Artist George Catlin

Art has been part of the history of national parks since the 1860's when Hudson River School painters captures the majestic Western landscapes that became our first iconic national parks.  their awe-inspiring works spurred Americans to preserve those lands for future generations.  Artist George Catlin, during an 1832 trip to the Dakotas, was perhaps the first to suggest the idea of a national park.  Catlin traveled extensively and noted that Indian civilization, wildlife and the wilderness were in danger unless they could be preserved "by some great protecting policy of government...in a magnificent park...a Nation's Park, containing man and beast, in all the wild(ness) and freshness of their nature's beauty!"

Today, there are artists in Residence (AIR) programs in more than 50 National Park Service units which preserve the connection between arts and the parks.  Catoctin Forest Alliance (CFA) manages the local Artist in Residence program jointly with Catoctin Mountain Park and Cunningham Falls State Park.  Selections for the program are made by a panel that includes art experts from local colleges.  In addition to accepting a variety of visual media, the program in 2013 began accepting written media as well.

CFA was established in 2009 as a partner organization to Catoctin Mountain Park NPS and Cunningham Falls State Park MPS.  One of the CFA founders was artist Elizabeth Prongas, who began the local AIR program here in 2010 to bring a new and diverse voice and constituency to the parks.  They have come from California, Washington, DC, Kentucky, Tennessee, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Oregon and Virginia.  The artist include painters, photographers, poets, a writer, a videographer, cast metal artist, a wool felter, a journaling artist and this year, a fabric artist/quilter  The artist stay in an historic cabin in Catoctin Mountain Park for one to three weeks and produce art influenced by the mountain setting.  After the residence, each artist donates one piece of the art they created during their stay to the CFA AIR collection.

The AIR art collection has been on exhibit at the Delaplaine Arts Center in Frederick, the Thurmont Library, the Emmitsburg Library and the Visitor Center in the Manor Area of Cunningham Falls State Park.  The collection permanently housed in the Catoctin Mountain Park