October 2021 Park Palettes, Storyboards, and Cadences 

National parks are a blank palette for channeling creative expression. How can we use the arts to express our connections with national parks?

• Gather folks ‘round the (literal or figurative) campfire to tell a story. In the proud tradition of rangering, share your favorite stories or “ranger lore” from your trail, site, park, NPS program, or partnership. Invite people to tell their own favorite stories from parks or of past park memories.
• Showcase your site’s connection to the arts, including how arts were used in the past or today
• Encourage local businesses to submit nominations to the Lewis and Clark NHT tourism website, www.lewisandclark.travel. The site aggregates user-generated content showcasing things to do and places to visit that have been nominated by residents along the Trail. To get started, go to www.lewisandclark.travel/register.
• Host a ranger campfire, living history, or story time event and share some ranger favorites.
• Invite traditional storytellers from the community, including from your own staff, to share stories with visitors and staff.
• Ask staff, partners, and visitors to tell their own favorite tales and adventures about the trail (or from working in the park).
• Interpret natural, cultural, or recreational resources in story form.
• Highlight objects in your museum collection connected with compelling stories or lore.
• Highlight staff, careers, and partnerships that preserve, collect, or interpret stories, such as through neighborhood trails, scientific research, or oral history projects.

 

Looking for something ready-made to share?

Happy National Arts and Humanities Month! Artists bring stories of the Lewis and Clark Expedition to life. Has an artist ever illustrated a story you love? Share in the comments. #ParksForArt, #ParkArt, #ArtAndHumanities

Credit: Tom Kozar. Oil illustration on board. Harpers Ferry Center Commissioned Art Collection. Public Domain. Government owns art and all reproduction rights.

Alt text: Grizzly bear chasing two hunters over an embankment.

Additional posts to share:

The expansive Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail auto tour route provides a way to travel the Lewis and Clark Expedition by car. #LewisandClarkTrail

https://www.nps.gov/lecl/learn/historyculture/auto-tour-route.htm

Want to make your own #LewisandClarkTrail memories? Let the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Experience website assist you in planning. https://lewisandclark.travel/

Learn about Lewis and Clark Expedition without leaving home. Become a Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Junior Ranger by simply completing the online Junior Ranger program. #LewisandClarkTrail

Learn more: https://www.nps.gov/lecl/learn/kidsyouth/beajuniorranger.htm

Social Media hashtags: #FindYourPark, #FindYourTrail, #LewisandClarkTrail

Lewis and Clark Events That Happened This Month

(ready made posts to share)

Meriwether Lewis died a violent death in the early morning hours of October 11, 1809 – at the age of 35, just three years after the completion of the most successful exploration mission in American history. #LewisandClarkTrail

More: https://www.nps.gov/articles/lewis-s-death.htm

As Meriwether Lewis and party journeyed down the Ohio in the early fall of 1804, the keelboat frequently encountered ripples or “riffles “ – short sections of the river where the autumn water level was so low the large vessel had to be lifted or dragged. #LewisandClarkTrail

More on the ripples: https://www.nps.gov/articles/ripples-on-the-ohio-river.htm