the Star-Tribune staff | Posted: Thursday, December 4, 2008 12:00 am
Wyoming native T. Allen Lawson has created the 2008 White House Christmas card image, first lady Laura Bush announced Wednesday.
Lawson, 45, is the first Wyomingite to create a Christmas card for a first family, according to Sue Simpson Gallagher of the Simpson Gallagher Gallery in Cody.
An obviously elated Simpson Gallagher said Lawson was having dinner at the White House on Wednesday and couldn't be reached for comment. She chuckled and labeled herself Lawson's "western United States representative."
"Lawson's image is powerful," Simpson Gallagher said. "His perspective is unique, as it is from the inside looking out.
"There is an intimate view, one that only White House visitors would enjoy. It is a glimpse of the National Mall, known as America's front lawn, from the Truman Balcony of the White House."
Lawson was commissioned by Laura Bush last spring to paint a piece for the first family's final Christmas card.
The Bushes mailed 1.3 million cards around the world to leaders, dignitaries, family and friends.
The painting is now part of the White House permanent collection, which is overseen and cared for by the Smithsonian Institution.
According to Simpson Gallagher, Lawson was born and raised in Sheridan before spending time in Jackson. He currently lives in Rockport, Maine.
She said Lawson attended the American Academy of Art and the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts.
His work is on display at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody; the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland, Maine; and the Forbes Collection in New York, among others.
"One can't help but be filled with hope and patriotism by looking upon the beauty of the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial in the distance," Simpson Gallagher said of Lawson's painting. "Lawson's rendering of the scene - the rosy sky of dusk, the glow of the street lights and the blanket of snow on the ground - conveys a feeling of peace, something we all yearn for in this world."