Bronze Sculpture on Display at Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center

March 3, 2008
08-04

Superintendent Mary Gibson Scott announced today that the National Museum of Wildlife Art has graciously loaned a life-sized bronze sculpture to Grand Teton National Park for display in the Art Gallery room of the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center at Moose, Wyoming. Created in 2000 by Cheyenne-born wildlife sculptor, Dan Ostermiller, the eye-catching sculpture titled “Tres Osos” (Three Bears) depicts a mother grizzly and her two cubs.

Dan Ostermiller, a professionally and publicly recognized artist, is a fellow of the National Sculpture Society and a member of the Society of Animal Artists. Ostermiller’s art is represented by galleries in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Vail, Colorado, New York City, and Houston, Texas. More than 40 of his monumental pieces have gone to public and private collections in over 16 states since his first show was held in 1980. Ostermiller’s sculpture goes beyond a straightforward rendering of form. His artistry excels in capturing a moment to tell a story and depict a mood. “Tres Osos” depicts an adult grizzly bear with her two cubs: one cub is lying flat on its belly, head extended and foreleg hanging over the sculpture base, while another cub is relaxed and leaning against its mother, who appears to be watching over her youngsters.

The loan of this artistic sculpture is made possible through a partnership agreement between the National Museum of Wildlife Art and Grand Teton National Park. This agreement enables the museum to share art work with park visitors, while providing a sense of the unique relationship between park wildlife and artistic renditions of wildlife. Ostermiller’s “Tres Osos” joins several paintings in the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center’s Art Gallery already on loan from the museum.

According to Adam Duncan Harris, curator of art at the museum, the work is a great example of the contemporary side of their holdings—one with a slight sense of whimsy that families, in particular, might enjoy.


—NPS—
www.nps.gov/grte