Big Blend Radio producer Lisa D. Smith sits down again with Tanya Ortega, founder of the National Parks Arts Foundation, to talk about Gettysburg — the site of one of NPAF's longest-running artist residencies and one of the most storied battlefields in American history. Recorded on July 3rd, the anniversary of the battle's final day, this episode is part history lesson, part reunion between old friends, and part love letter to the artists who've spent a month at a time living inside one of the most complex places in the country.
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The Cyclorama
Long before film, there was the Cyclorama — a massive 360-degree painting of Pickett's Charge, housed at the Gettysburg Museum. Tanya walks through its wild survival story: fires, vandalism, decades in storage, and a full restoration in the early 2000s that brought it back as the museum's centerpiece. Lisa compares the immersive walkway experience to "the beginning of IMAX." For the deeper history of the painting and the father-son artist team behind it, read art historian Victoria Chick's full piece on the Cyclorama.
A Decade of Artists
NPAF's Gettysburg residency has hosted poets, photographers, composers, and painters over the years — and Big Blend Radio has been talking with them since 2016.
🎧 Hear more from the artists themselves: NPAF Gettysburg Artists-in-Residence playlist or listen below.
The Klingel House & Other Ghost Stories
No conversation about the residency is complete without the Klingel House — the artist housing with a reputation for hauntings. Not to mention Tanya’s story of hearing rhythmic, cannon-like booms during a private vehicle tour, convinced something was wrong with the car, only to be told she was hearing what many visitors describe as ghost cannon sounds. Artist Jim Schlett reportedly photographed something that looked like blood coming from the walls of the Klingel House. Make of it what you will….
Beyond the Battlefield
The conversation widens out to Eisenhower's farm next door (Lisa has a soft spot for it — and wants to play mini golf on the lawn), the Daughters of the American Revolution's genealogical and preservation work, and travel writer Jo Clark, who retraced her ancestor's footsteps on horseback to the spot where he was killed fighting for the Confederacy. Read Jo’s story here.
Why It Matters
Lisa and Tanya land on the bigger point: art is how complicated history gets carried forward. Gettysburg isn't one story — it's thousands, still being uncovered, still being interpreted by artists willing to sit with the hard parts. As Tanya puts it, art "has no boundaries" — it reaches people at any age, at any point in their lives, and that's part of why places like Gettysburg have stayed so alive in the public imagination for over a century and a half.
🏛️ Plan Your Visit to Gettysburg National Military Park: https://www.nps.gov/gett/index.htm
🎨 Learn more about the National Parks Arts Foundation: https://www.nationalparksartsfoundation.org/
📖 Explore the "Artists in Parks" Digital Publication: https://online.fliphtml5.com/yhwzg/qryf/
🎙️ Listen to more Toast to The Parks & Arts episodes: https://parks-arts.podbean.com/