It’s in the mail.
Five days from tomorrow, Maxwelton artist Patti Gulledge-White could step to her mailbox and find out she and one of her paintings have passed another milestone in the prestigious Arts for the Parks competition.
Arts for the Parks was created in 1986 by the National Park Academy of the Arts. It is a national painting competition held to celebrate artists who have captured the spirit of the nation’s parks, to enhance public awareness of the National Parks and to contribute to programs benefiting the National Park System.
“The best landscape artists in the nation are in this contest, so to be among them is an honor and a prize in itself,” Gulledge-White said.
Two contests are held each year, one for large format and one for small format paintings. Gulledge submitted pieces in both.
She’s gotten lucky twice in the competition. Her piece “Lookout from Ebey’s Landing,” made the cut in the “Mini 50” contest and her “Ebey’s Prairie from the Cemetery” was recently selected for a “Top 200” listing.
For the larger pieces, the “Top 200” finalists are chosen to go onto a juried selection of the “Top 100.” Chosen pieces for the “Top 100” are taken on a year-long national tour.
The “Mini 50” contest was created for artists who like to work in a smaller format. From thousands, 75 finalists are chosen, then narrowed to the elite “Mini 50.” The top four from the mini 50 go on tour with the top 100. At stake for artists in the two contests is a $50,000 grand prize in the “Top 100” and an additional $40,000 in prize money.
Today a jury selects the “Top 100,” and tomorrow, the National Park Academy of the Arts mail out the letters. Gulledge-White knows from months of correspondence with the Arts for the Parks committee in Jackson Hole, Wyo., it takes five days.
Gulledge-White considers herself a “traditional” watercolorist. Currently she is choosing to paint landscapes, but Gulledge-White says traditionally she’s a realist who tries to capture the historical character of Whidbey.
“I’ve been painting the transitions of Whidbey for years,” she said.
Most popular and recognized of her pieces would be her depiction of the Bush Point Store.
And though she doesn’t do series pieces often, Gulledge-White has completed a 50-piece series of the Silliman Camp in Maxwelton.
She’s been a Maxwelton Road resident for over 30 years, which allows her to gather a knowledge of history about to area which she says is an essential piece of her art.
“Having lived in the area for so long, I could really identify with the surroundings because I have such a strong sense of the history and the people,” she said.
She is a 15 year full-time artist who shows at MUSEO and sells her art from home, gaining popularity strictly by word of mouth from those who bring her paintings into their homes. She is also teaches watercolor classes from a teaching studio at her home.
The chance at prize money and the notoriety that comes from winning a contest such as Art for the Parks doesn’t matter to Gulledge-White.
“I’ve already more or less achieved my goal and then some,” she said.
Either way, she’s already painting a winning combination that captures the spirit of Ebey’s Prairie and Whidbey Island.
So Friday, five days from tomorrow, she’ll receive the news of whether she’s been chosen for the “Top 100.”
“I created a lot of dents in my kitchen ceiling from being so excited when I got the news the first time,” she confesses.
Someone get ready with the spackle.
