Artists For Nature is back in Cordova for a new three-year project bent on raising awareness of the importance of nature conservation to protect Alaska’s rainforest, wild salmon, and Indigenous culture in a region that hosts the largest shorebird migrations on Earth.
The importance of the project – a collaboration of the international nonprofit Artists for Nature Foundation in The Netherlands and the Nature Conservancy in Cordova – is Prince William Sound and the Copper River Delta, two halves of a beating heart, says David Lynn Grimes, the organizer and a participating artist.
“We aim to create a closely observed inspirational landscape, biocultural diversity and historical significance of one of the finest marine and wetlands ecosystems in North America,” said Grimes, who grew up in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri and first came to Cordova as a firefighter for the Bureau of Land Management in 1975.
This region is recognized as a geological, cultural, historical and bioregional crossroads that still hosts healthy wild salmon and wild salmon cultures, Grimes said.
Artists For Nature will work in collaboration with the Native Conservancy – led by Dune Lankard, a member of the Eagle Clan of Eyak people from Cordova, and founder and president of the Native Conservancy. Lankard was a full-time commercial fisherman in Prince William Sound until the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill disaster of March 24, 1989.
“The multi-year collaboration will use the universal language of art to help protect our bioregion and our wild salmon culture,” Grimes said.
Artists For Nature plans to accomplish this by showcasing their work in Cordova in all seasons to connect the art and science communities, along with educational programs and resources to encourage the public to appreciate and protect nature.
Local participants will include landscape painter David Rosenthal, Cordova Museum Curator Denis Keogh, and Grimes. Local artists Susan Ogle and Patty McGuire were part of the 1979 project.
Overall, the project will probably have 20 or more volunteer participants – including possible as many as 10 from Alaska and 10 to 15 from elsewhere, Grimes said.
Area resources include the likes of Kate McLaughlin, founder and CEO of the Alaska Hummingbird Project. Hummingbirds, who weigh on average 2.5 to 4.5 grams, about the weight of a nickel, leave Prince William Sound in the autumn, Grimes said. He noted that they need all the filling stations they can find, and that some songbird populations are going down because of malnourishment.
“Small groups of artists in all seasons will create portraits of this region,” Grimes said. “They will use painting, printmaking, sculpture, carving and other fine arts to portray wild landscapes, ecological diversity and human activities.”
The work will be turned into a book, and will be showcased in a traveling exhibition, a documentary film, on social media, and even a rave.
“The project will share the spirit of this rainforest bioregion and its profound significance as a geological, ecological, cultural and historical crossroads,” Grimes said.
The project will include vignettes of the ocean world of kelp and herring, halibut and salmon, sea otters, seals, sea lions and migratory whales. There will be portraits of the glacier, mountain wetlands, and the rainforest world of beaver and swan, eagle and hummingbird, bear and wolf, wolverine and mountain goat.
The project will also illuminate the challenges of protecting biodiversity, landscape connectivity and sustainable human economies in the face of climate change. Environmental and cultural conservation campaigns will be highlighted and amplified, assisting the goal of protecting this conservation region.
Artists For Nature Foundation, the big entity behind this three-year project, was founded in the Netherlands in 1990 to serve as a catalyst for nature conservation by showcasing artistic expressions that highlight the importance of nature.
The foundation’s goal is to facilitate discussions and raise awareness about environmental issues through art, and to bring together groups of influential and talented artists to capture the spirit of endangered landscapes and wildlife in their natural habitat.
The organization has maintained relationships with more than 150 leading international wildlife artists from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Spain, Russia, the United States, and a number of other countries each with their own creative interests in topics ranging from landscapes to birds and animals.
Find a list of these artists online at https://www.artistsfornature.com/artists/.
Correction: The story has been updated with the correct name for the group Artists For Nature.
