Tuesday, May 12 – Alan Petersen will present: "John Wesley Powell's use of Art and Photography"
Following his river explorations of the Green and Colorado Rivers, and throughout his continuing survey of the Grand Canyon and southern Colorado Plateau, John Wesley Powell used artwork and photographs to illustrate his expedition’s adventures, and mis-adventures, as well as the geography and geology of the wild and beautiful lands that his survey explored and documented over twelve years spent in the region. Powell was a gifted geologist and a natural promoter who skillfully used art and photography not only as illustrations but also as a means to promote his agenda and his successes. Powell and his field director, Clarence Dutton, commissioned a great number of drawings from Thomas Moran and William Henry Holmes in addition to the drawings done by Fredrick Dellenbaugh while a survey team member. He also employed three photographers, E.O. Beaman, Fennemore, and Jack Hillers who, working in the most challenging conditions, produced evocative and compelling imagery that would contribute to the public’s growing fascination with the American Southwest.
Presenter bio:
Alan Petersen worked on the South Rim of Grand Canyon for three years before moving to Flagstaff in 1980 to attend Northern Arizona University. Alan recently retired from a faculty position at Coconino Community College in Flagstaff where he taught art history, drawing, painting, and courses pertaining to the Colorado Plateau for thirty years.
As the Curator of Fine Art at the Museum of Northern Arizona, Alan has curated exhibitions of work by such notable artists as Gunnar Widforss, Joella Jean Mahoney, Mary-Russell Ferrell Colton, Merrill Mahaffey, Bruce Aiken, Ed Mell, Curt Walters, Shonto Begay, and Baje Whitethorne, among many others.
In 2020, Alan published the catalogue raisonné of works by Swedish-American artist Gunnar Widforss that currently lists nearly 1,300 paintings. He is seeking a publisher for his monograph on Widforss’ fascinating life and art. Alan has published a number of articles on the artist and in 2018 co-curated an exhibition of the artist’s work in Ljungby, Sweden.