PaleoArtists win Lanzendorf Prize
For Hell Creek Mural,
On View at Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Second Award-Winning Mural in Dinosaurs in Their Time
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania…Ninety-two feet in length, and featuring Pachycephalosaurus, a herd of Edmontosaurus dinosaurs, and Triceratops, the Hell Creek mural, located in Dinosaurs in Their Time at
Carnegie Museum of Natural History, is a perfect blend of art and
science. The mural serves as a backdrop for the dynamic scene of T. rex vs. T. rex—the display of the holotype, or original, T. rex specimen squared off in battle against another, fighting over a fallen Edmontosaurus.
Walters & Kissinger, LLC, the creators of the mural, have been
awarded the John J. Lanzendorf PaleoArt Prize for 2D Art for the
mural’s scientific accuracy and its portrayal of late Cretaceous-age
(68–66 million years ago) South Dakota.
(Credit: Carnegie Museum of Natural History)
“We feel so privileged to be able to bring to life this important time and place at the end of the Age of Dinosaurs. We incorporated all of the new finds, like the recent discovery of the skin of Triceratops, the new information on the “duckbill” dinosaur Edmontosaurus, and the plants that look like buttercups that scientists have found associated with the Hell Creek Formation. We are also pleased with the atmosphere of the mural, the orange glow of dusk as the sun sets on the reign of the dinosaurs,” said mural creators and founders of Walters & Kissinger, LLC, Bob Walters and Tess Kissinger.
Blending their artistic talent with the scientific expertise of Dr. Matthew Lamanna and other scientists at Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Walters & Kissinger created the murals that—along with the dynamically posed fossils skeletons—give life to the exhibition, recreating in fine detail what the dinosaurs of these long lost environments are believed to look like. More importantly, the murals demonstrate that dinosaurs did not exist alone but were players in a highly interconnected ecosystem that included plants such as palm trees, conifers, and deciduous trees, reptiles, birds, and even mammals. Visitors to Dinosaurs in Their Time will feel completely immersed in the Mesozoic Period, or Age of Dinosaurs, as they explore the mural to seek and find a small turtle or a Didelphodon vorax—a type of marsupial that was one of the largest mammals of the time.
This highly prestigious award was created in October 1999 to recognize the outstanding achievements of scientific illustrations and naturalistic art in paleontology. This is the second award for the Walters & Kissinger team; the first came in 2007 for their Morrison Formation mural, also featured in Dinosaurs in Their Time.
The award was presented during the 69th annual meeting for the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, September 23–26, 2009, in Bristol, England. The 70th anniversary meeting will be held in Pittsburgh, October 13–16, 2010, and hosted by the Section of Vertebrate Paleontology at Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
About Walters & Kissinger
Since 1995, Walters & Kissinger,
LLC has pursued its passion of interfacing art and science with natural
history illustrations for museums, publishing, television, and film.
Their team consists of two illustrators and designers, Robert Walters
and Tess Kissinger, and two sculptors, Paul Sorton and Bruce J. Mohn.
The team also works in close association with other artists and
designers on large-scale fabrication and animation projects. Recreating
ancient environments for museums around the world—including the
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and the National Museum
of Natural History in Taiwan—and frequently collaborating with
paleontologists to describe new dinosaur finds, Walters & Kissinger
has helped bring an artistic face to the science of natural history.
Carnegie Museum of Natural History, one of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, is ranked as one of the top five natural history museums in the country. It maintains, preserves, and interprets an extraordinary collection of 20 million objects and scientific specimens used to broaden understanding of evolution, conservation, and biodiversity. More information is available by calling 412.622.3131 or by visiting the Web site, www.CarnegieMNH.org.
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