I am so pleased to announce that I will be the Artist-in-Residence at the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in ten days. Ten days! Can you believe it?
So what all does this entail, right? I mean, what even is an artist-in-residence? I have gotten that question A LOT in this whirlwind of a summer, and I love answering it. A residency invites artists to be away from their normal environment to create, make, and be inspired in a new setting. It is a chance for an artist to reflect, research, and even present.
When it comes to the National Parks Service, people like to reference the Hudson River School painters and how they captured America’s wild places. They were in their glory in the mid 19th century, and brought to life America’s landscapes with the clear influence of Romanticism. Wild places still inspire artists, and many National Parks offer an AIR program.
In college, when I learned that this was a way I could share my art and my love for the NPS, it has been a big goal to make it as an AIR. It has been such an honor and blessing to have been chosen to create at a place that is home to a world class record of ancient mammals and their ecosystems. While I am there, I will be giving a public presentation to the local schools and my big focus will be on the oreodont (pictured below) despite one of my portfolio application images being of a brontothere head mount (pictured above).
So for me, being an AIR gives me a chance to use my art to promote and stick up for our nation’s public lands. What a month to do it in too, after all September is Public Lands Month! My art work will tell a story of the secrets hidden in the land at John Day Fossil Beds and I will bring to life these mammals that once roamed this place.
I will try to keep this blog updated on my AIR experience between other posts of the many adventures Shane, Jagger, Grizz and I had this summer. Now off to pack!
Angler's Wife 
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