Ansel Adams to debut at Carlsbad

CARLSBAD, N.M. -- A new visitors center will open this summer at Carlsbad Caverns that will include a permanent exhibit for art.

Works by photographer Ansel Adams and New Mexico painter Will Shuster will be among the pieces on display.

Lois Manno, director of the nonprofit Cavern Art Project, told the Carlsbad Current-Argus newspaper that the park has 25 original Adams prints, believed to have been taken in the early 1930s. She said the photos of the caverns have never been seen by the public.

Photographs by Carlsbad photographer Ray Davis will also be included. He was among the first photographers to go into the cave after it was discovered by another Carlsbad resident, Jim White, more than 100 years ago.

Manno said the park's art collection also includes paintings by important artists who worked at the park as part of President Roosevelt's New Deal arts program. In addition, the exhibit will include examples of how the caverns have been depicted in the art of the travel poster and other graphic art forms.