Celebrate National Park Week With Crowdsourced Artwork

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Artwork depicting Devils Tower National Monument for the See America project.

Image: See America, Brixton Doyle

By Jessica Plautz2014-04-18 13:30:36 UTC

Aaron Perry-Zucker first learned about the Federal Arts Project in high school. What he didn't know was how instrumental he would be in reviving its use of art to inspire tourism to the U.S. National Parks.

Along with Max Slavkin, Perry-Zucker is co-founder of the Creative Action Network (CAN), the force behind the See America project, which encourages artists to submit works that celebrate the parks. The project was a groundbreaking partnership with the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA).

While CAN is only a few years old, the NPCA was founded in 1919; NPCA's involvement gives See America a direct connection to the New Deal agency that commissioned artists in the 1930s and 1940s to illustrate the natural landscapes of the United States.

"We wanted to inspire people to take advantage of this national treasure," Perry-Zucker said of the interest behind revitalizing the project. “The parks are very inspiring."

The poster artists hail from five countries, and even one artist from the original project has participated in See America’s campaign. Perry-Zucker said he was surprised by the amount of interest from international artists, even those who had never traveled to the parks themselves.

“We launched at the beginning of January with 70 pieces from about 40 artists,” said Perry-Zucker. “Since then, it’s been growing exponentially. Now we have 500 designs.”

Both CAN and the NPCA have been thrilled with the public response to the posters.

“Some of the really nice immediate results have been the reaction on Twitter,” said Aaron Perry-Zucker.

"From day one I just really felt like it was something really innovative and unique, and had the potential to reach a younger audience," said Perry Wheeler, NPCA's media relations manager. The success of See America has encouraged the NPCA to seek other partnerships that expand the parks’ appeal to new generations, he said.

2016 will mark the centennial of the national parks, and Wheeler said that the NPCA is planning more partnerships that will focus on what the parks offer.

National Parks Week begins Saturday, April 19 and continues through April 27, 2014.

Check out more of the poster designs from See America and the original Federal Arts Project in the gallery: