The project began with a stack of old topographical maps. After acquiring historic U.S. Forest Service maps of Western North Carolina, Asheville artist Pam Granger Gale started studying their contour lines, tracing familiar trails, waterfalls, and ridgelines she had explored over years of hiking and naturalist study. Soon, the maps became something else entirely. In The Mountains Are Calling and I Must Color Them, opening June 12 at Pink Dog Gallery, Gale layers hand-marbled pigments across the vintage maps, allowing rivers of color to drift over contour lines and landmarks. The resulting works feel simultaneously archival and alive — part landscape, part abstraction, part meditation on place. As Gale reflected on the histories embedded within the maps, the work also took on a deeper environmental and cultural resonance. “Let us all care for this land which has been impacted not only by natural events like Hurricane Helene, but also ravaged or permanently altered by humans following European discovery and settlement,” the artist shares in a press release.
The Mountains Are Calling and I Must Color Them: June 12-July 12, 2026; Opening Reception: Saturday, June 13, 4-6pm
Pink Dog Gallery / 348 Depot St., River Arts District, Asheville / pinkdog-creative.com