The National Park Service Southeast Utah Group is pleased to announce Janet Buckingham as the 2018 Community Artist in the Parks (CAIP).
Created in 2009, the CAIP program highlights the connection between a local artist and the surrounding landscapes, particularly Arches and Canyonlands national parks and Hovenweep and Natural Bridges national monuments.
Born and raised in the flatlands of Kansas, Buckingham first visited Moab in the 1980s and finally retired here in 2013. She has always created art; writing was her first love and painting came years later, after living in the inspirational landscapes around Alaska and Moab.
She started painting with pastels, then expanded to ink and watercolor, and recently developed a textile twist: printing her original ink and watercolor on cotton fabric, then quilting these “blocks” into wall hangings and bags designed around the color, shape, and size of the original watercolor.
As Community Artist for 2018, Buckingham will create original work within the parks for a minimum of 24 hours per month from April through October, and share her inspiration and creative process with visitors. Her works will be sold in the Canyonlands Natural History Association bookstores at Arches and Canyonlands national parks during her tenure.
For more information about the program and a schedule of Buckingham’s 2018 park activities, visit go.nps.gov/2018CAIP. Inquiries may be directed to Karen Garthwait at 435-719-2142, or emailed to Karen_Garthwait@nps.gov. Chad Niehaus, the Community Artist in the Parks Liaison, may also be contacted for program information via email at Chad@moabart.com.
