The Arts For The Parks competition was created in 1986 by the National Park Academy of the Arts, in cooperation with the National Park Foundation.
The competition was designed to celebrate representational artists, enhance public awareness of the National Parks, and to contribute to programs benefiting the National Park System as well as the public.
In 2006, the National Park Academy of the Arts abruptly decided to end its involvement with the competition, citing time and labor issues as contributing factors and at the same time expressing their hope “… that an organization, group or individual would step forward to continue the program…”.
In September, 2007 a small group of unpaid volunteers comprised of artists, gallery owners and other art patrons stepped forward to continue this important competition and carry on its rich tradition of advocacy for our National Parks and the Arts. Though continuing the Competition’s core elements, the format has been changed to a digitally-based one to make displaying and promoting the artwork less labor intensive. Artists will no longer have to incur the expenses associated with creating slides and shipping art across the country as part of the judging process. The scope has also expanded to support State and Local Parks and new categories have been created for photographers, plein air artists and the emerging digital arts medium.
We have secured the support of the National Parks Conservation Association and they continue to be the prime beneficiary of our fund raising efforts as was the case with the National Academy of the Arts. The National Parks Conservation Association is a 501(c)3 corporation that expends close to $20 million annually in support of the National Park System.
We hope you’ll join us in our efforts to promote our Parks and preserve this wonderful Competition.
This page has the following sub pages.
