AP — ORIGINAL ANSEL ADAMS PRINTS WILL BE UNVEILED AT CARLSBAD CAVERNS

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CARLSBAD, N.M. (AP) — Since the discovery of Carlsbad Caverns more than 80 years ago, internationally known artists have captured the cave’s spectacular formations on canvas and film.

Many works have been gifted to Carlsbad Caverns National Park over the years, but most were put in storage and have not seen the light of day.

That will change this summer, when the park plans to open its new visitors center and a permanent exhibit for the art.

Park Superintendent John Benjamin said works by photographer Ansel Adams and New Mexico painter Will Shuster will be among the pieces on display.

Lois Manno, director of the nonprofit Cavern Art Project, said the park has 25 original Adams prints. Some will require conservation work because they have been in storage for so long.

“These photographs of the caverns have never been seen by the public,’’ she said. “We believe they were taken in the early 1930s.’’

Photographs by Carlsbad photographer Ray Davis will also be included. He was among the first photographers to go into the cave after it was discovered by another Carlsbad resident, Jim White.

Manno said the park’s art collection also includes paintings by important artists who worked at the park as part of President Roosevelt’s New Deal Arts Program. She said the exhibit also will include examples of how the caverns have been depicted in the art of the travel poster and other graphic art forms from the early part of the Twentieth Century.

“We are excited that we are going to be able to do this,” Manno said of the exhibit, which has been on the drawing board since 2006. “It’s really a big undertaking to get this exhibit up. But I think once people see it, they will be pleased.”

Because the Park Service does not receive funding for projects such as the proposed exhibit, the Cavern Arts Project and the nonprofit Carlsbad Caverns Guadalupe Mountains Association have sought funding needed for restorative work and for mounting and setting up the exhibit.

The state’s largest utility, Public Service Company of New Mexico, recently presented a $5,000 check to the groups.

T.K. Kajiki, executive director of the Carlsbad Caverns Guadalupe Mountains Association, said the gesture is greatly appreciated and he hopes other businesses will follow suit.

Don Titus, PNM area manager, said the utility felt the project would have far reaching affects.

“Folks in the community and from all over the world will be able to see the art work. It will leave a lasting impression on many people who will tell other people about what they saw when they visited the caverns,” Titus said.