Carlsbad Caverns Celebrates New Visitor Center and 85th Anniversary
The newly remodeled Visitor Center at Carlsbad Caverns National Park will be dedicated on Saturday, October 25th which coincides with the 85th anniversary of the establishment of Carlsbad Cave National Monument. New exhibits, including the long-awaited exhibit “Underground Visions: Carlsbad Caverns Through the Artist’s Eye” featuring four original Ansel Adams prints of the cave, will be featured along with special talks, tours and demonstrations.
Dr. Michael Adams, son of Ansel Adams, will present a special talk about his father’s legacy of photography in America’s National Parks and Monuments. Ronal Kerbo, retired National Park Service Cave/Karst Program Coordinator, is the Keynote Speaker and will also present a special talk about the Caverns.
Park Superintendent John Benjamin noted, “We are very proud of our newly remodeled visitor center and want to invite local communities, organizations, cavers, artists, and all those who love their parks to come and help us celebrate.” All dedication programs are free. The usual fees to enter the cave will be in effect.
Schedule of Events
9 am -10 am Dedication Ceremony in front of the Visitor Center
10 am -11am Ribbon Cutting, Tours, Demonstrations
11am -12 pm Birthday Cake, Music, Special Tours
1:00 pm “A Speleological Notebook”, Ronal Kerbo, NPS Cave/Karst Coordinator, retired
2:00 pm “Ansel Adams and the National Parks, A Son’s Perspective” Dr. Michael Adams
3:00 pm Ranger Programs
Special Exhibits
“Underground Visions: Carlsbad Caverns Through the Artist’s Eye” by the Cavern Arts Project
This exhibit features over 40 pieces of original artwork, many from the Carlsbad Caverns National Park collection and includes works by world-renown photographer Ansel Adams, prominent New Mexico painter Will Shuster, local and regional photographers, artists and sculptors. Many artists have also loaned or donated their works for this exhibit.
The Ansel Adams prints were shot in the 1930’s and have never before been placed on exhibit for the public. Carlsbad Caverns owns 25 prints, four of which will be on display. The other 21 prints will be shown via high quality digital scans. Future plans include the rotation of the original prints every few months.
Lois Manno, Director of the non-profit Cavern Arts Project, has worked for over three years to make this exhibit a reality. She notes “The public is invited to come find out why Ansel Adams was not very satisfied with the photographs he made at Carlsbad Caverns and why he destroyed many of the prints. Cave photography can be challenging and even Ansel Adams could not escape that fact.”
Santa Fe, New Mexico painter Will Shuster painted the Caverns in 1924 when he dropped into the caverns in a guano bucket with fellow artist Walter Mruk to sketch the cavern by lantern light. The park owns four paintings by Shuster but only one will be displayed. The others are in need of conservation and cleaning.
The “Underground Visions” exhibit is made possible through a partnership between Carlsbad Caverns National Park, the non-profit Cavern Arts Project, the Carlsbad Caverns Guadalupe Mountains Association, and with the generous support of PNM, the Public Utility Company of New Mexico, the McCune Charitable Foundation, the National Speleological Society and the many artists and photographers whose works are honored.
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