There were so many facets to Frida Kahlo — artist, polio and bus crash survivor, intermittent wife of painter Diego Rivera, and counterculture symbol — the public may not know she was deeply connected to nature.

That bond is explored in “Frida Kahlo’s Garden,” a special traveling exhibit headed to Four Rivers Environmental Education Center in Channahon.

“Frida Kahlo used so many flowers and plants and fruits and vegetables in her work throughout her lifetime,” said Tina Riley, Four Rivers facilities manager.

“She was very proud of her Mexican heritage and the culture of her region,” Riley said. “Her garden really reflected that.”

The free exhibit, displayed in both English and Spanish, opens Jan. 29 with a 10 a.m. ribbon cutting ceremony and continues through March 16.

It is brought to the Will County Forest Preserve through funding from the Nature Foundation of Will County.

During her relatively short life, from 1907 to 1954, Kahlo created some 250 paintings and drawings, Riley said. Though her style was often described as surrealism, Kahlo is said to have insisted it was not, that she did not paint dreams, but rather her own reality.

The traveling exhibition explores how Kahlo’s garden, as well as the diversity of plant life and rich cultural diversity in Mexico, nourished her creativity and influenced her art, she said.

“It takes a fresh look at Frida Kahlo’s art by examining her appreciation for nature, which is something at the heart of the Forest Preserve District’s mission,” Riley said.

The exhibition consists of iconic photos of Kahlo and her home and garden, which were located at Casa Azul (Blue House) in Mexico City; reproductions of several of her paintings; information about native Mexican plants that were grown in her garden; a dress from the Mexican state of Oaxaca; examples of folk art collected by Kahlo and her husband, Rivera. There also will be information on Mexican culture, including traditional festivities, food and drink, and agricultural practices.

The 2,000-square-foot display offering an intimate look at the way she and Rivera lived, will fill the center’s grand hall, Riley said.

Kahlo was born in Casa Azul and later moved back there with Rivera. The two artists then made the place their own, Riley said, expanding and re-envisioning the property to express their spiritual, political and personal interests.

Today the cobalt blue building is the Museo Frida Kahlo.

Among the thousands of items in her many collections are field guides, porcelain tea pots, clothing and more than 6,000 photographs that together tell the story of how the artist spent her daily life.

Riley said Kahlo’s use of botanical imagery is significant, even though, like much of her artwork, it was not celebrated until after her death.

“Over the years, people have been impressed with how botanically correct a lot of her artwork was. She really had an attention to detail and really cared abut being botanically accurate,” she said.

“She definitely was an interesting person who made the most of her relatively short life,” Riley said. “She lived a very colorful life.”

The exhibit serves as a reminder that many artists, professional or amateur, derive inspiration from nature, Riley said. “There is an absolute connection between nature and art.”

Since Four Rivers opened in 2009, she said, the center has acknowledged that relationship through nature-inspired arts programs and exhibits. In 2016 it debuted the annual Arts and Nature on the River.

“We think it’s really important to showcase how nature inspires artists and creativity for everyone, even people who don’t consider themselves artists,” she said.

And what better time of year to do that during the dark, monotone month of January?

“This is planning time for people who garden so we’re definitely hoping it will fuel people’s creativity about how they want to approach their gardens this year and showcase their own personalities in the way they arrange things or in the colors they pick or the kinds of decorative items they have in their gardens,” she said.

The exhibit will be open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays; 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursdays; and noon to 4 p.m. Sundays.

Complementary programming includes Frida’s flower bingo, showings of a biographical film about her life and an art lecture titled “Frida 2020: Contemporary Connections.”

To sign up or get more information, go to bit.ly/fridakahlogarden.

The stop at Four Rivers will be the first in Illinois and the second nationwide during a five-year national tour.

dvickroy@tribpub.com

Twitter @dvickroy