VISIONS OF THE UNDERGROUND: CARLSBAD CAVERNS BOOK

Caves inspire awe, curiosity, and fear. Perhaps because they were used as havens and sacred sites during the evolution of mankind, caves

continue to fascinate us with their dark promise of ad-venture. As psychological archetypes, they touch humanity's deepest, most primal emotional core. Since the discovery of Carlsbad Caverns in the late 1800s, adventurers, photographers, writers, and artists have explored its depths, seeking to capture the elusive beauty that fills its enormous chambers and intimate grottos.

Visions Underground weaves together the work of historic and contemporary artists from various disciplines to create a portrait of Carlsbad Caverns National Park as inspiration and muse. This book explores the integral part the arts have played in the development and preservation of the national parks generally, and Carlsbad in particular. The book follows the tracks left by creative people as they encountered the cave, beginning with prehistoric pictographs in the cavern entrance. The path leads through the courageous art-ist-explorers of the 1920s like Will Shuster and Walter Mruk, and onward to document Ansel Adams' struggle with photographing in the inhospitable darkness.

In the process of recording the history of artists at the park, Visions Underground describes a one hundred-year continuum of how the subterranean world has been portrayed in various media, from before the turn of the century, through modern times. Creative people still Aock to Carlsbad Caverns, which was designated a World Heritage Site in 1995. The cast of characters is as diverse as American culture itself.