National Parks Arts Foundation (NPAF) announce longtime teacher and artist Anne Tait’s residency as the Gettysburg National Military Park artist-in-residence.

WASHINGTON DC, MARYLAND, USA, March 11, 2017 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Gettysburg National Military Park, in cooperation with the non-profit National Parks Arts Foundation (NPAF) and the Gettysburg Foundation, announce longtime teacher and artist Anne Tait’s residency as the Park’s artist-in-residence beginning in mid-March.

Ms. Tait is currently on sabbatical from her appointment as professor in Visual Art Studies Program at Roger Williams University, where she teaches printmaking and painting. She has a Bachelor’s degree in literature and art history from Bowling Green State University, in printmaking from the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design, and a Master’s degree in painting from American University in Washington, D.C.

Her early work exposed a sinewy, eccentric world of floating forms that pushed the picture plane in an intentionally disorientating setting, intending the purposeful subterfuge to be both mysterious and comedic. While her earlier work addressed the establishment of self from conception to maturity, her more recent work frames these questions by considering the truncation of life and the ending of it. She reflects on the culmination of earthly life through her art, in particular her art inspired by her researches into cemetery imagery, and the burial traditions of the 19th century.

During her time at Gettysburg, Ms. Tait will continue work on a series of embroidered tondi. Ms. Tait is particularly interested in taking inspiration from a particular form of tondi: the ceramic plates depicting the Holy Family that were often given to newly married couples in Italy during the early Renaissance.

Ms. Tait intends draw from the early tondi, with their themes of love and fertility, fundamental themes that can continue to inform her contemporary art. She writes, “I have continued to find the tondo form to be evocative of both life and death, finding the form used to hold images on many gravestones from the nineteenth century.”

Programs like Gettysburg National Military Park’s artist-in-residence series, in which acclaimed artists seek inspiration from the beauty and history of our national parks, and agree to share their ideas with park patrons, represent some of the highest aspirations of the National Park Service. As the park’s superintendent, Ed Clark, explains, “Gettysburg National Military Park can offer the perfect backdrop to provide inspiration for the arts. As the National Park Service strives to connect with new generations, we look forward to leading the arts and interpretation of Gettysburg into the future, while always remembering our mission of preserving history.”

We’ve expanded our Artists-in-Residence programs for 2017, now with 12 artists for 12 months. We are very excited that the National Parks Arts Foundation (NPAF) and the Gettysburg Foundation are supporting this expanded program, which has become a model for artist residencies in all the national parks. The Deadlines are nearing for all 2018 Gettysburg Artist in Residence on April 20th, 2017.

NPAF is looking for all artists, from traditional landscape artists and photographers, to performers, installation artists, and cinematographers, as well as writers, poets, sound artists, and new-arts specialists. Virtually any approach can find a place at Gettysburg -- what matters is vision and talent.

For the next two years, we have introduced program themes to the residencies in order to diversify the interconnection of the arts with broader demographics inclusion. The themes are:

U.S. Military Veteran Artists: During January, July and November 2017, Gettysburg’s Artists-in-Residence will be U.S. Military Veterans, bringing a unique perspective to arts in the park.

LiterAudiArts: NPAF’s most fascinating theme focuses on many and all aspects of speech: words, sounds, song, and music. A few examples of this are poetry, screenplays, spoken word, environmental recordings, sound art, wall of sound experimentation.

Alembic Arts (New Media): Alembic Arts include many varied and mixed media expressions: film, images, augmented realities, virtual realities, and any and all combinations of these in themselves, or in combination with classic art media.

Arts Revolver: Open to any and all artistic media including cross-overs or hybrids with any of the other themes.

LiterAudiArts: NPAF’s most fascinating theme focuses on many and all aspects of speech: words, sounds, song, and music. A few examples of this are poetry, screenplays, spoken word, environmental recordings, sound art, wall of sound experimentation.

The National Parks Arts Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to the National Parks of the U.S. by creating dynamic opportunities for artworks that are based in our natural and historic heritage. This project is supported by the Gettysburg Foundation and other generous benefactors. NPAF National Park projects are supported entirely by donation and generous partnerships.

Gettysburg National Military Park is a unit of the National Park Service that preserves, protects and interprets for this and future generations the resources associated with the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War, the Soldiers’ National Cemetery, and their commemorations.

The Gettysburg Artist in Residence programs are supported by the Gettysburg Foundation and other sponsors. All NPAF nation-wide programs are made possible through the philanthropic support of donors ranging from corporate sponsors and small businesses, to art patrons and citizen-lovers of the parks. NPAF is always seeking new partners and donors for its wide-ranging artist-in-residence programs.

For more information on how you can support the Gettysburg National Military Park Artist in Residence and other NPAF arts programs Nationwide visit www.nationalparksartsfoundation.org or write to admin@nationalparksartsfoundation.org.

Cecilia Wainright
National Parks Arts Foundation
505-715-6492
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