It is hard to imagine anyone who did more to beautify Chestnut Hill than Markoe “Koey” Rivinus, who died in 2006 at the age of 91. Rivinus, former president of Smith, Kline & French Laboratories (now GlaxoSmithKline Corp.) and longtime head of its international division, could often be seen after his retirement in 1967 in old clothes, picking up litter, removing graffiti or planting trees in and around Chestnut Hill and the Wissahickon Valley.

Passionate about the environment and its preservation, he was a president of Friends of the Wissahickon and The Schuylkill Center. I can recall participating in tours of Wissahickon Valley Park that he led entitled “Walking the Wissahickon with a Friend.” His encyclopedic memory (he was a Harvard University alumnus) enabled him to tell entertaining anecdotes about almost every plant, tree and animal.

Today, his granddaughter, Perry Meigs, has apparently inherited his love of beauty but of a different sort. An artist and art teacher whose paintings have appeared in dozens of exhibits on both the east and west coasts, Meigs is currently exhibiting her works in “Charting Presence: Wissahickon Trails” through June 27 at LAETE (meaning, “joyfully”), which sells designer clothing and accessories at 8436 Germantown Ave.

A former graduate at Germantown Friends School, Meigs told the Local, “I vividly remember classes with Judy Belasco in elementary school. Art was always my favorite subject, but GFS was also an incredibly intellectual and academic environment where many different types of students were welcomed and encouraged. I also remember the strong emphasis on social engagement and giving back to the community through service work.

“GFS had a wonderful art program. Denny Heck and David Welch were my teachers for senior studio and were very influential. Shelley Bachman, a photography teacher who had recently graduated from Tyler, was also fantastic. Denny lived in Chestnut Hill, and her daughter, Grey Heck, who was a few years ahead of me at GFS, now owns Cake in Chestnut Hill. I grew up going to the Cricket Club and St. Martin’s Church, so many of the locations and experiences connected to the Wissahickon are woven into my own history.”

Meigs always wanted to be an artist, had an obvious gift for the subject and always got straight A’s in art. “Over time it became my primary language,” she said last week. “I am a very visual thinker, and in many ways I feel more articulate through images, video and painting than through words.”

At age 4, she lived in a rental house near Pastorius Park that belonged to her paternal grandmother, Florence Stokes White. Then her parents bought a house on West Moreland Avenue, where she lived from ages 5 to 15. She and her mother then moved to West Gravers Lane and her father to Norman Lane near Chestnut Hill Hospital. Her parents both still live in those homes.

Both sides of her family have deep roots in Chestnut Hill. Her maternal grandparents, Koey and Anne Rivinus, lived on Rex Avenue, and her paternal grandparents, Charles and Franny Meigs, lived on Navajo Street when she was growing up. Her Rivinus grandparents had seven children who all grew up in Chestnut Hill. Two still live here full-time, and two others returned as adults to be near family members.

Many other family members still live in the area, including Mary Madeira and Wharton Madeira, sister Amory Meigs and her husband Matthew Botvinick; mother Sally Caslon whose husband Denis Caslon recently passed away. “When I was little,” Perry Meigs said, “Sally Meigs (formerly Rivinus) ran the Chestnut Hill Friends Nursery School. She is also an artist and a fantastic painter. My father and stepmother, John Meigs and Carolyn Adams, also still live in Chestnut Hill.”

(Both John Meigs and Carolyn Adams volunteer with many local organizations, including Friends of the Wissahickon, the Garden Club, Chestnut Hill Conservancy and Woodmere, among others. Other family members who have lived in the area include Susy Ribault and Mark, Maggie and Max Rivinus, who were active in the community garden.)

Perry Meigs attended the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and graduated magna cum laude. “When I was very young,” she recalled, “my fantasy was to become a National Geographic photographer. Later, while attending RISD, I realized I wanted to become an interdisciplinary artist working across painting, collage, video and installation.”

She earned an MFA at the California Institute of the Arts, where her focus shifted more toward painting and installation art. Shortly after graduating from RISD, one of Meigs’ short videos was exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

“Looking back,” she said, “it is directly connected to many of the same ideas I continue exploring in my work today. The video centered on walking between my parents’ homes after their divorce and explored themes of dislocation, memory and the search for place and belonging.”

The exhibit at LAETE came about after Adams escorted her to the store. Adams introduced her to owner Jenny Spaeth, whom she knew from her garden club, and mentioned that Meigs was an artist.

“Jenny asked to see my work,” said Meigs, “and after looking at my website, she immediately said she loved it and would love to show it in the space ... I loved the idea of exhibiting near my family and in my hometown.

“Several family members who came to the opening mentioned that Koey would have appreciated the project, especially the connection to the Wissahickon and the decision to donate 20 percent of proceeds from sales to Friends of the Wissahickon. My father, John Meigs, also serves on the board of FOW.”

For more information, visit perrymeigs.com. Len Lear can be reached at lenlear@chestnuthilllocal.com.