A traveling exhibit of historic paintings of Smokey Bear is on display at the Sharlot Hall Museum in Prescott through Friday.
The exhibit is a celebration of Smokey’s 80th birthday this August. The iconic bear was invented for a Forest Service campaign to prevent wildfires in 1944 and later made famous by the artwork of Rudy Wendelin. Nineteen reproductions of his paintings are on display at the museum.
Jackson Medel of the Sharlot Hall Museum says Smokey is part of the nation’s identity. "It's this sort of anthropomorphic bear, with the classic campaign hat and the pants," he says. "I think there's something just very simply iconic about that sort of imagery."
There’s also a station for kids to write a Happy Birthday letter to the bear.
The Prescott National Forest partnered with the Sharlot Hall Museum for the exhibit and was one of just over a dozen places nationwide selected to receive it.
More information is available on the Sharlot Hall Museum's website.
