Maine artist to depict Discovery ‘Return to Flight’ a tribute to shuttle

Artist Barbara Ernst Prey is almost as anxious about completing her next painting as NASA is about the next launch of the space shuttle.

The Tenants Harbor watercolorist has been commissioned by the space agency to paint the shuttle Discovery in celebration of the return to manned space flight. Discovery’s launch is set for 10:39 a.m. today.

The shuttle program has been grounded since the destruction of the shuttle Columbia as it returned from a mission in February 2003.

Known for her striking landscapes, Prey already has completed three commissions for NASA.

She painted the International Space Station, the X-43 supersonic, which is the world’s fastest airplane, and the shuttle Columbia. The painting of Columbia, called “Columbia Tribute,” is on permanent display at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., alongside paintings by Andy Warhol and Peter Max and an Annie Leibovitz photograph. Each has space as a theme.

Prey said the NASA commissions were clearly a shift from her usual subjects. To prepare, Prey conducted countless hours of research on the space program, toured NASA facilities, and spoke to astronauts and scientists involved in various projects.

“It’s very different. It’s an interesting juxtaposition. I am an observer in my work, so there are similarities,” Prey said of the contrast.

H. Lester Cook, a former curator at the National Gallery of Art who guided NASA’s arts program, said the agency believes that important events “can be interpreted by artists to give a unique insight into significant aspects of our history-making advance into space.”

“In the long run, the truth seen by an artist is more meaningful than any other type of record,” Cook said.

Prey said being in contact with those involved in the space program heightened her understanding of the skills and dedication required to create space flight.

“I am in awe and just have such great respect for minds and spirit of what these people can do,” she said. “For me it has been an amazing experience to be able to expand my horizon as both an artist and a person.”

The Columbia tribute was unveiled during a dinner at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., on the first anniversary of the shuttle loss. Prints of the paintings were given to the astronauts’ families who attended the dinner.

Prey was a guest at the dinner and said her “Return to Flight” painting of the shuttle Discovery would be a companion piece to “Columbia Tribute.”

“I had no idea how moving it would be,” she recalled of the dinner. “And now, being involved with the Discovery, I have so much respect for the astronauts that are going up and their abilities.”

Prey is a noted lecturer on art and participates in the U.S. Arts in Embassies program, which promotes national pride and the distinct identity of America’s art and its artists. She has paintings on display in several embassies and has given talks in Prague, Czech Republic, and Oslo, Norway. She is scheduled to speak in Paris next year.

Prey has been painting in Maine for three decades, and many of her works have Maine as a subject. Her latest series, “Works on Water,” will be on exhibit at Blue Water Fine Arts in Port Clyde from July 30 to Aug. 15. Accompanying the exhibit is a catalog with an essay by Sarah Cash, curator of American art at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

In 2003, Prey was invited by first lady Laura Bush to be the official artist for the 2003 White House Christmas card. The Bushes have one of her paintings, and many of her other works are included in prominent private, corporate and museum collections throughout the world.