Print marks festival
Since the Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival’s inaugural year in 2011, a special painting has been created by a Western Pennsylvania artist to commemorate each year.
Friends of the Festival receive a limited run of signed and numbered prints. These prints are sold to help make the event possible. This year only 100 of the 16-by-20-inch prints are available.
A collage of 1940s newspaper headlines, Jeep illustrations and vintage Jeep advertisements are the focus of the new 2013 Friends of the Festival limited edition print.
Jason Woolslare, a Cranberry Township resident and a Seneca Valley Intermediate High School art teacher, created the painting.
It features illustrations of three Jeeps on a hill built from old newspaper advertisements and newspaper headlines that demonstrate Butler’s excitement for its contributions in creating the Jeep for the nation’s war effort.
The artwork tells a visual story of patriotism, service and respect for what has come before, while creating a unique, visual piece.
“I tried to create a composition that the viewer would have to see multiple times, and hopefully find new images each time they viewed it,” Woolslare said.
“I also wanted to give the Jeeps some ‘human’ characteristics of a Jeep family, with the ‘father’ looking down the hill at the younger Jeeps who are climbing up to show respect to the father of all Jeeps.”
Woolslare has won several awards from the Three Rivers Arts Festival, the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and the Associated Artists of Butler County, among others. His artwork has been sold to prominent private collectors and international corporations, and he has held gallery shows at numerous Pittsburgh art galleries. He also was the lead artist for the MLK mural project in Pittsburgh’s Hill District neighborhood.
The print was made in a four-color process lithography on a bright white cover stock. It features foil embossing of a high definition brass die to showcase the Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival logo.
The project was coordinated by the Associated Artists of Butler County.
“Our three Friends of the Festival prints are so unique and different yet they all celebrate Butler’s Jeep heritage by incorporating elements of our community and our past,” said Terry Hagen, project coordinator and member of the festival committee.
“We hope Jeep enthusiasts and historians will add this piece to their collections and support our efforts to execute another successful festival.”
The unframed prints are $100 and include a certificate of authenticity. They will be available in the merchandise tent at the festival and at the Jeep Invasion on Friday night in downtown Butler.
