100 Years of Nature

Trine Bumiller stands in the McNichols Civic Center Building, surrounded by her paintings. For Bumiller, it’s a feeling similar to being enveloped by her muse, Rocky Mountain National Park, where she spent 2014 as the artist in residence. The resulting exhibit, 100 Paintings For 100 Years, commemorates the park’s centennial by showcasing details of nature—the rocks, water, wood—in the abstract, and is on display until September 13.

“I paint them over a long period of time. It takes about 40 days to make each painting,” says Bumiller, who is represented by Robischon Gallery. “I worked on them all at once, not all the paintings everyday, but I had them all going in my studio at once because I wanted to fill my head with it. I wanted to have that same overwhelming experience that I had being in the park.” Bumiller’s process for creating the works started with a small watercolor piece, which helped her remember details of the park. But when she moved on to the larger paintings, crafted in careful layers of transparent oil paint, she said she would forget the watercolors, and recall aspects of the park in a new way.

On Thursday, McNichols is hosting Night of ROCK, a reception where Bumiller, along with two other artists, will be spotlighted. The event not only celebrates each artist, but also the future of the McNichols Civic Center Building, which will be closed for renovations starting September 25th. The revitalized space will consist of opening the front entrance with a gated double-door entrance, relocating the restrooms on the second and third floor, and adding a freight elevator for easier accessibility. The reopening is tentatively schedueld for August 1, 2016.

Attend: 100 Paintings for 100 Years is on exhibit through September 13 at McNichols Civic Center Building, 144 W. Colfax Ave. Night of ROCK takes place Thursday, 5 to 10 p.m.; Post a photo on Instagram in front of the painting from your birth year using #trine100 and #mcnicholsproject for a chance to win a framed original Trine Bumiller watercolor.