Catoctin Forest Alliance’s Artist in Residence Program
Artist – Adrien Gehring Artist – Jerry Brown
By Linda Sundergill
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.
The criteria that are used to make the selection include: technique, originality, and creativity; essence of the work complements area and would draw visitors to nature; work is appropriate for adults and children; work supports CFA goals (enhance education and appreciation of nature); and candidate shows willingness to work with the public and share talents.
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 38 artists to the Catoctin Mountains. They have come from California; Washington, D.C.; Kentucky; Tennessee; Massachusetts; Maryland; New Jersey; New York; Oregon; Pennsylvania; Missouri; North Carolina; and Virginia.
The artists include painters, photographers, poets, writers, a videographer, cast metal artist, a wool felter, a journaling artist, and a fabric artist/quilter. The artists stay in an 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.
This fall we were privileged to have two artists doing residencies in our parks—Adrien Gehring and Jerry Brown. Both artists will be doing free programs for the public.
For full details, go to https://catoctinforestalliance.org/cfa-calendar-events/.
