Capture Art in a Park
Art has been part of the history of national parks since the 1860s when Hudson River School painters captured the majestic Western landscapes that became our first iconic national parks. Their awe-inspiring works spurred Americans to preserve those lands for future generations. Artist George Catlin, during an 1832 trip to the Dakotas, was perhaps the first to suggest the idea of a national park. Catlin traveled extensively and noted that Indian civilization, wildlife, and the wilderness were in danger unless they could be preserved “by some great protecting policy of government…in a magnificent park….a Nation’s Park, containing man and beast, in all the wild[ness] and freshness of their nature’s beauty!”
Today, there are Artist in Residence (AIR) programs in more than 50 National Park Service units, which preserve the connection between arts and the parks. Catoctin Forest Alliance (CFA) manages the local Artist in Residence program jointly with Catoctin Mountain Park and Cunningham Falls State Park. Artist selections for the program are made by a panel that includes local literary and art professionals. In addition to accepting a variety of visual media, the program began accepting written media as well in 2013.
CFA was established in 2009 as a partner organization to Catoctin Mountain Park NPS and Cunningham Falls State Park MSP. One of the CFA founders was artist Elizabeth Prongas, who began the local AIR program here in 2010 to bring a new and diverse voice and constituency to the parks. Since the inception of the AIR program, CFA has welcomed 34 artists to the Catoctin Mountains, coming from California; Washington, D.C.; Kentucky; Tennessee; Massachusetts; Maryland; New Jersey; New York; Oregon; North Carolina; and Virginia. The artists include painters, photographers, poets, a writer, a videographer, cast metal artist, a wool felter, a journaling artist, and a fabric artist/quilter. They stay in a historic cabin in Catoctin Mountain Park or a campsite at Cunningham Falls State Park for two to three weeks and produce art influenced by the mountain setting. After the residency, each artist donates one piece of the art they created during their stay to the CFA AIR collection.
The AIR art collection has been on exhibit at the Delaplaine Arts Center in Frederick, the Thurmont Library, the Emmitsburg Library, and the Visitor Center in the Manor Area of Cunningham Falls State Park. The collection is permanently housed in Catoctin Mountain Park.
The Artist in Residence program not only strengthens the bond between nature, art, and the outdoors, but the sale of the art produces funds to bring children to the parks for outdoor learning experiences.
For more information on CFA and the AIR program, please visit www.catoctinforestalliance.org.
This fall, two artists are doing residencies in our parks—Rachel Wojnar and Reagan Herndon.
Rachel Wojnar is a multimedia artist and educator from Cumberland, Maryland. While in residency in Cunningham Falls State Park in September, Rachel presented a program at the park: “Hand-Bound Nature Books.” Each participant made a nature journal book, hand-sewed the binding, and decorated the cover with pictures cut from magazines or hand-drawn artwork.
Reagan Herndon is a visual artist currently living in Raleigh, North Carolina. During her residency at Catoctin Mountain Park, Reagan presented a program at the Thurmont Regional Library—Visual Storytelling: An Exploration of Color. The participants did a short nature walk around the library. They then used elements that they had seen on the walk to tell a story with a drawing and explored the ways that color can help to relay the message of the story.
During their residencies, Rachel and Reagan co-presented a program at The Delaplaine Arts Center. The program lasted about an hour with 20-plus people in attendance. Both artists did a slide presentation and spoke about their practice and what inspires their work
