Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Wilderness Conservation and Landscape Painting in Montana's Great Plains

Watch your easel Emilie!
http://www.nwf.org/what-we-do/protect-wildlife/bison-restoration.aspx
Landscape painter Emilie Lee, a GCA alum and a Senior Fellow at the Hudson River Fellowship has embarked on an independent project that combines her interest in wilderness conservation with her love of adventure and her artistic vision.

Inspired by the American Prairie Reserve, Emilie is currently spending one month exploring and painting  in Montana's northern Great Plains. The mission of the American Prairie Reserve is to create a 3.5 million acre wildlife refuge. The organization purchases land when it comes on the market and leases adjacent government parcels, then merges them to create a new wilderness. When it is complete, the reserve is expected to be the  largest conservation area in the lower 48 states. With less than 1% of the world's prairie grasslands under any sort of protection, this ambitious undertaking will create a lasting legacy for generations to come and is a powerful example of nature's ability to reclaim the land when the proper conditions are created by a group of well organized individuals.

Over the course of this year, Emilie will be working on a body of plein air and studio paintings inspired by her time on the reserve. Working with the Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation Landmark wildlife research crew, Emilie has spent the past week traversing the prairie by foot learning first hand about the biology and ecology of this iconic landscape. Read more about her project and follow along on her website as she posts updates from the field all month!

On May 22nd she will be sharing her work in a gallery exhibit as an artist in residence at the Telluride Mountain Film Festival.

Afterwards, she will join us back in New York to teach landscape painting workshops at the GCA in June and July!

Plein Air Drawing and Painting in Central Park (Tuesday afternoons)
June 2 - July 14

Plein Air Drawing and Painting in Central Park (weekends)
June 27 and 28
and/or
July 11 and 12





1 comment:

Harald said...

Really nice! You are doing the thing I didn´t think was possible. Painting on the Prairie. Thankyou for sharing!
Harald Lowden