William Scott Jennings has been a professional artist
since 1973. He began his career in commercial art, working in Dallas,
Nashville and Sacramento. Mr. Jennings’ gallery exposure began
in Dallas in 1976, and by 1978 he was showing his work in Santa Fe
and Scottsdale. After residing in Taos, New Mexico for 15 years, Scott
relocated to Sedona, Arizona in January 1996. His paintings are in
corporate and private collections around the world, including the U.S.
Capitol in Washington, DC and the Ford Motor Company.
Jennings is a Master Signature Member of the Oil Painters of America
(OPA) and a Signature Member of the Laguna Plein Air Painters Association
(LPAPA). Feature articles about Jennings’ work have appeared
in American Artist Magazine, Art of the West Magazine, Southwest Art
Magazine, Focus Magazine and Art Business News.
Jennings was part of two national invitational shows in 2001: Grand
Canyon Expressions at the Forbes Gallery in New York, NY and Burlingame,
CA. 15 artists took an eight day painting expedition down the Colorado
River into the Grand Canyon. The show benefited The Grand Canyon Trust,
an enviromental group dedicated to protecting the Canyon. He was also
invited into Contemporary Artists Paint Yosemite at the Haggin Museum
in Stockton, CA. Jennings has also been invited into the upcoming museum
show called, "From Sea to Shining Sea". It will be a national
museum tour which will be in 12-15 museum's across the United States
over a period of three years.
His painting “The Red Wall” was chosen as the cover art
for America West’s in flight magazine August 2001 issue. The
Oil Painters of America’s 10th Annual National Show awarded Jennings
the Founders’ Award for his painting “Winter Sun”.
The 2001 Laguna Beach Plein Air Invitational awarded Scott an honorable
mention for his painting “Sunset on Crystal Cove. Scott also
received best of show at the 1999 Impressionaire Show at the PGA West
Country Club in La Quinta, CA and honorable mention in 2000. These
events display plein air paintings done on location during the week
before the shows.
A new PBS television series, The Artists Workshop featured Mr. Jennings
as he produces a plein air painting for the fourth episode in the 2001
line up. A new episode featuring Jennings is scheduled for the upcoming
season.
The 1998 Arts for the Parks Show named Jennings as the Best of Show
Gold Medal Winner with a Grand Prize of $50,000 for his painting “Timeless
Beauty”. The show receives approximately 2400 entries annually.
In the 1994 Arts for the Parks Show, his painting “Sunset on
Isis” was the region II winner, an award for the best painting
of the southwest region of the United States. It was the recipient
of a Silver Medal and reproduced as part of the 1994 National Park
Stamp. The Grand Canyon National Park used Scott’s painting as
the invitation image for the Arts for the Parks exhibit at the park.
Jennings’ work was in the top 100 show for five years in a row
before retiring from the competition after his 1998 win.
Two of Jennings’ paintings have been used as cover art for books:
A Roadside Guide to Rocky Mountain National Park and most recently,
Physical Geology, a college textbook.
In 1989, Scott participated in the first of several group shows in
Japan. His work consistently sold throughout the country. Shows were
held in the major cities in Japan. Two of the shows produced color
catalogs that featured works by Mr. Jennings. The 1988 festival celebrating
the 20th anniversary of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act commissioned
Jennings to produce a poster for the event. Scott was invited to spend
a month as a guest of Rocky Mountain National Park in 1986. He was
the first painter given the honor of ‘Artist in Residence’ at
the park. The 1985 Wilderness Art Exhibit chose Jennings’ “The
Elk Range” as the show poster for the event. Scott won three
awards at the 1984 New Mexico Professional Art Exhibit. His painting “The
Rio Grande Gorge” is now part of the collection at the state
capital in Santa Fe.
Notable collectors include Ford Motor Company, Christopher Forbes,
William Shatner, Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Congressman David Dreier.
Artist Website: www.wsjennings.com
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