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Denver Museum of Nature & Science Presents Jan Vriesen Ziegler Reservoir Paintings

The Denver Museum of Nature & Science announced that world-renowned painter and muralist Jan Vriesen has completed a series of five paintings of the Ziegler Reservoir landscape.

Jan Vriesen November 15, 2010, as the first phase of fossil excavation was concluding, Denver Museum of Nature & Science

The paintings are acrylic on canvas, each measures 38″ by 57″, and they represent five different times:
About 130,000 years ago, after the formation of the lake basin by a glacier that spilled out of Snowmass Creek Valley
About 120,000 years ago, when the area was dominated by mastodon, giant ground sloths, and bison
60,000 to 45,000 years ago, when the area was dominated by mammoth, camels, and deer
November 15, 2011, as the first phase of fossil excavation was concluding
Summer 2012, after the dam was completed and Ziegler Reservoir was filled

“Jan was at the site in November and June and we worked together so he could create these amazing landscape paintings that integrate geology, paleobotany, and vertebrate paleontology,” said Johnson. “These visual representations are important tools in helping us show how this site evolved over time. All of the paintings are made from the same vantage point, from the north side of the lake looking south with the Snowmass ski area visible to the left and the Snowmass Creek Valley and Mount Daly visible to the right.”

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