By Meredith McBride
Jun 15, 2023
FEATURE: Preserving a Picturesque America: PAPA’s Commitment to Saving Natural and Historic Places Through Art
Scott “Doc” Varn
Scott “Doc” Varn set out for a hike at Yosemite National Park with the essentials—food, water, and a 28-pound book. Any avid hiker knows that this book must be important, to lug it for miles en route to the destination—and boy, it is. This particular book, a two-volume set illustrating America’s natural wonders called Picturesque America, changed Scott’s life and inspired him to start Preserving A Picturesque America (PAPA).
Learn and see more at PAPA’s new space in Saluda. Copyright: RHM Photography LLC
The Mission:
The nonprofit’s mission is to preserve natural and historic places through the power of the arts, using Picturesque America—published by Appleton Press in 1872 and 1874—as their “bible” and adventure guide. Scott, an Asheville-based printmaker, leads artists (visual artists, musicians, writers) on excursions to the locations detailed in the book. This allows them to create work inspired by America’s landscapes, share it with others, and spread the message of conservation. PAPA’s mission not only honors Picturesque America, but adapts it for storytelling through the eyes of contemporary artists.
Picturesque America published circa 1872 / Inside Cover / Close up detail on print
History: A Past Purpose
The purpose of the 19th-century serials was to share and explore the unknown beauty of this land, educating readers of, as the subheading reads, “The Land We Live In.” After all, without the internet and easy travel, folks relied on books for information. Appleton Press sent creatives into the great outdoors to illustrate the sites with the goals to sell editions and boost national pride. Once the artists ventured out, they found new meaning.
“At the time, [the artists] looked at these wonderful places as inevitably disappearing,” Scott tells Artsville. “They saw progress happening and they knew that these pastoral landscapes and small towns were going to be industrialized.”
So, they started the conversation of conservation—and an alternative mission came to be. “I like to say the original artists started the conservation movement by accident, through heart and joy and getting their message out. PAPA, in the modern day, is doing it on purpose. We are trying to take that torch and carry it forward. They changed the way we look at the natural world and historic preservation.”
The original steel engraving and the place where it was created on the Hudson River in West Point, NY Copyright: Preserving a Picturesque America
Modern Times:
Currently, PAPA has chapters around the country where artists can explore the surrounding area, create, and connect. Most importantly, PAPA promotes conservation by comparing present renderings of natural wonders to their past forms, ultimately showing the work ahead for preservationists. Scott has led countless excursions—exploring his Western North Carolina homeland, Cloud’s Rest in Yosemite, and the cypress tree “ghost swamp” near New Orleans. Comparing the land over a century later to Picturesque America has led to euphoric experiences and disheartening ones.
Scott at Cloud’s Rest looking down on Half Dome in Yosemite Copyright: Preserving a Picturesque America
Scott remembers a trip to New Orleans, where the goal was to visit one of the world’s oldest cypress forests, only to find a single, lonely tree still standing. “This forest is protected, but only after they logged every damn tree except for one. It was almost like Dr. Seuss and the last Truffula tree,” he says, incredulous. The group took a picture of the lone tree, which they showed alongside the original, crowded image, populated with a forest of thousand-year-old trees.
Original Wood Engraving of Lover’s Leap / Scott’s ink wash from the same location / Scott with his modern version -woodcut at the Salmugundi Club exhibition in NY / Scott with his modern version -woodcut at the Salmugundi Club exhibition in NY / Original from Lovers leap in Hot Springs (second angle) / Sandy Moore painting at Lovers leap / Scott Painting at the Smoky Mountain vantage point
“Power of the Arts:”
These escapades, though sometimes devastating, reaffirm PAPA’s purpose. Scott says,
“We want people to embrace the places that still need to be protected…and spread the message that everything that can be protected can be unprotected.” PAPA curates exhibitions featuring the work created on their adventures, and puts on family, youth, and educational programs. They also have an art gallery in Saluda, NC where artwork purchases support the contributing artists and conservation efforts. Annual membership levels are available on their website, which directly supports their mission. “Something we all can agree on is that our country is an amazing place that we have to protect,” Scott says. “We can do it through the power of the arts.”