The National Park Academy of the Arts
Jackson, WY
(800) 553-2787, (307) 733-2787
1998 Arts for the Parks Competition
The Top 100 paintings of each Arts for the Parks Competition go on nationwide tour beginning in September of each year. This exhibition has become one of the most outstanding displays of American representational paintings and a well-respected showcase for established and emerging artists from around the world. The tour of Top 100 paintings has broken museum attendance records in several cities and has great public appeal for both its artistic value and its national park subject matter. Each year, the Arts for the Parks exhibition kicks off the nationally publicized Jackson Hole Fall Arts Festival.
The Arts for the Parks traveling exhibition was officially launched in 1987 in ceremonies at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C., and hosted by then Vice-President George Bush. The Arts for the Parks winning images appeared on the National Park Stamp validating the Department of the Interior's 1988 Golden Eagle Pass. This year's exhibition will visit St. Louis and Bolivar, Missouri; Sioux City, Iowa; Estes Park, Colorado; and Anniston, Alabama.
The National Park Academy of the Arts, co-sponsor along with the National Park Foundation, of the national art competition Arts for the Parks, presented the 1998 Grand Prize of $50,000.00 to William Scott Jennings, of Sedona, Arizona. The purpose of the contest, as it was initiated 12 years ago, is to commemorate through art the wildlife, landscape, and history of America as they are preserved through the National Park System. Jennings' painting, "Timeless Beauty " of Grand Canyon National Park, was selected from over 1,700 entries submitted by artists from 49 states, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Japan and Canada.
In keeping with the contest theme of celebrating America's national parks and monuments through two-dimensional art media, Mr. Jennings' oil painting features a dramatic vista of the Grand Canvon. Mr. Jennings has been a professional artist since 1973, and has been in the Arts for the Parks Top 100 consistently since 1994. The winning painting will be exhibited in the 1998-1999 Arts for the Parks Top 100 National Tour.
At the 12th Annual Awards Ceremony and Banquet, held at Jackson Lake Lodge in Grand Teton National Park, the National Park Academy of the Arts also announced the winners of the three regional prizes of $3,000.00 each. Those winners are:
Region I: Louis Stephen Gadal, Los Angeles, California. for his detailed watercolor painting Safe Harbor of Boston National Historic Park in Boston, Massachusetts.
Region II: June Carey, Chico, California, whose painting Marin Headlands - Bird Island depicts this beautiful coastline of Golden Gate National Recreation Area in California.
Region III: Jocelyn Lillpop, of Alamosa, Colorado, for her painting Ties that Bind illuminating the relationship of a cow elk with her calf in Yellowstone National Park.
All paintings in the exhibition are for sale, excluding the Grand Prize Winner, or any purchase award recipients. Proceeds gained from the entry fees go to support maintenance and preservation programs sponsored by the National Park Foundation.
From top to bottom: Karl Dempwolf, Sunset Symphony, 1998, 22 x 28 inches; Brian Hart, Columns of Independence, acrylic, 22 x 17 inches; Michael Albrechtsen, Perfect Time of Day, oil, 16 x 24 inches; Mark Boyle, Desert Marsh, pastel, 17 x 27 inches; John Pitcher, Eyes of the Mountain, acrylic, 15 x 24 inches; William Jennings, Timeless Beauty, oil, 24 x 20 inches; Louis Gadal, Safe Harbor, watercolor, 28 x 20 inches; June Carey, Marin Headlands - Bird Island, oil, 18 x 26 inches; Jocelyn Lillpop, The Ties That Bind, acrylic, 32 x 19 inches.
Text and images courtesy of The National Park Academy of the Arts and Karl Dempwolf.
rev. 11/20/10
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