Museum Minute: I-80 Energy Romance

Don Stinson is a contemporary artist who uses traditional methods and materials. His painting I-80 Energy Romance portrays a western landscape, but also depicts a gas station sign, truck tracks, and windmills.

Karen McWhorter, the curator of the Whitney Western Art Museum, said this landscape is clearly shaped by human hands.

“But signs of human presence here aren’t overwhelming the environment around them. We can see that actually Nature is taking back what was once taken by human hands,” said McWhorter. “We’re not dismissing the fact that humans have indelibly shaped the Western landscape.”

And McWhorter said this is Stinson’s intention. He wants to create beautiful paintings, but he also wants to make the audience think about how humans have influenced the West.

Museum Minute was a series co-produced with Wyoming Public Media (WPM).