Hockaday announces international edition of 'A Timeless Legacy' exhibit

The Hockaday Museum of Art has announced an international edition of its annual “A Timeless Legacy” exhibition, “A Timeless Legacy: Peace Park 2018.” Opening next year, this exhibit will feature the works of critically acclaimed artists from the United States and Canada who have created pieces inspired by Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park.

This exhibition is the first of its kind, bringing together artists from two countries to showcase the wild, natural beauty of the world’s first International Peace Park, established in 1932. And it comes at a crucial moment in the park’s history.

Plans for “A Timeless Legacy: Peace Park 2018” were already in motion when lightning sparked devastating wildfires throughout the park in 2017. Some of the works in this show capture the park before the destruction. Others will show the aftermath, as new growth and life returns to the scorched terrain. This show requires all featured artists to visit both Waterton Lakes National Park and Glacier National Park.

American artist Lori Putnam, whose work will appear in the 2018 show, paints as both an artist and historian documenting a “fragile, ever-changing environment.”

“When I paint somewhere, I feel as if that place owns a little of me and me of it,” she said. “As I painted Glacier National Park this fall, the beauty of the yellow leaves touched the devastation of the burned ones. Working on the studio pieces from that trip is both difficult and emotional.”

Robert E. Wood, a participating Canadian artist, recently visited both parks to paint on location and collect reference material, and he returned with a poignant message.

“The terrible forest fires that ravaged both parks this summer are a reminder,” he said, “for us all to slow down and appreciate the fleeting beauty of the world around us.”

All of the participating artists share an adventurous spirit, a love of the outdoors and a passion for painting the park landscape, wildlife and cultures. They will present a mix of plein air and studio pieces, and each artist will paint a total of four to six original works inspired by the Peace Park. Their pieces will first be offered for purchase at a public fundraising event at the Hockaday on Saturday, Aug. 11, 2018, which will support the Museum’s exhibitions and educational programs and the artists. The pieces will then be exhibited at the Hockaday from Aug. 14 through Dec. 1, 2018. Selected works from this exhibition will be part of an international traveling exhibition available in 2019-20.

Participating American artists include Deborah Berniklau, Jill Carver, Nancy Dunlop Cawdrey, Brent Cotton, Charlie Fritz, John Hughes, Laurie Kersey, Paul Kratter, Nicholas Oberling, Mark Ogle, Putnam, Greg Scheibel, Kate Starling, Kathryn Stats, Linda Tippetts, and Sally Vannoy; and Canadian artists include Fred Cameron, Michelle Grant, Brent Laycock, Erica Neumann, Jean Pilch, Doug Swinton, Linda Wilder and Wood.

“A TIMELESS Legacy: Peace Park 2018” serves the Hockaday’s mission of preserving the artistic legacy of Glacier National Park. It also continues an annual exhibition that honors the tradition of artists venturing to the Crown of the Continent to document its majesty. The 2015 inaugural exhibit “A Timeless Legacy: Women Artists of Glacier National Park” highlighted past and present female artists. Each year, some of the four original women artists who participated in that exhibit have returned to create and display new works. Two from that original group, Stats and Tippetts, will also appear in next year’s show.

Tippetts notes that art is a universal language and a fitting tribute to a park that joins two countries.

“In 1932, the stroke of a pen created the world’s first International Peace Park between Waterton and Glacier,” she said. “In 2018, the brushstrokes of artists from both Canada and America will again remind all of the importance of this unprecedented partnership.”

With the support of both Glacier and Waterton superintendents, the Hockaday is thrilled to expand the show in 2018 to include the wider International Peace Park as well as American and Canadian artists. The Hockaday is including male and female artists in this historic collaboration to celebrate this special exhibition honoring the first International Peace Park and a significant part of Glacier Park’s history, which has inspired artists from around the world. The upcoming exhibition has also received the support of the Glacier National Park Conservancy.

“A Timeless Legacy” is one of the premier art shows in the country. Participating artists are represented by the top art galleries in their field and appear in museum and gallery shows focusing on western cultures, wildlife and landscape art. These artists follow in the footsteps of the pioneering artists who have painted in Glacier Park over the last century.

“A Timeless Legacy” has grown since the inaugural show in 2015 to become a major annual fundraising event supporting the Hockaday. The exhibition draws new artists and collectors to northwestern Montana to experience the splendor of our region’s natural setting.

The Hockaday Museum of Art is located in the cultural district of downtown Kalispell at 302 Second Ave. E. It is housed in a 1904 Carnegie Library building that appears on the National Register of Historic Places. The Museum is a private nonprofit organization open year-round, Tuesday through Saturday. The mission of the Hockaday is to enrich the cultural life of the community and region, and preserve the artistic legacy of Montana and Glacier National Park.

For more information, visit http://hockadaymuseum.org/ or call 406-755-5268.