Ernst Ulmer, born in 1922, was raised in Kansas City, KS. His family ran a local grocery store, which provided the artist with the means to create some of his earliest works on cardboard boxes in the back of the store. Through the combination of education, hard work, and natural ability, Ulmer was, many years later, able to parlay those early cardboard drawings into a long-standing and prolific art career. His works, often consisting of large oil canvases and murals depicting historical events in Kansas, garnered much attention regionally, nationally, and internationally – and are housed in many public and private collections across the globe and have been featured in such publications as Time and U.S. News and World Report. Ulmer was named the 2006 Kansas Artist of the Year. He died in 2009 at the age of 86.