National Park Prints
It is no secret ... I like framing prints. Just look at the blog for reference … Perhaps you remember the botanical print, or maybe the Iowa State calendar pages? You’ve also probably noticed my interest in the outdoors, specifically National Parks, and vintage items. Well, I found a way to combine all three of these passions in the form of framed National Park prints.
It all started from a book I got from a gift shop at Yellowstone National Park. The book was 59 Illustrated National Parks by The Anderson Design Group. It was created by this team of painters and designers and is filled with artwork inspired by the WPA prints of the National Parks.
Have you heard of the WPA National Park prints? From 1934 to 1943, WPA’s (Works Progress Administration) Federal Art Project hired unemployed artists to create paintings, murals, sculptures, theater sets, museum scenes and two million silkscreen posters. A small fraction — 14 of some 35,000 designs — became some of the most iconic posters ever created: the National Parks posters. There was likely around 1,400 prints made and only 40 posters are accounted for today, and two of the original 14 designs — Wind Cave and Great Smoky Mountain — have been lost completely, existing now only as black-and-white photos of the original posters.
For more than 30 years, these posters disappeared into history. It wasn't until 1973 when a park ranger named Doug Leen happened to save one of these posters from the trash at Grand Teton National Park that eventually lead to a resurgence in the popularity of the images and their signature WPA style. Leen started Ranger Doug’s Enterprises, the only source for faithful reproductions of WPA National Park silkscreen posters. Beyond reproductions, the original posters have also inspired many other new poster designs.
While leafing through my new book by the Anderson Group, I couldn’t help but fall in love with the beautiful illustrations they created of our national parks. Once I found out that they also offered posters, I knew I needed to have some in our home. After much deliberation, I ended up buying four posters, Yosemite, Badlands, Rocky Mountains, and Smoky Mountains. I chose these posters not only because of the designs but also because these are four parks that we have actually visited. I bought some super cheap poster frames from Target, keeping this framing project inexpensive.
Below is a list of places you can order prints of our National Parks. They all have different styles!
Anderson Design Group
The Landmark Project
Fifty-Nine Parks
Parks Project
Map Your Travels
National Park Posters
Etsy: The Windows West, Purple Moose Basics, National Park Art, MMcKinney Designs
The unknown artists whose creative energy was invested into the creation of the WPA National Park posters may never get the credit they deserve, but their legacy will be an inspiration for generations of art and National Park lovers.
