America's Parks Through The Beauty Of Art—A New Art Competition Issues Call For Entries

This painting by Thomas Moran helped convince Congress to set aside Yellowstone as the world's first national park in 1872.

CALL FOR ENTRIES: Visual artists are invited to submit works for a new competition, "America's Parks Through The Beauty Of Art" that will feature a national traveling exhibition beginning in 2013.

Competition creator David J. Wagner, who has organized a number of art tours for prominent organizations and artists, says the theme is two-dimensional art that celebrates any park in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

"Parks represent all kinds of sanctuaries for people and convey personal meaning for hundreds of millions living on this continent," Mr. Wagner says. "We didn't want to limit it to just national parks, but expand the scope to include any kind of public park from Yellowstone, Yosemite and Banff to New York's Central Park down to the widest range of parks at the state, county, provincial and municipal level. The intent is to honor and recognize the multitude of connections between humans and landscapes, large or small."

According to Mr. Wagner, there is a small entry fee and requirements that all submissions be original and fit within an established format. Of course, portrayals of wildlife are welcomed. A dozen awards are being offered as prizes in addition to the exposure artists will earn from having their pieces included in the national tour.

Jurors include Mr. Wagner, M. Stephen Doherty, artist and editor of Plein Air Magazine; Susan T. Fisher, director of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Art Institute and past president of the American Society for Botanical Artists; and Todd Wilkinson, environmental journalist and editor of Wildlife Art Journal.

The exhibition, by design, will premier in the United States' heartland at the Ella Carothers Dunnegan Gallery of Art in Bolivar, MIssouri, before moving on to other venues. Mr. Wagner is an author, lover of nature, former director of the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausau, Wisconsin, and former juror of the Arts for the Parks national competition. (Famed American painter Richard Schmid won the first Arts for the Parks in 1988).

"America's Parks Through The Beauty of Art" is open to artists from anywhere in the world but, again, the subject matter must pertain to a park in North America. All entries must be received by October 25, 2012, through there are two other dates for artists wishing to enter early. Artists interested in submitting works should send an email request to receive a prospectus or receive more information by visiting America's Parks Through The Beauty of Art Facebook page.