DWAYNE HARTY, June, Willock and Sax Gallery, Banff; June 16 to November 15, 2012, Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, Banff

June, Willock & Sax Gallery, Banff

June 16 to November 15, Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, Banff

By Jill Sawyer

Landscape and wildlife painter Dwayne Harty will have dual shows in Banff this summer, both highlighting work he’s done over the past three years as part of the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Intitiative. Created to protect a crucial, two-nation string of alpine wildlife corridors, Y2Y is known for matching artists, writers, and scientists with projects to bring light to the endangered region. Harty’s lush paintings depict life at altitude, with clear inspiration from earlier wildlife painters, like Carl Runguis, who brought western landscapes to life. The Whyte show (called Yellowstone to Yukon: The Journey of Wildlife and Art), originally seen last year at the National Wildlife Museum in Jackson, Wyoming, is a selection of paintings of both remote and recognizable landscapes in the Rocky Mountains, extending from Wyoming to Canada’s north. Wildlife — bears, birds, caribou, sheep, antelope — are depicted in their natural environments. Harty, who lives in the Jackson area, has spent years exploring the wild areas of the Rockies on both sides of the border, and paintings have been drawn from both museums’ permanent collections, combined with new work from the Y2Y initiative. The idea is to delineate Rocky Mountain mammals within their natural habitats, to further the idea of conserving the region. The Willock & Sax show will include paintings and sketches.