Rose Frantzen was born and raised in the community of Maquoketa (mah CO ket ah), a city of about 6000 people in east-central Iowa. Ms. Frantzen trained at the American Academy of Art in Chicago. She also studied at Chicagos Palette & Chisel Academy and at the Lyme Academy of Arts in Connecticut. She has worked under the mentorship of Richard Schmid, and made painting tours of Australia, Guatemala, Mexico, and Russia.

In this Gallery 360 presentation, Rose Frantzen discusses the journey that led her to create Portrait of Maquoketa, a series of 180 12x12 paintings of the people in her community, The work was on view at NPG from November 6, 2009 through July 5, 2010 as part of the exhibition "Portraiture Now: Communities" featuring paintings by Rose Frantzen, Jim Torok, and Rebecca Westcott. http//:npg.si.edu/exhibit/communities