WEST GLACIER, MONT. - Officials at Glacier National Park welcome Angela Mele and Sha Riordan for the 2010 Artist-in-Residence Program. These artists were selected to work with the park’s interpretation and education staff to create artwork to be used with educational programs.
Angela Mele has a Fine Arts degree from Florida State University and is currently working on a Certificate of Scientific Illustrations at California State University Monterey Bay. Mele will be creating scientific illustrations of park flora and fauna for use as educational props and for activities related to Glacier’s fire ecology programs. Mele will reside at Glacier from June 12 to July 9.
Sha Riordan has been involved in theater arts for more than 25 years and has been a classroom theater arts teacher as well as a working artist for the last 15 years. She has extensive experience writing plays, directing, acting and developing curriculum. Riordan will help Glacier develop a play for elementary school students to perform focusing on the influential artists in Glacier’s history. Riordan will be in the park from July 19 to August 13.
The interaction between Glacier National Park’s landscape and artists is not a new phenomenon. Native American and European artists have found spiritual inspiration in the land, wildlife, and flora of the region beginning long before the park’s establishment in 1910. That inspiration has been expressed in a wide diversity of media and other art forms such as painting, poetry, folklore, prose, sculpture, woodcarving, photography, music, dance and singing.
Artists have played an important role in the history of the National Park Service. The work of painter Thomas Moran and photographer William Henry Jackson in depicting the scenic and natural features of Yellowstone was instrumental in Congress’ decision to establish Yellowstone as the world’s first national park.
The purpose of Glacier National Park’s Artist-in-Residence Program is to stimulate and foster the artistic exploration of this natural and cultural treasure and to share the artist’s inspiration with the public through educational programs and exhibits.
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Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
