Painting the Parks exhibit at Phillips Gallery features David Mihalic

An exhibit titled Painting the Parks, featuring Missoula-based artist and former national park ranger and superintendent David Mihalic, will be on display at Phillips Gallery through Aug. 31. 

An opening reception and artist chat is planned from 5 to 7 p.m. Aug. 2 at the gallery located inside the Kalispell Center Mall. 

Mihalic spent his career as a National Park Service ranger and superintendent preserving and protecting America’s most wild, historic and treasured places. Throughout his career, he observed, sketched and painted their magic and majesty. He paints in both oil, watercolor and gouache. 

“Art and artists have helped to create our national parks,” Mihalic said in a press release. “When I gaze on these special places, I want to capture their mood and essence. I am struck by the light, the color and how they make us feel. The scene makes me want to convey to others through my brush the beauty I see, and why they are treasures and worthy of protection.” 

Appreciation of place is key to instilling the desire in people to protect what brings them pleasure, according to Mihalic.  

“I paint to help people see the scenic beauty of parks and special places. While they can’t take home the place, they can take home a tangible reminder of their memories,” he said. 

Mihalic recalled learning to draw as a child by watching television sketch artist, Jon Gnagy. In his teens, he started drawing caricatures with his first sales coming from classmates. As an adult, Mihalic got serious about his art, learning the technically difficult watercolor medium through classes and workshops. He studied with Joe Abbrescia, whom he considers his most influential teacher and mentor. 

Mihalic’s first shows and exhibitions were in the 1980s in Kentucky, where he won “best watercolor” awards. The Hockaday Museum of Art in Kalispell hosted his one-man show in 1996. In 1999, his art was selected for an art show organized by the governor’s office in Helena. He’s also participated in the Spring For Glacier fundraiser to benefit the Glacier Fund; Montana Land Reliance’s Artists for Open Space shows; the Big Hole Foundation’s 2007 plein-air show and the Hockaday’s plein-air shows, including its first Twenty Artists/Three Days show. Mihalic’s work also appeared in the 2001 and 2002 Treasure State Art Shows.