Badlands Residency Day 1


Friday November 2


Left home Thursday, drove to Sheridan, WY. Got into the park this afternoon, unpacked the car with some friendly help from a neighbor in the quad (park ranger housing area). Had pizza dinner at Julie and Joe's house in Interior. Julie is a park ranger and my official contact there. A couple other rangers and significant others came as well, and it was a fun night.
Driving through the park on my way in, a herd of bighorn sheep
were milling about the road near the Conata Basin overlook.

A second herd was near the road a little east of Norbeck Pass.
This group was frisky, chasing each other and the rest of the herd.

One of my favorite formations, near the visitor's center.

Badlands Residency No.2 Planned


I have been asked to return to Badlands National Park as Artist-in-Residence this fall, November 1-21st. In addition to painting and exploring more areas of the park, I will spend one week teaching landscape painting to 59 students at Red Cloud High School on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. This endeavor is intended to lay the groundwork for long term partnership opportunities with the school, reach out to local Lakota youth, and instill stewardship ethic and appreciation of BNP resources. A large portion of the park is located on the reservation and is co-managed by the Oglala Lakota Tribe and the National Park Service. Future plans for this land include creating the first Tribal National Park. Badlands will be reaching out to Lakota youth to fill summer internship positions to begin to build the groundwork for a successful Tribal National Park. 

I will again record my experiences here, and I urge you to read more about the school and reservation I have the privilege to visit.