Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service - About the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service's mission, history, and goals.

Many who visit America’s national parks and monuments are deeply moved by what they find: a silken river flowing between moss-covered stones, a mountain that defies any attempt to tame it, a stunted tree clinging to life on a windswept boulder. We often try to preserve these rich experiences with snapshots, but most provide only a hint of the magic we remember. Over the past 40 years, photographer Stan Jorstad has become a master at capturing these transcendent moments while visiting National Park Service properties across the United States.

Jorstad’s large-format panoramic photographs provide a window to the spectacular lands that Americans hold in common. Whether it is a Zion cliff face lit with the drama of a Bierstadt painting, or a rising moon caught between two purple clouds at Death Valley, Jorstad’s luminous photographs evoke the emotional response we seek in visiting these beloved places.

Jorstad’s work has been deeply influenced by his friends and mentors Ansel Adams, Eliot Porter, and Torkel Korling. Since the early 1960s, when he was a cinematographer for the television series Wild Kingdom, he has spent more than four decades as a professional photographer. He does not employ any form of computer manipulation either in the field or in his darkroom because of his concern that such artifice threatens the credibility of nature photography. Instead, Jorstad hopes that his unadulterated images will support an awareness and concern for our irreplaceable natural environment.

These Rare Lands presents 44 large-format panoramic photographic portraits of our national parks, monuments, and battlefields. Among the exhibition’s six text panels are an introductory statement by Robert Redford, a biography of Jorstad, a description of his photographic techniques, and a brief history of the National Park Service. Jorstad’s photographs of all of the national parks are presented in a companion book (Simon & Schuster) of the same title.

Selected photographs contained in These Rare Lands appear courtesy of Time Inc. This exhibition has been made possible through the generous support of Galyan’s.

Exhibition Specifications

Contents 44 framed color photographs, text panels, labels

Supplemental
Companion book, poster, educational resources, PR materials

Participation Fee
$2,500 for a 8-week booking period, plus outgoing shipping

Running Feet (Meters)
230 running feet (70 running meters)

Square Feet (Meters)

Crates 6

Weight
585 kg (1,290 lb.)

Category Science & Natural History

Security Moderate

Shipping Outgoing; host museum arranges outgoing shipping and pays carrier directly

SITES Contacts
Ed Liskey, 202.633.3142 (Scheduling)
Jennifer Bine, 202.633.3106 (Content)

Tour Through February 2006

Tour Itinerary: FULLY BOOKED

Dates Host Institution Status

1/15/00 2/27/00 The Maui Arts & Cultural Center, Kahului, HI Booked

4/8/00 6/4/00 National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson, WY Booked

6/24/00 8/20/00 Marjorie Barrick Museum of Natural History, Las Vegas, NV Booked

9/9/00 11/5/00 Braithwaite Fine Arts Gallery - So. Utah University, Cedar City, UT Booked

11/25/00 2/21/01 Colorado Historical Society, Denver, CO Booked

2/10/01 4/8/01 Sam Houston Memorial Museum, Huntsville, TX Booked

6/16/01 8/12/01 William McKinley Presidential Library and Museum, Canton, OH Booked

9/1/01 10/28/01 Burke Arts Council, Morganton, NC Booked

11/17/01 1/13/02 Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center, Thibodaux, LA Booked

2/2/02 3/31/02 Farmington Museum, Farmington, NM Booked

4/20/02 6/16/02 Stauth Memorial Museum, Montezuma, KS Booked

7/9/02 9/1/02 State Botanical Gardens of Georgia, Athens, GA Booked

9/21/02 11/17/02 Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History, Pacific Grove, CA Booked

2/22/03 4/20/03 Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, Norman, OK Booked

5/10/03 7/6/03 Spartanburg County Public Library, Spartanburg, SC Booked

7/26/03 9/21/03 St. George Art Museum, St. George, UT Booked

10/11/03 12/7/03 Grand Canyon Association, Grand Canyon, AZ Booked

1/24/04 3/21/04 Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History, Kennesaw, GA Booked

4/10/04 6/6/04 The Museum, Greenwood, SC Booked

6/26/04 8/22/04 Colorado Springs Pioneer Museum, Colorado Springs, CO Booked

9/18/04 11/14/04 Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, Chicago, IL Booked

12/04/04 1/30/05 Sunrise Civic Center, Sunrise, FL Booked

2/19/05 4/17/05 Altoona Heritage Discovery Center, Altoona, PA Booked

5/7/05 7/3/05 Museum of History and Art, Ontario, Ontario, CA Booked

7/23/05 9/18/05 West Bend Art Museum, West Bend, WI Booked

10/8/05 12/4/05 The Art League of Bonita Springs, Bonita Springs, FL Booked

12/24/05 2/19/06 Tunica County Museum, Tunica, MS Booked

Publications

These Rare Lands: Images of America's National Parks; Photographs by Stan Jorstad; Text by Mark Strand; Foreword by Robert Redford; Simon & Schuster, 1997; Hard Back; $40.00
Stan Jorstad's panoramic photograph of El Capitan, Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas, is one of the many striking images in the exhibition These Rare Lands.

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