“Art and Nature” Collection Honors Famed Career of Late Painter

In partnership with Fulcrum Publishing and the Anythink Foundation, a national traveling exhibit featuring the artwork of the late Thomas Locker will debut at Anythink Wright Farms on Friday, April 27. Locker was an acclaimed American-landscape painter, author and conservationist who passed away last month. The exhibit will include 10 of Locker’s oil paintings that showcase the beauty of the natural world.

Considered one of the most eloquent and inspirational voices for art, nature and history, Locker painted in the sublime tradition of the Hudson River School, and has served as a mentor to many artists. The “Art and Nature” exhibit depicts landscapes and vistas around Kaaterskill Clove, a canyon in the Catskill Mountains that he saw as a paradise. Locker’s classic romantic style and old-masters influence have produced pieces that invoke a dreamlike quality to the world of nature. His work has earned critical praise from the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times and the Smithsonian.

Given Anythink’s emphasis on creativity, the decision to launch the exhibit at the library was a natural one. Moreover, Anythink is seeking funding to give children more opportunities to interact with nature through Nature Explore outdoor classrooms at its Brighton, Commerce City and Wright Farms locations. For “Art and Nature,” Locker’s intent was to give a glimpse into the mind of an artist as the exhibit travels to schools, libraries and nature centers across the country. Locker felt deeply that once people see the beauty in nature and start to care about it, they will want to protect it.

“He wanted to reach out to people so they understand how you create art and how you then go out and observe nature,” says Bob Baron, founder and chairman of Fulcrum Publishing. “That applies whether you’re a photographer or a writer or a painter. Your inspiration should be outside your window.”

Since the opening of his first one-man show in 1964 at the Banfer Gallery in New York City, Locker held more than 50 such exhibitions in galleries throughout the United States and abroad, including the Hammer Gallery in New York City and the Alan Jacobs Gallery in London. His works appear in more than 40 illustrated books for children and young adults, many of them award-winning.

Various programming will be designed around the exhibit, which will remain at Anythink Wright Farms until July 17 before moving on to other sites around the nation.

EVENT DETAILS
Thomas Locker Exhibit: “Art and Nature”
Friday, April 27-Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Anythink Wright Farms
5877 E. 120th Ave.
Thornton, CO 80602
303-405-3200