Craters of the Moon Centennial Artists-in-Residence

Group of people sit and stand in front of the entrance sign for Craters of the Moon National Monument — Evan Nelson

Craters of the Moon National Monument & Preserve has selected five Artists-in-Residence (AiR) to help celebrate the park’s Centennial. All currently live in Idaho and have deep connections to Craters of the Moon and the region. During their residency, the AiRs are visiting the park’s lava landscape to inform and inspire their work and host special events for the public to learn about their craft.

Meet the Artists

Snowy landscaped with post fence and three bare trees. — 'Winter Still' 8" x 10" Oil on Panel
April Felker

April Felker (b.1973 in Wichita, Kansas) is an artist with a passion for immersing herself in the backcountry of the American West and capturing (borrowing) and then sharing those sensations she experiences in wild and natural places through a variety of art mediums. April enjoys painting plein air landscapes in oil and gouache. She also has a fascination with historic photographic processes like wet plate collodion and an appreciation for printmaking, metal sculpture and working in clay.

“Patterns and processes I encounter in natural systems stimulate and instruct me. So long as I have access to wild spaces and things, I have an endless inspirational source for making art.” She continues “I want to capture the essence of a moment in a piece of art. I’m not after the hit-the-viewer-over-the head calendar shot. I’m seeking the more sublime and ephemeral, like transitions of light, changes in time and temperature. The infinite complexity of things expressed simply is what I see myself pursuing.”

April has taken classes with Utah painters Joseph Alleman, Michael Workman, Douglas Fryer and Colleen Howe and is currently studying in an online program with Idaho painter Scott Christensen. She has bachelor’s degrees in photography and history with minors in art and psychology. Her day job is as an exhibit specialist doing historic preservation and project management for the National Park Service in southern Idaho.

Watercolor painting of dwarf buckwheat. — Josh Olson

Josh Olson was born in Boise, Idaho in 1972. His family moved south to Arizona as a young boy, but he eventually found himself in the Colorado Rocky Mountains where he earned a BA in Fine Arts from Western State Colorado University in 1994. His love affair with nature began when he was 18 years old attending college in Gunnison. It was his first week of class when he was introduced to plein air painting by a professor. The small class was collectively sitting on a sage brush hill behind campus painting distant aspen groves in full display of fall colors. This simple morning began what has become nearly a lifetime of outdoor painting adventures. Vanishing into wild places became his life. The world-renowned destinations of the West Elk Mountains, The Maroon Bells and San Juan Mountains were his stomping grounds. Throughout his 20’s he worked odd jobs that allowed enough freedom to travel and sell artwork. Selling artwork in small cafes and galleries in ski towns to tourists was lucrative enough but often not sustainable.

Sometime around 30 years old Josh began looking for new challenges, He moved back north to the big city of Boise Idaho. He started full-time at the City of Boise Arts Commission as a public art managers assistant. He was soon married and started a family. He advanced his career into a fulltime public art conservation manager which lasted until 2022. Despite living in the city, his love of the backcountry grew stronger as he rediscovered Idaho and contiguous states. A work life balance was found as a weekend warrior.

In late 2022 he decided it was time for another change. Since moving to Boise, his artwork took a backseat to family life and career. Resigning from the City of Boise, he is now recommitted to being a fulltime artist. Josh is a watercolorist and printmaker, but his recent portfolio was unavoidably blank. He immediately picked up where he left off and simply started painting landscapes and chronicling natural objects he encounters on the trail. Since January, Josh has been awarded the 2023 Alexa Rose Foundation grant and was also notified this summer that he was one of the 2023-24 Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve Artist in Residents. He has been a visitor to Craters of the Moon dozens of times, yet he hasn’t had the time to examine its beauty thru a creative lens. Josh is truly looking forward to further exploration of the area and anticipates a one-of-a-kind experience.

Watercolor painting of bats flying out of a cave. — Karen Jacobsen

Karen Jacobsen lives and works in the world-famous ski resort community of Sun Valley, Idaho. Her work concentrates on the landscape- one without people or structures for the most part. As human beings are the biggest mechanisms of change to our world, she prefers to leave them out.

She is known as a plein air painter, an occasional muralist, and a natural science illustrator.  Karen now works primarily in oils, occasionally in watercolor and, more recently in mixed media.

Jacobsen earned her degrees at University of California Santa Cruz, a BFA in painting and printmaking, and a Masters Certificate in Science Communications; with an emphasis in illustration. Karen married her love of art and science creating a truly unique career as an expedition illustrator. She continues to travel, paint and illustrate some of the wildest and most unreachable places on earth and beneath the sea.

She has been an active member of the Plein Air painters of Idaho since 2007 and is a board member and the regional representative for the Wood River Valley participating in numerous workshops, painting events and exhibitions.

Oil Painting of lava landscape. — 'Spring Blossoming at the Craters' 16" x 20" Oil on Canvas
Mary Arnold

Born and raised on her parents’ Idaho farm, Mary Arnold grew up aware of the importance of land and animal stewardship and she never tires of championing the concept of conservation in her visual art. Mary Arnold is very honored to be selected as one of five outstanding artists to help celebrate the Centennial year of the Craters of the Moon National Park. Arnold holds a BBA from the University of Texas and an International MBA from Thunderbird/ASU.

Mary’s goal in her art practice is to emphasize humanity’s connection to nature and carry a message of conservation. Her style, firmly seated in the Fauve tradition, uses color to project a mood and to establish a structure within the art piece. She focuses on depicting the geology, animals and wildlife of the west and she seeks to separate color from its descriptive, representational purpose and allow it to exist on the canvas as an independent element without having to be true to the natural world. 

Recipient of a 2020 scholarship from the Idaho Commission on the Arts MAP Program, Mary continues to support the ICA as a MAP instructor on the business of art. Exploring the theme of land conservation, she has served various artist residencies for organizations including the Land Trust of the Treasure Valley (Sep 2020-Aug 2021), Payette Land Trust (Apr 2023-Mar 2024), and the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area in April-May 2023. As working artist volunteer for several conservation organizations including the Working Dogs for Conservation, Mary creates art that celebrates our landscape and animals and represents the challenges and adaptations to a changing climate. Her mural “Live and Let Live” for the Conservation Voters of Idaho and the Garden City Placemaking Fund was completed in the summer of 2022. A recipient of the Alexa Rose grant in 2022, Arnold continues her work in exploring the theme of land and animal conservation as a way to advocate for the environment.

Arnold’s notion of an animal or a landscape’s soul revealing itself lies in her childhood experiences growing up on her parent’s farm, exploring Idaho’s fields, riding horses to rocky buttes, spending summers and winters in the mountains, playing hide-and-go-seek with her dogs in the corn fields. Inspired by her love of Idaho and the animals that call it home, she remains a strong advocate for the environment and hopes that her art broadens a message of shared use and advocacy for protecting and sustaining our open spaces and wildlife.

Northern Lights over a silhouetted landscape. — Evan Nelson

Evan Nelson currently resides in Idaho Falls. He was born and raised in rural Northeast South Dakota, where his love of hunting and fishing kept him outdoors year-round. In school, it didn’t take long for him to realize he really enjoyed writing and public speaking. Along with this, he also had an interest in photography. Evan's experiences in the outdoors, as well as military history, heavily influenced his work. By the time he graduated high school, he was established as a prominent public speaker within the community, and even had the opportunity of speaking for the Governor of South Dakota. Evan also managed to get a poem published!

After high school, Evan enlisted in the United States Air Force. He spent six years in the military performing nuclear security. This meant a lot of really long hours, where he was able to hone his craft as a poet. Evan also upgraded his camera, or what would be considered an upgrade in those days, and continued to practice wildlife and landscape photography in his free time. Once Evan was discharged at the end of his enlistment, he and his wife moved back to Northeast South Dakota where they continued to travel, hunt, and fish. Evan enrolled in college and was able to get back to creative writing and public speaking, all the while continuing to work on wildlife and landscape photography.

After many years in South Dakota, Evan and his wife decided they needed a change of scenery. Without doing any research whatsoever, they sold their house and a large portion of their belongings, packed up their vehicles, and headed for Idaho Falls, Idaho, basing their move solely off of the city’s location on the map. The amazing scenery in every direction was a blessing for Evan, and it wasn’t long before he discovered Craters of the Moon. It was an otherworldly place that he fell in love with immediately. Having an abundance of picture opportunities, he was able to truly develop his photography and photo editing skills. It wasn’t long before he had photos being requested by the Wyoming Department of Tourism, as well as the Great Falls, Montana, Department of Tourism.

For quite some time Evan had been looking for a way to share his photos and storytelling in a meaningful way, and when he saw the opportunity to apply for an Artist-In-Residence position at Craters of the Moon, he jumped at the chance. Evan states "The unsettling beauty of this volcanic landscape has captivated my imagination for several years, and I often find myself coming back time and time again. The alluringly violent past, the undeniable contrast of wildflowers against dark cinders, and the unimaginable night skies seem to beckon to my very soul. Now I am here, and I am so excited for the opportunity to be part of the centennial celebration, and to share the story of this amazing place through photographs and creative writing!"

Nature Journaling on the Moon

Join Artists-in-Residence Karen Jacobsen and Mary Arnold in this 8 video series as they lead you through the process in creating your own artistic nature journal.

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Duration:: 4 minutes, 15 seconds

Craters of the Moon Centennial Artists-in-Residence Karen and Mary share their knowledge and expertise. Join them as they take you through the steps on how to start your own nature journal. Video 1 of 8