by Julie Dodd
When print maker Anna Marie Pavlik arrived in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in July 2024 to be an Artist-in-Residence, she already knew the creative power of the National Park Service Artist-in-Residence program.
Pavlik, who resides in Frankfort, Kentucky, previously held artist residencies in a number of parks managed by the National Park Service.
Pavlik’s first residency was in 2002 at Voyageurs National Park on the Minnesota/Ontario border. Her other residencies include: Amistad National Recreation Site on the Texas/Coahuila border, Catoctin Mountain Park, and Acadia, Buffalo National River and Denali National Parks. The National Park Service sponsors more than 50 Artist-in-Residence programs.
Selected artists stay “in residence” in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) for 4 to 6 weeks – exploring the park, creating art, talking with rangers, meeting with other artists, and sharing their art in workshops and presentations.
“Artists have that time to explore and experience the park and to do reflective work,” said Ranger Sheridan Roberts, GSMNP Parkwide Volunteer Coordinator who directs the Artist-in-Residence program.
Pavlik’s approach to creating her art
For her residency, Pavlik spent the month of July in the park, hiking, taking photographs, creating sketches and writing observations. She also interacted with park visitors and read literature and science publications about the area.
“My work is focused on the perilous future of the natural world. Since many people spend increasing amounts of time indoors, I perceive a curiosity in people to better understand their relationship to the environment,” Pavlik said.
“This need encourages me to attract people’s attention with the beauty and detail of nature found in my etchings and linoleum cuts. Moving beyond aesthetics, my goal is to present visual references to the scientific aspects of nature,” she said.
Each Artist-in-Residence is asked to donate an original work inspired by their residency within one year upon completion of the residency. The many ferns Pavlik saw in the Smokies were the inspiration for the linoleum print she created and donated to the Park.
Pavlik’s art donation, titled “Arabesque Ouverte, Ferns of Great Smoky Mountains National Park,” displays 21 different plant species.
“Arabesque Ouverte is a classic ballet position presenting a graceful open human form,” Pavlik explained. “The term ‘Arabesque’ is derived from Arabic meaning unity. Besides a human position, the term refers to intertwined plants. Each fern and closely related plant is found in Great Smoky Mountain National Park.”
As part of her GSMNP Artist in Residency, Pavlik made an artist presentation at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg and conducted art activities with visitors at Oconaluftee and Sugarlands Visitor Centers.
Pavlik found the visitor engagement activity at Oconaluftee particularly rewarding. With Pavlik’s guidance and using her 8” x 10” printing press, visitors created pressed foam prints. (The photo at the top of the blog post was taken during the Oconaluftee art session.)
Several galleries show Pavlik’s work — Iowa Artisans Gallery, Iowa City, Iowa; Grand Hand Gallery, St. Paul, Minnesota; and River Gallery, Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Friends’ support of AIR program
Friends of the Smokies supports the Artist in Residence program by funding a furnished apartment inside park boundaries and reimbursing artists for art materials.
“Artists played a pivotal role in the creation of the park by sharing their impressions of the grandeur of the mountains, forests, and rivers with people who had never been here,” said Dana Soehn, President and CEO of Friends of the Smokies.
“Their photographs, paintings, words, and music moved people to support the creation of the park in the same way the artists of today move people to help care for it. Friends of the Smokies are so honored to be a part of supporting this continuing tradition,” she said.
Learn more about Artists-in-Residence
This is the first of a series of blog posts about the 2024 artists:
Anna Marie Pavlik, print maker (July); Kyle Petersen, photographer (August); Grayson Cooper – illustrator (September); October – Nicki Allen, quilter (October); Lauren Connolly, painter and photographer (November).
You can find out more about the Great Smoky Mountain National Park Artist-in-Residence program and the application process on the park’s AIR website.
The submission deadline for the 2026 AIR program is Nov. 2, 2025 to March 1, 2026.
About Friends of the Smokies
Friends of the Smokies is the official nonprofit partner of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Through private donations, fundraising events, and specialty license plates in North Carolina and Tennessee, Friends of the Smokies raises money to fund needed projects and programs in the national park that would otherwise go unfunded.
Learn more about how to get a Friends of the Smokies license plate at BearPlate.org. You can make a direct tax-deductible donation at our website. We are also grateful for those who pitch in at our donation boxes throughout the park. Every gift makes a significant difference for our beloved Smokies. Thank you, Friends!
Sign up to receive our monthly e-newsletter and email updates at friendsofthesmokies.org/stay-in-touch/