niebruggestudio.com

“Gakona School” 36″ x 48″ original acrylic painting by Gail Niebrugge, commissioned by the Alaska Per Cent for Art program for the new Gakona Elementary school in the Copper River School District.

This tiny K-6 elementary school is located in a scenic valley along the Copper River, in the Wrangell-St. Elias, Alaska. The faculty wanted the painting to show the original school house, the landscape, the new school, and student activities. I spent several days during school hours watching, observing, sketching and taking photographs to use as reference material to help formulate a composition. It became clear that the painting had to be a montage (a composite of different images in one painting). I included the historic bridge over the Gakona River near the school, and the landscape with the Copper River and the Wrangell Mountains from the top of the bluffs overlooking the school. It was a fun project and I gained a great deal of respect for rural teachers who teach multiple grades. The students were happy and kept busy with a variety of activities. My painting captured a moment in time in this small wilderness community.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska wilderness painter

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 9th, 2008 at 4:00 am and is filed under Original Paintings, Commissioned Paintings, Painting subject matter research, Painting Wrangell-St. Elias. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.