• Cavern Arts Project Home Page
• "Underground Visions"
• Cavern Arts Project History
• Main Elements of the Exhibit
• Ansel Adams at Carlsbad
• Will Shuster at Carlsbad
• Contemporary Artists
• Exhibit Images
• Other Exhibit Elements
• Funding The Exhibit
• Benefits to the Community
• Contact
• Our Sponsors

The National Park Service’s art collection includes paintings by important artists who worked at the park as part of Roosevelt’s New Deal Arts Program. After cleaning and conservation, these significant works of art will be put on display for the first time in over 25 years.

Carlsbad Caverns: The Early Paintings



Carlsbad Cavern painting by Will Shuster, 1924

Carlsbad Cavern was first painted by the prominent New Mexican painter Will Shuster of Santa Fe, when he dropped into the cavern in a guano bucket with fellow artist Walter Mruk in 1924 to sketch the cavern by lantern light. Shuster was one of the first post-modernist painters living and working in Santa Fe, and, along with Mruk, was part of the "Cinco Pintores" group.

Will Shuster donated most of his Cavern paintings to the National Park Service for the enjoyment of all Americans.

Part of the funds raised for this project will go toward having these important paintings cleaned and repaired in preparation for exhibit.