Park by park, Mariah Reading has been bringing some of America’s most beautiful places to life through her passion for art.
“My family instilled in me a love for art. I grew up in Maine, so I was always inspired by the seasonal changes and I grew up near forests, beside two rivers, I had access to mountains that ended the Appalachian trail, as well as, the beautiful rocky coastline,” said Reading.
Ranger Mariah stands with her painting of the Grassy Bay Cliffs
No doubt, she had a lot of inspiring places surrounding her. In college she studied education and art, and for the last couple of years has worked as a seasonal interpretive ranger in Denali National Park and Acadia National Park. This year, she made it to Voyageurs.
“Voyageurs was my top park, being a water baby. I love paddling and making art while on the water so that was a big pull for me. It had the combination of elements I was looking for,” said Reading. Throughout the summer, Reading has been teaching park visitors about the various geological landscapes and attractions, such as Rainy Lake and the Aurora Borealis, while at the same time, painting them. You can watch her videos on the Voyageurs Conservancy’s page and maybe you’ll be inspired to pick up a paintbrush.
Ranger Mariah kneels beside her painted monofilament recycling station
Reading has also painted permanent art installations within the park, including new, monofilament recycling systems, which are containers to hold discarded fishing line to keep shorelines clean and to protect wildlife.
“Art should be for all, but it’s been a thing that’s only been available to a certain demographic for generations, so to provide access to not only the parks, but to art is really important,” said Reading.
She noted that art has a deep history within the National Park Service, even before the first park was established.
“When the USGS was first going out to survey Yellowstone in the late 1800’s, they brought artists. They didn’t have digital cameras like we do now so artists got the opportunity to respond to these landscapes and capture the magnitude of them and bring that back to the east coast so that people who had political sway could start a park service,” said Reading. And with climate change and our ever-changing landscapes, Reading said that artists have a duty to visually capture the parks to hopefully bring about more stewardship.
Ranger Mariah leads a coloring activity with native fish coloring sheets she illustrated
Being that her job is seasonal, Reading will soon leave Voyageurs National Park and head to her next opportunity, Guadalupe Mountains National Park in Texas, another park that’s known for it’s beautiful, dark skies. And when she leaves, Reading will have a whole palette of memories from Minnesota that she will bring with her as inspiration.
“I’ve been struck by all of the wildlife merging together. Seeing a bald eagle swoop down, grab a fish by a beaver lodge with moose along the Kabetogama peninsula. It’s been wonderful,” she said.
Artwork by Mariah Reading
