2024 Artist-in-Residence Steve Whitfield works on his painting for the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site
Published On: October 9th, 2024Categories: National Historic Site

This month, the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site welcomed its second artist-in-residence for the season, landscape painter Steve Whitfield of Oklahoma City. He became part of a long tradition of the National Park Service with his stay in West Branch. The Artist-in-Residence program started in 1916, but artists have been hosted in the parks since the 1870s as a manner to document western landscapes.

Potential artists-in-residence apply to parks individually. Steve, a retired educator and art therapist, took an interest in the Hoover story after discovering the residency’s online listing. What he noticed about the artwork that had been created was that it was often of the Birthplace Cottage. After doing background research on Herbert Hoover, he decided he wanted to take a different route for his work.

Along with reading Herbert Hoover’s two books on fishing, he decided to make the trek to Rapidan Camp in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. His trip with Ranger Jenny took longer than he anticipated. Taking unpaved roads through the park to his destination was a trip that lasted over an hour before finally reaching the cabin. Here, he toured the site to get a feel for a presidential retreat that was last used in that capacity by Jimmy Carter. He took a photo that would become the basis of what he would create.

Once in West Branch, he set up his easel on the southwest corner of the Visitor Center parking lot. He spent the first two days reproducing his photo on the canvas with squares drawn in pencil. He then took one day to trace the pencil lines with ink. After that, his painting began. The only time he strayed from his corner was when a few windy days forced him to paint in the ES Hayhurst House.

Steve Whitfield presenting in the Visitor Center at the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site. Steve is wearing a gray shirt. The painting is on an easel.

Steve Whitfield presenting in the Visitor Center at the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site

The Herbert Hoover National Historic Site was not his first artist-in-residence project. Prior to his residency here, Steve also spent time at Lake Roosevelt (Washington), Hot Springs National Park (Arkansas), and Custer State Park (South Dakota). This was his first in two years, and the people of West Branch left a positive impression on him.

My visit here at West Branch has been so much better than I could have imagined. The people here are wonderful. I love talking to people here. People here have invited me to dinner, baked me banana nut bread, and invited me into their homes. I plan to come back and vacation here. I would consider moving here, but my kids are in Oklahoma.

Completed painting of Rapidan Camp with Herbert Hoover fishing in the stream with waders and Lou Henry Hoover watching from the cabin balcony.

The completed painting of Rapidan Camp with both Herbert and Lou Henry Hoover

On Saturday, Steve gave a talk at the Visitor Center to present his painting, background, and share stories of his time in the artist-in-residence program. His work used dazzling colors to bring to life a scene of the cabin at Rapidan Camp with Lou Henry Hoover looking off the deck at Herbert Hoover in waders fishing in the stream. You can see this and other works from past artists-in-residence on display at the Visitor Center at the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site.

So, if you are visiting the grounds of the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site or any park or site under the auspices of the National Park Service and see an artist at work, be sure to stop and ask them about what they’re doing. You will be surprised by what they can tell you about the art and history that this storied program provides.

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