Entrance to the Padre Island National Seashore is free Oct. 20-21 to help paint a mural of this piece by artist-in-residence Tyler Hudock. Courtesy Photo
Come to the seashore in your paint clothes and be ready to help Artist-in-Residence Tyler Hudock create a mural of his featured painting at the Padre Island National Seashore Oct. 20-21. Hudock was chosen as the first of three artists-in-residence for 2015 — the first time the national park services’ artist-in-residence program has come to Padre Island.
“Arts and parks — you can’t beat that connection,” said park information officer Patrick Gamman, referring to the birth of the parks system 100 years ago, which came in part after Congress inspired by a journal of art and writing on what became Yellowstone Park by Thomas Moran. “With the artist-in-residence program, the artists come here and stay several days and they get inspired. They create some art and they give one piece to us.”
The artists were chosen from hundreds of applicants, Gamman said. Judges picked artists working in different mediums and from different locales: one from the east coast (Hudock), one from the west coast (a paper cutter) and a local artist (a photographer). The remaining two artists will be announced when they take up residence in the spring. Their initial residencies were postponed due to the invasion of red tide this fall.
A former park ranger and now stay-at-home dad, Hudock specializes in acrylic painting. He and his family will spend several days in residence at the seashore before working with visitors to create a mural of his featured painting. The 4’ by 6’ mural will be a pixelated version of the original painting and will be on display at the national seashore for many years to come, Gamman said. It will also be portable so it can be displayed elsewhere and even loaned to other parks or galleries.
Visitors to the park between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Oct. 20-21 will be admitted free of charge and given the opportunity to work on the mural. Come in old clothes in case of paint splatters, Gamman said. A hand washing station will be available for cleanup.
“We can have a lot of people here and they can all participate,” Gamman said. “It’s going to look really amazing.”
Padre Island National Seashore is located at 20420 Park Road 22 in Corpus Christi. For more information visit nps.gov/pais or call 361-949-8069.
