A special art exhibit in Glacier National Park, Montana, has been designed to help celebrate the park's 100th birthday next year. Crews are already hard at work to make the festivities a success; 2010 will mark the national park's centennial, and various creative projects -like the art exhibit- are already underway.
Wittily titled The Art of Preservation, the exhibit features the “Official Centennial Art of Glacier National Park” and will tour for a full year throughout Montana.
At present, the exhibit is on display at Fischworks in Whitefish where it will remain until July 3.
“We hope the selected art inspires and engages you in the Centennial Celebration of Glacier National Park today and for years to come,” expressed exhibit organizers in a press release.
The art will tour through Columbia Falls, Bigfork, Great Falls, Helena, Missoula and Kalispell before its final destination -the Spring for Glacier event May 21, 2010. Spring for Glacier is an annual gala hosted by the Glacier National Park Fund, the Glacier Association, Glacier Institute and the Glacier national Park Associates. These four organizations are the national park's major partners.
The idea to promote the national park's centennial sprang from historical surveying expeditions from the eastern states into the unexplored west.
“In the late 1880s painters and photographers regularly accompanied surveying expeditions to the unexplored west, bringing back sublime images of Glacier, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and Yosemite -among other places.”
Further, “Additionally, in hope to increase ridership, the Great Northern Railway, commissioned artists through their 'See America First' campaign to produce Glacier inspired art to be shared with the masses.”
These same principles are being put to use again in celebration of the park's historic year.
The art exhibit features work from Kelly Apgar, John Atkinson, Nancy Cawdrey, Jessica Glenn and
Dan Hicks -to name just a few.
Centennial Coordinator Kass Hardy with the national park expressed her excitement at the art exhibit, and said that the centennial program was designed to be holistic; celebrating the past, present and future of Glacier National Park.
According to Hardy, all of the artists involved in the project were interested in getting the word out surrounding Glacier's landmark year.
More than 100 activities are planned for the landmark year, beginning Sept. 2009 and running all the way through Sept. 2010. Over 60 volunteers are currently assisting in the program. Hardy explained that the majority of volunteers represent park partners, concessions and gateway community members.
The artistic flair behind the Centennial Program extends beyond visual art. Hardy and her team made a call for stories on Glacier. Interested writers with amusing and inspiring stories responded; over 200 pieces were collected out of which 100 will be compiled and published in a book.
The submission deadline for 100 Years, 100 Stories: The View Inside Glacier Park closed March 1, 2009.
Blending art and story telling for a special celebration of the Crown of the Continent's history, Hardy and her team of dedicated volunteers are hard at work, but well on their way, to a memorable centennial celebration.
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