The National Park Service Southeast Utah Group is pleased to announce the selection of Charlotte Quigley as the 2025 Community Artist in the Parks (CAIP).
Quigley has a deep well of experience with both art and national parks. A life-long watercolorist, she also works in pastels and, more recently, oil paints. She has a master’s degree in art history and experience as a youth arts teacher, arts council director, and member of the Gallery Moab cooperative. After living at several national parks in New Mexico, Quigley moved to Moab 18 years ago. “I feel so fortunate to be in such a beautiful place, where there are so many amazing subjects so close at hand.”
About her upcoming tenure as Community Artist in the Parks, Quigley says, “I’m excited to have this opportunity to paint in the parks and encourage others in their creative endeavors. This is a chance to really focus on our beautiful landscape and share its unique characteristics with others.”
Created in 2009, the CAIP program highlights the connection between a local artist and the surrounding landscapes, particularly
Arches and
Canyonlands national parks and Hovenweep and Natural Bridges national monuments. Participating artists must reside in Grand, San Juan, or Montezuma counties.
As the Community Artist for 2025, Charlotte Quigley will create original work within the parks for a minimum of 24 hours per month, April through October, and share her inspiration and creative process with visitors. Her work will be sold in Canyonlands Natural History Association stores during her tenure.
For more information about the program and a schedule of the community artist’s park activities, visit go.nps.gov/CAIP.
Gordon Fowler’s snowshoes [Moab Museum Collection]
Summertime visitors to the Moab Museum may have difficulty understanding why there’s a pair of snowshoes on display in the Museum’s gallery. While the desert, of course, isn’t well-known for its snow, locals know that the La Sal Mountains outside of Moab can get quite snowy indeed.
Today, Moabites enjoy recreating in the mountains in the wintertime on sleds, skis, or snowmobiles. In the past, the remote community of Miner’s Basin high in the La Sals was the site of a seasonal mining operation, with some hardy souls overwintering in the snowy basin. In Miner’s Basin’s heyday, it boasted a store, a post office, and lodging for over a hundred optimistic miners.
Gordon Fowler, whose initials are found on the wood of these snowshoes, used these snowshoes to prospect in Miner’s Basin in the La Sals many decades after most others gave up hope of mining riches in the area. Made with a sturdy hardwood frame with rawhide lacing, the snowshoes allowed the wearer to travel over powdery snow without sinking knee-deep. The snowshoes were acquired by the Museum from the estate of Bill Conners, who grubstaked Fowler’s endeavor.
The Moab Museum is dedicated to sharing stories of the natural and human history of the Moab area. To explore more of Moab’s stories and artifacts, find out about upcoming programs, and become a Member, visit www.moabmuseum.org.
Charlotte Quigley, 2025 Community Artist in the Parks [Courtesy of the National Park Service]
