STEAMBOAT SPRINGS — Two local artists have been accepted into the prestigious art show, Yosemite Renaissance 35. Jennifer Baker and David Marshall collaborated on their aluminum-and-glass sculpture, “Man and Nature,” which portrays a climber.

The piece was created last summer when Marshall, who primarily works with metals, brought the base to Baker, an avid climbing fan.

“I’m enamored with the sheer strength of climbers and how focused they are when you see them climbing up the wall,” Baker explained. “For me, it’s something that I really appreciate — I could sit there and watch them forever.

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“David knows how much I love climbing,” Baker continued, “and the second I saw it, I said ‘that’s a climbing wall’.”

Baker added the glass climber to the piece using a technique known as “lost wax technique,” which involves creating a refractory mold around a wax model. The wax is then removed, or “lost,” creating a cavity. Glass is cast into the cavity, resulting in a fully sculptural finished piece. 

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It wasn’t until several months later, in late October 2019, that Baker came across the artist call for Yosemite Renaissance and knew the piece was perfect.

Now in its 35th year, Yosemite Renaissance is an art show that started as a way to encourage artists to share their interpretations of Yosemite National Park and the California Sierra Nevada. The show runs from Saturday, Feb. 22, through May, with the pieces featured in the Yosemite Museum Gallery.

This year, 70 works from 67 artists from across the globe, were chosen from over 800 entries. The exhibit includes painting, textiles, mixed media, photographs and three-dimensional works.

“Yosemite, to me, is just the king of national parks,” Baker said. “It’s such a spectacular place, and it’s a huge honor to be accepted into the show. I have a tremendous amount of respect for those areas and the environment. When you go to these places and have experiences there, you’re just in awe. You really need to see it to appreciate it, but it’s so important.”

Marshall agrees. While his primary residence is in Spain, he comes to the U.S. and Steamboat Springs for several months each year.

“The nature here is stunning — it’s things we don’t have in Europe,” Marshall said. “Whatever is going on with nature in America is really very inspiring.”

The two have been collaborating on and off since they met in 2014 and have done several shows together. And while Marshall says that he doesn’t normally collaborate with other artists, he said he and Baker add to each other’s experiences well.

Both have a profound appreciation for nature and feel compelled to preserve it — a fact that is especially relevant to this particular show.

“We are all privileged to have access to beauty and wonder in the form of national parks,” Baker said. “I wish more people understood that.”

Sophie Dingle is a contributing writer for Steamboat Pilot & Today.

Sophie Dingle is a contributing writer for the Steamboat Pilot & Today. She can be reached through the editor.