FLORENCE, Wis. — The Wild Rivers Interpretive Center is hosting Larry Seiler as the next Featured Artist until July 19. This is a rotating exhibit designed to introduce residents and visitors to area artists who capture the beauty of local Wild Rivers, lakes and forests.

Seiler graduated from UWGB in 1979 with several art and education degrees after having served in the Navy the last two years of the Vietnam War. He then spent 17 years creating oil and acrylic works during the “collectible wildlife art print” era winning the 1984 Wisconsin Wildlife Artist of the Year. He also won and placed in numerous state and regional stamp and conservation competitions with his last being Wisconsin’s 1998 Inland Trout Stamp.

He then started taking his easel outdoors painting on location to capture the more natural outdoor lighting, a process now known as “plein air.” He created and moderated community forums for this process, which grew from 1,000 to 390,000 artists.

After 13 years, he stepped away to travel and teach plein air workshops, including his most memorable four trips to Alaska. He has been honored by jurying into 30 national exhibitions and earning Signature Membership status in both the American Impressionist Society and the Oil Painters of America.

He retired 12 years ago from public school art instruction. He remains active in painting, and still on occasion teaches plein air painting workshops.

He lives with his wife of 47 years in the northern forests of Wisconsin, and enjoys spending time with their grandchildren. Seiler can be reached at lseiler.artist@gmail.com or at his website: www.larryseiler-artist.com.

His featured pieces are displayed in front of the waterfall mural at the Interpretive Center located at 5628 Forestry Drive in Florence at the intersection of U.S. 2 and Hwy 70.

Hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays. The Wild Rivers Interpretive Center provides local and state-wide tourist information for visitors through a variety of brochures, guides, maps and advice.

It contains exhibits suited to all ages explaining the natural resources and history of our unique “Wild Rivers” area. There are many fish, mammal, and bird mounts to observe including a full-body albino buck mount. The center also contains a gift shop selling educational books, t-shirts, souvenirs, puppets, and other outdoor related gifts and decor.