The Sherman County Artists Series at the Sherman County Historical Museum in Moro features an August exhibition of oil paintings by Beryl Schantz Wilcox of The Dalles. Her interest in portraits is demonstrated in this exhibit, and her own children and grandchildren, whose roots go deep into the soil of Sherman County, serve as her models. Relying on richly textured color while abjuring line, Beryl constantly seeks to evoke an effervescent mystery that imbues her view of subject, time and place, including works titled Mother and Daughter, Sleeping House, Sunspots, Augustine, Melon Seeds, Wet and Lonely, Veronica, Avalon, Lea and End of a Perfect Day.

Born and reared in Bismark, ND, Beryl pursued her vocation first in college at St. Catharine's in Minneapolis. When her family moved to Salem in the late 1940s, she continued at Marylhurst College in Lake Oswego. She met and married Dean Wilcox, son of Sherman County farmers, George and Marie Morrison Wilcox, and attended Pacific University at Forest Grove. After the birth of their first child, Beryl directed all of her creative energy toward rearing their seven children. She returned to Portland State University and later received her Bachelor of Arts from Marylhurst in 1975.