This exhibition takes viewers on a quintessential American journey—an expedition of discovery, wonder, and contemplation that begins and ends with our national parks. With scenes ranging from the stark desert landscapes of Utah to the steaming geysers of Yellowstone National Park to the rugged ice-capped peaks of the Tetons, and the iconic parks of the East, like Acadia and Great Smoky Mountain, the works capture both the grandeur and quiet beauty of our national parks and monuments. More than mere celebrations of nature, these works are personal testaments by artists who were moved by the richness of the worlds and environments kept whole as national parks, for the benefit of the entire country.  

Throughout our history, the parks have been under threat from industry and tourism, and this exhibition shows some of the vibrancy, vitality, and beauty that would be lost if these lands were surrendered to commercial interests. 

As Senator and “Father” of Earth Day Gaylord Nelson reminds us, “The wealth of the nation is its air, water, soil, forests, minerals, rivers, lakes, oceans, scenic beauty, wildlife habitats, and biodiversity.” Nelson’s sentiment is even more critical today, and these works invite you to behold our vast American riches—our National Parks.

This exhibition features more than forty works by six acclaimed regional artists: Thomas Annear, Wendy Bale, Angela Caley, James Hoggard, Tom Janik, and Thomas Paquette. Working in a rich variety of media and sizes, the artists engage the splendor of the parks through black and white and color photographs; oil, gouache, and acrylic paintings; and paper cuts and mixed-medium works.

Comprised of more than fifty landscapes painted on location, this solo exhibition takes viewers on a quintessential American journey—a journey of discovery, wonder, and contemplation that begins and ends with our national parks. With scenes ranging from the rugged ice-capped peaks of the Tetons to the steaming Geysers of Yellowstone National Park to the hallowed rolling hills at Gettysburg, the paintings capture both the grandeur and quiet beauty of our national, state, and regional parks. More than mere celebrations of wilderness, the paintings also explore these parks as laboratories of democracy, identity, and ecological change. 

I began creating the works for this show during a month-long family road trip to Yellowstone and other western parks during the summer of 2008. At first the paintings were a way to record the experience of sharing the parks and this American rite of passage with our two sons. However, spending time immersed in these majestic and sometime extreme landscapes quickly made me realize that the parks had many lessons to teach. At Yellowstone, the first of our national parks, I observed that the “landscapes” and ecosystems of thermophiles (microscopic creatures that survive in extreme environments) in the geyser basins were as complex and spectacular as the sweeping vistas of the Lamar and Hayden valleys. In the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, I contemplated geologic history while the ever-present swarms of tourists made the human impacts on the park readily apparent. I began to appreciate the importance of being still and patient in nature while painting sunrise in the Lamar Valley; after the wolf watchers left to continue their hunt, I discovered that a young female wolf had stayed to watch me. 

Over the past fifteen years (2008-2023), I have visited dozens of national parks and monuments, and new questions and issues have emerged. How do we continue to balance the preservation of these natural and historical wonders with the aim of keeping the parks open “for the benefit and enjoyment of the people”? How do we inspire digital natives to unplug and surrender themselves to these wild, sacred places? What kind of monument do we create when human-caused climate change wipes out the last glacier at Glacier National Park? 

While I hope that these paintings will encourage viewers to visit national parks and to participate in democratic decisions about the parks’ future, the exhibit also extends these questions to our local and state parks. Landscapes from Allegany State Park, Zoar Valley, and selected sites in Chautauqua County demonstrate that land use, conservation, and other issues are just as relevant and pressing as they are out west. To complement the paintings, the exhibit could include a gallery talk and/or plein air painting class to educate viewers about these many local and national issues.