Jonathan Marquis | The Glacier Drawing Project

wolf glacier

color pencil & graphite

9 x 12 inches

2017

private collection

Jonathan Marquis | The Glacier Drawing Project

Like a pencil marks paper, a glacier marks the land

The Glacier Drawing Project by Jonathan Marquis is a long-term endeavor to bear witness and draw each glacier in Montana before a warming climate melts the ice beyond recognition. The project began in 2013 when Marquis asked author Doug Peacock what a young artist could do to continue the work of himself, Terry Tempest Williams, and other environmental activists. He responded, "Go bear witness in your backyard because you know it best."

With this insight, Marquis launched The Glacier Drawing Project to deepen the understanding and inspire the protection of Montana's glacial wildland resources. Each year, the artist visits new glaciers, revisits others, and often draws from remote mountain summits that grant glimpses into some of Earth's most iconic and intact wilderness geographies. The drawings explore a personal connection with glaciers through color, mark-making, and careful attentiveness.

Alpine glaciers are the lifeblood of the Northern Rockies. Montana has 60 named glacial features – half are in designated wilderness areas, and eleven are in the Beartooth Mountains. As of this summer, Marquis has visited and drawn 57. The last three glaciers remaining are in the Beartooth Mountains. Once completed, The Glacier Drawing Project will be the only on-site, hand-drawn visual record of every named glacier in the Crown of the Continent and Greater Yellowstone ecosystems of Montana.

Biography

Jonathan Marquis is a multi-media artist and mountaineer seeking immersive experiences with wildland terrain to inspire the protection of more-than-human geographies. Marquis created the Glacier Drawing Project in 2014 to bear witness and draw every named glacial feature in Montana before a warming climate melts the ice beyond recognition. The drawings explore a personal connection with glaciers through color, mark-making, and careful attentiveness. Each year, he visits new glaciers, revisits others, and often draws from remote mountain summits that grant glimpses into some of Earth's most intact wilderness geographies. With only seven more glaciers left to visit, the Glacier Drawing Project will be the only on-site, hand-drawn visual record of every named glacier in the Crown of the Continent and Greater Yellowstone ecosystems of Montana.

Marquis received his Master of Fine Arts and Master of Art History from the University of Arizona. He launched the Glacier Drawing Project on Kickstarter in 2014 to bear witness to Montana's melting glaciers. His artworks have been displayed across the United States and abroad, including The SFO Museum, the Center for Visual Arts in Denver, The Museum of Contemporary Art Tucson, the Missoula Art Museum, and the University of Arizona Museum of Art. Marquis is an arts educator at Pima Community College and The University of Arizona. He lives in and around Missoula, East Glacier, and Tucson.

For more information, visit www.jonathanmarquis.com or on Instagram @jonathanbmarquis.