8-Year-Old Davenport Boy Has Colorful Art Exhibit at Botanical Center
If you visit the Quad City Botanical Center by the end of May – and you certainly should – you’ll see a portrait of an artist as a young man. A very young, talented man indeed.
Levi Folker in the Botanical Center’s Sun Garden.
Eight-year-old Levi Folker of Davenport is the youngest artist ever to have his own exhibit in the 23-year-history of the QCBC, with 28 of his deeply colorful, imaginative paintings on the walls in the main hallway. They’re on display for all of April and May.
“I like painting because it makes me happy,” Levi, a second-grader at Adams Elementary, who’s been homeschooled this past year, said recently. “I like that you don’t have to copy anything; you can paint whatever you want. There are no rules.”
He and his family enjoy going to the Botanical Center (2525 4th Ave., Rock Island) a few times a year, his mom Elaine said this week. When Levi was 3, they had his birthday party there too. “It’s kind of a favorite place,”
Eight-year-old Levi standing with his art exhibit inside the Botanical Center.
she said.
“I love the art, the plants and the waterfall, too,” Levi said Wednesday.
He has been doing art (including finger painting, drawing, painting and sticker collages) since he was 1. Levi loves to watch Bob Ross painting videos online.
“I practice every day,” he said. “We did do art at school, but that’s not how I learned to paint this good.”
Since Elaine gave birth to her second son, Rory, in March 2020, she has homeschooled Levi, and he’s done a lot more painting over the past year than before. He has an area set up in their basement to paint and said he’s done over 100 pictures in the past year.
Levi doesn’t draw or paint directly from photos, but uses his imagination.
“I usually create the world,” he said. “I paint every day.” Levi estimated it only takes 15 minutes to finish one painting.
Seeing his work up at the Botanical Center, “I think it looks really good. I love it,” he said.
The Botanical Center appreciated that Levi’s art was nature-themed, which corresponds with the center’s mission, Elaine said. She
Several of the 28 Levi Folker paintings on display through May.
responded to the center’s call for artists and suggested Levi. A few people have asked if any paintings are for sale, and Levi suggested like $2, but then said he didn’t want to sell them.
“From the time that the Botanical Center opened, we have had a great relationship with local artists. And we believe that nature inspires art,” Ami Porter, outgoing executive director, said this week.
“And so we’ve just been able to have a lot of relationships as they pertain to local artists — large
Elaine Folker does photography with her husband Stephen, and last fall started her own venture Moss + Mercantile Interiors.
art exhibits, our ‘Art In the Garden’ events, there’s permanent installations that we feel really enhance the garden exhibits overall,” she said. “And we greatly value our relationship with the art community.”
The QCBC rotates art exhibits every two months, and regional artists can submit pieces for review and a small art committee decides who to select for installation, Porter said.
Artwork on display should be inspired by nature – plants and flowers, animals, insects, birds or remote landscapes, for example, according to qcgardens.com. And the art must have been completed within the past two years, not previously displayed at the Botanical Center.
Porter is very taken by Levi’s eclectic artwork.
“It’s just wonderful and I just know the story is so moving,” she said. “What a wonderful way to pass the time during the pandemic and it’s an expression of creativity, especially from someone so young and clearly creative.”
Ami Porter stepped down this week as Botanical Center executive director.
“He is such a character, he is awesome,” Paige Underwood, QCBC’s special events and marketing manager, said of Levi. “He’s been so crafty for so long.”
“I kidded him – I said, I ought to buy a few pieces now before you get really famous,” Dave Searl, the center’s head gardener, said.
Levi said he most enjoys painting nature scenes. “I am just really inspired by nature,” he said, noting his favorite local park is Vander Veer in Davenport. Levi doesn’t usually paint outdoors.
An arresting rendering of a waterfall is among Levi’s art display.
After being chosen to display his paintings, the Botanical Center gave their family free tickets to visit this year, Elaine said.
“I feel kind of impressed – once they were framed and you seem ‘em all together, you think, wow, this is impressive for an eight-year-old,” the proud mom said. “When I was an eight-year-old, the only thing I did was ride my bike and be naughty.”
“We’re really proud of him, and we all adapted to different things during the quarantine pandemic,” Elaine said. “The only thing I picked up was eating more. I just ate my feelings, and Levi made beautiful artwork.”
She and her husband Stephen are successful photographers, and Elaine works with him at his business Giraffe Photography in the Village of East Davenport. She said her grandmother was a good
The Quad City Botanical Center is at 2525 4th Ave., Rock Island.
painter, but isn’t sure if her and Stephen’s visual talents were subconsciously passed down to Levi.
“Neither of us paint like Levi does,” Elaine said. Bob Ross videos inspired him to do landscape paintings, with watercolors and acrylic paints, she said.
“He’s kind of challenging himself in what he paints now,” she said. “He’s done a few people and animals. It used to just be landscapes. I think he’s just pushing himself.”
“He was surprised people would want to see his art,” Elaine said. “He’s happy that people like it.”
“It’s something to do – it’s better than playing video games all day,” she said. “Once the video games start for kids, it never ends. It’s nice for him to do something different than electronic stuff.”
With a now one-year-old and homeschooling Levi, Elaine has hardly been slacking this past year. Last fall, she also started her own interior décor business, Moss + Mercantile Interiors.
You can view Levi’s exhibit at the Botanical Center Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $7 for adults (16 and up), $4 for youth (ages 2-15), and free for toddlers (under 2) and members.
