Artist-In-Residence
I was lucky enough to be chosen as the Artist-In-Residence for Guadalupe Mountains National Park and Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument. In 2018 I researched the Guadalupe Mountains in order to produce an art piece depicting the formation of the Capitan Reef escarpment making up the park in West Texas. The first piece was a wooden rendition of the west face of the Guadalupes. The piece is eleven feet long and three feet high. It weighs about 100 pounds and is displayed over the front desk in the main visitor center. The second piece was made when the park was hosting a symposium on paleontology. My rendition showed the reef, now lifted high above the desert surroundings, with representative fossils at each level. Although much smaller than the first piece, this piece was more detailed with ammonites, brachiopods, and crinoids made up of different colors and textures of wood.
In 2020, I spent two weeks researching the three areas of Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument: Abo, Quarai and Gran Quivira. Each area preserves ruins of puebloan people and the subsequent mission churches erected after the Spaniards came to the area in the late 1500's and early 1600's. I produced three distinct intarsia pieces for the monument to display as they see fitting.
In June and July of 2021, I was again contacted by the NPS, this time at Big Bend NP in SW Texas. I was chosen to illustrate their Junior Ranger workbook. I drew over 100 illustrations of scenery, plants, animals and a whole host of activities for children to do while in the park. While there, I was asked to produce a wooden rendition of Santa Elena Canyon to hang in the newly-renovated Garlick House, the new visitor center at Castolon. I delivered the 6-foot long piece in November with the VC opening date set in early 2022.
The Artist-In-Residence Program is not held at each National Park area, but those who do have an impressive list of artists waiting for a chance to be chosen for any given year. Usually housing is provided on-site to allow the artist to gain insight into the parks. Staying in the park helped me more fully understand the purpose for preserving the areas, and also how art can help visitors get a fuller picture of the resources at each site.
In 2020, I spent two weeks researching the three areas of Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument: Abo, Quarai and Gran Quivira. Each area preserves ruins of puebloan people and the subsequent mission churches erected after the Spaniards came to the area in the late 1500's and early 1600's. I produced three distinct intarsia pieces for the monument to display as they see fitting.
In June and July of 2021, I was again contacted by the NPS, this time at Big Bend NP in SW Texas. I was chosen to illustrate their Junior Ranger workbook. I drew over 100 illustrations of scenery, plants, animals and a whole host of activities for children to do while in the park. While there, I was asked to produce a wooden rendition of Santa Elena Canyon to hang in the newly-renovated Garlick House, the new visitor center at Castolon. I delivered the 6-foot long piece in November with the VC opening date set in early 2022.
The Artist-In-Residence Program is not held at each National Park area, but those who do have an impressive list of artists waiting for a chance to be chosen for any given year. Usually housing is provided on-site to allow the artist to gain insight into the parks. Staying in the park helped me more fully understand the purpose for preserving the areas, and also how art can help visitors get a fuller picture of the resources at each site.
Guadalupe Mountains National Park
The staff and former Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewel at the front desk of the national park. The piece is 11 feet long.
Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument
