“I have been blessed to be surrounded by creative people all my life. My parents taught me to find beauty all around me and to draw and paint what I see and feel. They were amazing and I miss them every day.”
— Mary
Vanderbilt University
Master’s Degree in Education
Greeting Card Association Member
Dukeland Farm has been in Mary Draper's family since 1798 — seven generations on the Cumberland River in Tennessee.
In the 1930s, a woman named Corinne Bradley Duke built a small one-room schoolhouse on the farm so her grandsons wouldn't have to walk far to learn. One of those grandsons grew up to become Mary's father, a talented portrait artist. He had a rare gift for finding the perfect words, especially when choosing names for his wife and daughter's paintings. Titles like A Lucent Moment and Remembered Grace. Names that open a door for viewers and invite individual interpretations.
Mary's mother painted alongside her throughout her life — bold, luminous abstracts full of color. With a portrait artist for a father and an abstract painter for a mother, Mary grew up surrounded by two very different artistic voices — and deeply inspired by both.
The Dukeland Schoolhouse is now being restored as the home of Mary Draper Design — a place to gather and create.
Built for education. Used for community. And one day soon — filled with art.
Mary divides her time between Charlotte, NC and the farm, painting in the tradition her parents gave her — and naming her work the way her father taught her.
Dukeland Schoolhouse
