Ted Walsh Selected as the Inaugural First State National Historical Park Artist-in-Residence

Wilmington, DE, March 05, 2016 --(PR.com)-- This March, Delaware’s own national park, First State National Historical Park (NHP) will host painter Ted Walsh, of Vineland, NJ. The residency will run from March 3 to April 4, 2016, and the artist will work at various locations around the state-wide park.

The National Parks Arts Foundation (NPAF), a 501(c)3 non-profit, is thrilled to be working with First State NHP to pilot the inaugural Artist-in-Residence program. “We are tremendously excited to host First State National Historical Park’s inaugural Artist-in-Resident. The program will offer the public another way to connect with our beautiful natural and cultural resources, perhaps to see them in a new light,” said Superintendent Ethan McKinley. “The park's Artist-in-Residence selection was highly competitive, with applications streaming in from around the country and even from abroad. Ted will be a great fit for the park and we can’t wait to see how he will use his talent to interpret this beautiful place.”

During the residency, the artist will work and chat with the public as he paints in plein air, in addition to public programs and lectures on how this area's history has been captured in art. Walsh is energized by the opportunity to teach and learn from the park’s visitors. Walsh added, “In conjunction with the new body of work I’ll produce from the park, I plan to develop a public lecture to study and discuss the history of painters that have been drawn to this region. The development of these artists is, in my view, both relevant and influential to a broad range of artists working today.”

Walsh, like many artists from the northeast, has been drawn to the living history, colonial ambiance, and beautiful open lands that are found at First State NHP, one of the nation’s newest national parks. “I think what pulled me to First State NHP is my deep connection to this region. As a child the dreamy illustrations of the Brandywine artists dominated my artistic education. I have walked plein air sites, with paint in hand, until I found the exact spots where the Wyeths’ stood."

The residency location is just outside Wilmington, about a mile from the Delaware-Pennsylvania border, in the center of the pastoral Beaver Valley unit of First State NHP. This Brandywine landscape, deep in the heart of what artists call “Wyeth Country,” inspired multiple generations of the Wyeth family and countless other painters.

For more information on Ted Walsh, visit his website for a look at his other projects. If you would like to learn more about the history of the park and the cultural and natural resources it interprets, please visit nps.gov/frst, or contact us at firststate@nps.gov.

The National Parks Arts Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to the promotion of 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 entirely by donation and generous partnerships. For more information on how you can support the First State National Historical Park Artist in Residence and other NPAF arts programs Nationwide visit www.nationalparksartsfoundation.org or admin@nationalparksartsfoundation.org.

Contacts:

NPAF: admin@nationalparksartsfoundation.org
505-715-6492
Artist: Ted Walsh
Contact @ www.tedwalsh.com