Students Respond to “Thomas D. Mangelsen: A Life in the Wild” Photographs
March 5, 2019FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, March 5, 2019
Students Respond to Thomas D. Mangelsen: A Life in the Wild Photographs
Jackson Hole, Wyo. — The National Museum of Wildlife Art now has an online exhibit space dedicated to community artwork. The inaugural online exhibit features paintings made by students from our local Teton County schools. These students worked with Museum educators to explore our current wildlife photography exhibition, Thomas D. Mangelsen: A Life in the Wild. Each student chose a photograph in the exhibit to inspire their own unique acrylic painting on canvas board.
Some students had simple reasons for selecting a particular painting, “I like this photograph because I really like the lighting” while others reflected longer, coming up with profound statements, “The reason why I was drawn to this photograph is because it’s what I really would want to wake up to every morning, and it’s what my dream place is… I also think that all people should be able to experience a place like this picture.”
Photographer Thomas D. Mangelsen says about the student’s paintings, “To say that I think they are wonderful would simply be an understatement. They are incredible in many ways. It amazes me as to how these young people captured the essence of my photographs. And it’s interesting to see what caught their attention and how their creative, young minds interpreted it. Both teachers and students should be very proud of what they have done and I’m sure they are!”
Tonia Ralston, Art Instructor and Program Coordinator for C-V Ranch School and Teton Valley Community School, had this to say about her student’s experience, “For the students to experience this subject matter in the museum gallery environment inspired a focus that was extremely meaningful and engaging. The response to them viewing their paintings and statements online has been one of self-pride, and an affirmation of a successful pursuit. One students’ self-reflection on art engagement in general is ‘Art helps me express what I’m feeling. It’s easier than using words.’”
View the online exhibition or https://www.wildlifeart.org/student-artwork/
Top Image: Thomas D. Mangelsen, Spring Blossoms, 2010. © Thomas D. Mangelsen.
Bottom Image: Thomas D. Mangelsen, Winter Beauty, 2016. © Thomas D. Mangelsen.
IMAGES AND INTERVIEWS AVAILABLE ON REQUEST
Media Contact: Taylor Woods, Marketing Manager, (307)732-5437, twoods@wildlifeart.org
The National Museum of Wildlife Art, founded in 1987, is a world-class art museum holding more than 5,000 artworks representing wild animals from around the world. Featuring work by prominent artists such as Georgia O’Keeffe, Andy Warhol, Robert Kuhn, John James Audubon, and Carl Rungius, the museum’s unsurpassed permanent collection chronicles much of the history of wildlife in art, from 2500 B.C. to the present. Built into a hillside overlooking the National Elk Refuge, the museum received the designation “National Museum of Wildlife Art of the United States” by order of Congress in 2008. Boasting a museum shop, interactive children’s gallery, restaurant, and outdoor sculpture trail, the museum is only two-and-a-half miles north of Jackson Town Square, and two miles from the gateway of Grand Teton National Park.