Photos Provided “The Trio,” an oil on masonite, is a piece from the collection of The Museums of Oglebay Institute and a gift of Robert C. Mead.

WHEELING — In the late 1870s, Wheeling native Jeanie Caldwell Dougherty (1845-1935) traveled the world as an independent, working artist. She became “a citizen of the world” and worked to find “the closest thing to equality that she could’ve,” surrounding herself with people who valued her as an equal, said Kara Yenkevich, curator at The Museum of Oglebay Institute.

“Jeanie’s World: The Art and Travel of Jeanie Caldwell Dougherty,” on display at Oglebay Institute’s Mansion Museum, explores the life of this extraordinary woman who viewed the whole world as a canvas to be painted. It is on display now through Nov. 1.

Jeanie (pronounced JEN-nie) Caldwell Dougherty may be one of the most talented artists from Wheeling and was certainly one of the most well-traveled. Widowed at the age of 30, Dougherty devoted the rest of her life to making art and seeing the world. After studying painting in San Francisco and Paris in the 1870s, she spent decades traveling, visiting everywhere from England and Italy to China and the Philippines. Everywhere she went, Dougherty documented her experiences by creating hundreds of artworks.

Yenkevich said Jeanie was quite prolific and living as a “working artist” during her lifetime. With “serious aspirations,” she wanted to be more than a “Sunday painter.” A classically trained artist, she studied in the areas of realism, pen and ink drawing, portraiture, nudes — all in the pursuit of being a well-rounded artist.

She was also very interested in politics, “a citizen of the world … living a very global life, interested in what’s going on around her,” Yenkevich discovered.

A talented portraitist, “her real focus was people and everyday life,” Yenkevich said. She captured a Shakespearean actor, a Vatican guard, an organ grinder, a gondolier, just to name a few of the people she met in her travels, showing her belief that “people are the best way to capture the culture and the setting of a place.”

“Jeanie’s World” features more than 50 works of art by Jeanie Caldwell Dougherty. The exhibit includes a significant number of artworks on loan from the T.W. Phillips Memorial Library at Bethany College.

Yenkevich gives “many thanks” to Margaret Dakin, Jeanie’s great niece, who provided her with photos and postcards, as well as a copy of her treasured diary that spanned the years from 1886-91.

Serving as a travelog of sorts, the diary detailed where she was living, what she was painting, and who she was meeting, “so we get a sense of her in her own words,” she said, noting how helpful it was in “trying to figure out the truth of her life.”

“I really want people to learn about her,” Yenkevich said. While there are a lot of talented unknowns from Wheeling, “I think she’s the most prodigiously talented unknown in Wheeling.”

“Jeanie’s World” is included with admission to the Mansion Museum. Admission is $15 for both museums (Mansion and Glass Museum); $10 for a single museum. Admission is free for ages 17 and under accompanied by an adult and free to Oglebay Institute members.

At the Museums of Oglebay Institute, the universal human experience of storytelling is interwoven with our inherent desire to gather, sort and display things.

By meticulously collecting, caring for, showcasing and interpreting objects, the museums discover, preserve and share stories, linking us to the past in tangible and intangible ways.

Through careful curation, the Museums of Oglebay Institute go beyond exhibition to education. Together, they serve as informal classrooms where visitors travel through time, connecting with the past through the things that people have left behind.

The Museums of Oglebay Institute are open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. For year-round hours and more information, visit www.OIonline.com or call 304-242-7272.