Eleven mural-sized paintings are in the master plan for the development at the Appalachian Forest Museum to interpret the world significance of America's Temperate Forest -- the forest that once covered the entire eastern third of our country.

The tale begins 33 million years ago when one large contiguous temperate forest spanned the Northern Hemisphere. By 2000 years ago, this once-great forest was fragmented into three major forest centers: Eastern North America, Europe and Eastern Asia. Today, only the forest of Eastern United States survives outside isolated parks and refuges. Although greatly fragmented, the U.S. temperate forest is  the most intact representation of the biome in the entire world. 

The Museum's story begins with a global focus, gradually narrowing down to the forest outside the Museum's windows; beginning in the ancient mists of time and ending in present day. Each chapter will be illustrated by one  magnificent original oil painting -- telling the story in a dramatic visual format.




 

One of the biggest missing pieces of today's living forests are the giant old-growth trees. In the Museum, floor-to-ceiling tree trunk replicas have been built to recreate for visitors a majestic grove of immense trees.  It was quite an artistic challenge! The trees had to be constructed so that they were not too heavy, yet botanically realistic in detail. Local artist, Bradley Gray of Rome Hill Studios, designed the massive trunk replicas, and built them of wood, wire, plaster and paint. Brad Gray and two more local artists, Angel McIlwain and Bill Brown, painstakingly crafted and painted the barks of the ancient trees to be true to the selected species. The entire process took six months to complete. Major funding for the trees was provided by the Ohio EPA's Ohio Environmental Education Fund. Financial support also came from the Highland County Convention Visitors Bureau and Wilderness East.

Geoff Mowery completes the Museum's first four paintings.
Additional funding sought to complete the project

Geoff Mowery, a skilled wildlife artist from Northeastern Ohio, was selected to paint the Museum's first four displays. In 2010 Geoff was a resident artist at the Highlands Nature Sanctuary. He demonstrates in his paintings a dramatic use of light, accurate biological detail, dynamic movement and alluring depth. Donations to fund the remaining mural-sized paintings are currently being sought from private donors.

How to effectively tell such a big story in just eleven pictures and eleven associated small "trailside" signs, has been a major design challenge at the Appalachian Forest Museum. Designer Bruce Lombardo first proposed the idea of recreating the the ancient forest and telling the tale through pictures. With the help of the Ohio EPA grant that he wrote on behalf of the Arc of Appalachia Preserve System, he is now hired to oversee the Museum production, partially as a part-time contractor and partially as a dedicated volunteer. Bruce has considerable experience in natural resource interpretation and design. He has worked as a park ranger at several national parks. His previous  major endeavor was in Zimbabwe, Africa;  where he designed an ecological interpretive Museum for the Painted Dog Conservation project.  Shown in picture is Bruce Lombardo, on right; Brad Gray, left, the overall designer of the tree replicas; and in the middle, Angel McIlwain, who worked with Brad and other artists to build and paint the trees.

Completion of the Appalachian Forest Museum awaits funding. You can help by making a donation. Please click here to make a donation.