News Release

Student Art Exhibit in the Park

Date: December 11, 2019
Contact: Jason Ginder, 409-951-6700

Today we announce the installation of a new temporary art exhibit in the Big Thicket National Preserve Visitor Center. Entitled “The Many Colors of the Big Thicket”, this art installation was created in partnership with the International Fiber Collaborative, which worked with students from across the state of Texas to create more than 70 pieces of art highlighting the vast array of plants and animals found in the Thicket. Each piece represents the students’ unique perspective on the diversity of the natural environment in this region. More than 577 students from 15 different schools, including Buna Junior High School, Caney Creek High School, Newton Middle School, Vidor High School, and Bozman Intermediate School in Conroe created art for this exhibit. The exhibition will be on display through the end of April. 

“I hope everyone will come view the impressive work done by all these local students”, stated Big Thicket National Preserve Superintendent Wayne Prokopetz. “Parks can inspire us! The colors of the forest and the intricacy of the natural systems have inspired artists and scientists for thousands of years.” From the Kolb Brothers in the Grand Canyon and Ansel Adams’s famous Black and White images to the timeless Works Progress Administration poster series, parks and outdoors spaces have inspired artists throughout history.  Big Thicket National Preserve’s involvement in this student project is supported by donations made to the park by local citizens and park visitors from around the world. 

Check out the submissions on Flickr. 

This Year’s Theme: “The Many Colors of the Big Thicket”
Students were invited explore the many colors of the Big Thicket. At a quick glance, you might think that the landscape of the Big Thicket is just one giant green blob. But upon closer inspection you might notice the various shades of color that makeup this unique and special environment. Red, yellow, pinks and even some blues can fill this space. Some animals strive to blend into their surroundings and camouflage themselves, like the green tree frog, while others use bright colors to attract a mate, like the male cardinals.

The International Fiber Collaborative (IFC) was founded in 2008 as a 501(c)(3) that develops community programs that create collaborative opportunities in art and civic engagement. IFC promotes programs that link learning and creativity in the arts to science, math, engineering, and the humanities. Public programming has been a catalyst for creativity in health care facilities, libraries, schools, museums, national parks and many other sites. During the 2017-2018 school year 11,533 students from 317 schools participated in 20 exhibits at national park sites. 

Big Thicket National Preserve is located in Southeast Texas, near the city of Beaumont and 75 miles northeast of Houston. The preserve consists of nine land units and six water corridors encompassing more than 113,000 acres. The Big Thicket, often referred to as a “biological crossroads,” is a transition zone between four distinct vegetation types – the moist eastern hardwood forest, the southwestern desert, the southeastern swamp, and the central prairies. Species from all of these different vegetation types come together in the thicket, exhibiting a variety of vegetation and wildlife that has received global interest. 

For general information about Big Thicket National Preserve, visit www.nps.gov/bith or call the preserve visitor center at 409-951-6700. Visit us on Facebook www.facebook.com/BigThicketNPS, Twitter www.twitter.com/BigThicketNPS, and Instagram www.instagram.com/BigThicketNPS.