos and ads for the Quarter Horse Journal and was the official artist and program designer for the Dixie National Quarter Horse Show for 10 years. She was also fortunate early on to be represented by Ford’s Gallery and Nunnery’s Gallery in Jackson, as well as L Bar Western Art in Stephenville, Texas.

As much as she loved the horses, Carol was always drawn to the landscape. In 1997, she had an opportunity to study with famed Mississippi artist Sammy Britt. She studied with Britt off and on for the next 10 years focusing on the Henry Hensche colorist method of seeing color and light key and gradually her work shifted to the genre of landscape painting. She is captivated by the beauty of the landscape in the South,  which she feels has a beauty and magic all its own.

Through out all of her career Carol has remained an avid teacher, teaching locally, as well as nationally and internationally with organizations such as Jerry’s Art of the Carolinas, Plein Air South, French Escapade and Il Chiostro. In the fall of 2020, she was able to build her dream teaching studio where she now hosts weekly classes and 3 day workshops throughout the year.

Her work has been shown nationally in juried exhibitions with Oil Painters of America, National Oil and Acrylic Painters Society, American Impressionist Society, Salmagundi Club and American Academy of Equine Art as well as in the corporate collections of Community Bank, Jerry’s Artarama and Visit Mississippi.

Carol is very involved in the arts of Mississippi and surrounding areas. She has been the Executive Director of the Charleston Arts and Revitalization Effort in Charleston, Mississippi and served as the President of the Memphis Germantown Art League. She also holds memberships with Oil Painters of America, The National Oil and Acrylic Painters Society, The American Impressionist Society, The American Academy of Equine Art and is a founding member of the Mississippi Plein Air Painters. She is currently represented by  – Treehouse Gallery in Oxford, Mississippi; Caron Gallery South in Laurel, Mississippi and  Pacesetter Gallery in Flowood, Mississippi.

You can learn more about Carol on her website at www.carolroark.com or on social media under Roark Studios.