Hailing from Denali, Alaska, painter Sarah Crowley captured intricate, high-desert details of northern Arizona鈥檚 three culturally significant national monuments on brush and paper during a two-week artist residency program at Wupatki National Monument.
During her stay from Jan. 24 to Feb. 8, Crowley used bright colors and sharp lines to create six paintings, two of each monument, incorporating natural history and regional culture into her work. Her finalized pieces will be available as prints and other keepsakes for park visitors to purchase.
鈥淚'm focused on natural history and nature, and there鈥檚 so much of that at Wupatki, as well as Sunset Crater and Walnut Canyon,鈥� Crowley said. 鈥淎ll of them are so deeply tied to the cultural history of the place too. So, that was kind of a new thing for me to be bringing into my very focused natural history piece, and of course, they're inextricably linked.鈥�
As part of the Friends of Flagstaff National Monuments Artists in Residence (AiR) program, Crowley said she was allowed considerable creative freedom in her interpretation of Wupatki, Sunset Crater Volcano and Walnut Canyon.
Crowley often uses an array of colors in her paintings to express details beyond what is inherent to her chosen landscape. One set of her monument paintings has lines and bold colors, emphasizing her personal touch, while the other set was more rooted in realism.
As the creator behind Raining Joy Arts, Crowley combines her love of painting with her passion for connecting people to the environment. Her prints, stickers and jewelry are accessible, nature-inspired pieces with the intention of spreading joy and keeping people connected to the environment, often for visitors of Denali National Park.
鈥淔irst and foremost, I created Raining Joy arts to create bold and colorful-like, nature inspired art, but the goal really is to help people feel connected to wild places,鈥� Crowley said.
With 13 Indigenous nations in the area, Crowley said one of the most challenging aspects of her residency was navigating how to incorporate an unfamiliar culture into her paintings.
鈥淚 worked throughout my time there to kind of figure out how I can blend my interpretation of natural history with this idea of trying to interpret cultural history,鈥� Crowley said.
She took the first week to familiarize herself with the land and locals, discovering what they love about the monuments and what draws them to these places.
鈥淚 just immediately didn't feel comfortable interpreting someone else's culture, not at the starting point,鈥� Crowley said. 鈥淚n the end what I did, for instance at Wupatki, I was at one of the Pueblos and looking out one of the windows, and said, 鈥楾his was what they looked at. This was out the window.鈥� That's how I tried to say, 鈥極kay, this is maybe a little bit of the experience of somebody being here now and 1,000 years ago.' That was my in on including that cultural side.鈥�
With a background in environment education, she likened this observation period to the core tenets of the discipline, which she said are often used when introducing people to a new place. After the initial appreciation phase, Crowley was able to learn more of the historical context and natural history and take action toward creating her paintings.
鈥淭hat first week, I was just exploring and playing and enjoying and finding connections for myself in these places 鈥� and it all started to come together by the second week,鈥� Crowley said. 鈥淭hat was when I could really begin to create some art.鈥�
In line with her business name, Crowley found ways to harness the theme of joy as resistance throughout her time at the national monuments.
The residency came a few days after President Donald Trump鈥檚 inauguration. His administration had pledged to cut federal funding to national parks, leaving park service workers at risk or unemployment. Crowley said the uncertainty of potential policy changes was in the air.
鈥淭he most challenging aspect, to be honest, is the idea that I was tasked with being creative in a couple of monuments that were, and the National Park Service that is, in crisis right now,鈥� Crowley said. 鈥漇o, there was a lot of chaos, there were a lot of things happening, and a lot of demands on people's attention and time.鈥�
She immediately created a painting of a sunrise for employees of the monument to hang up in their office.
Crowley had already felt this anxiety back home in Denali.
Finding similarities between Alaska and Arizona, such as the dry climate and big sky, Crowley also recognized the anxiety that her community was experiencing before she traveled to Arizona.
鈥淭hat was happening here in Denali too,鈥� Crowley said. 鈥淲e are a gateway community to one of the most beautiful national parks in the country, and I left here as my community was in chaos, and so feeling that on both ends, and feeling like I needed to stay a part of it, but also recognize this gift that was given to me of time to be creative, which was kind of wild.鈥�
While Crowley is now back in Alaska, she said she is processing her experience at the residency and how to blend what she learned there into her art.
鈥淚 think the most rewarding aspect is there were things that pushed me out of my comfort zone, that's for sure, the new landscapes and the pace at being able to take it all in,鈥� Crowley said.
Once finalized, her pieces will be available for purchase at the national monuments鈥� visitor centers.