The Pull of the Current: Art & Advocacy on our Rivers with Doug Woodward and Steve Snell
Steve Snell
The Pull of the Current: Art & Advocacy on our Rivers with Doug Woodward and Steve Snell
Join us via Zoom Wednesday, October 29th, at 7 pm EDT
Join us for a dynamic conversation with two avid adventurers, Doug Woodward and Steve Snell, as they share experiences and historical context related to their artistic and advocacy practices around rivers.
Steve Snell’s art practice is a vessel for asking larger questions, sharing river stories, and offering a contemporary portrait that challenges stereotypes and inspires renewed public connection to the river. He will focus on his most recent project, Adventure Art on the Might MO’, a video series exploring art, adventure, and life along the Missouri River.
Doug Woodward will touch on his experiences as an advisor for the filming of Deliverance and river trips with Jimmy Carter, which likely influenced Carter’s presidential actions to more than double the number of existing "Wild and Scenic River" designations, including the Chattooga in the southeastern US. In thinking about how rivers speak to his heart, Woodward, now 89, will share how he continues to travel to remote corners of the world by foot, bicycle and boat—still adventuring, still writing, still connecting in curiosity and kindness.
As an introduction to Doug, explore fellow Kinship member Forest Woodward’s tender documentary, The Important Places, a river story, a birth poem and a return to the Colorado River together.
This conversation will be facilitated by Kinship member, and Doug’s daughter, Lynn Cricket Woodward.
Bios:
Steve Snell draws inspiration from the North American landscape—its history, mythology, wildlife, and the possibilities for adventure and self-discovery it continues to hold. With experiences ranging from paddling a small cardboard replica of Lewis and Clark’s keelboat on the Missouri River to pushing an ungainly Conestoga wagon across the frozen prairie of Nebraska, Steve seeks connection with the present moment through a reinterpretation of past stories and legends.
Steve’s artwork is represented by Visions West Contemporary in Denver, Colorado, Momentum Gallery, North Carolina, and Mountain Galleries in Canada. Steve earned his M.F.A. in Studio Art from the University of Massachusetts Amherst as well as a B.F.A. in Painting and B.S. in Art Education from Miami University. He is currently an Associate Professor of Art and the Sosland Family Chair of Foundation Studies at the Kansas City Art Institute.
What started as a strong draw toward outdoor adventure, Doug Woodward's paddling experiences expanded into teaching water safety and kayaking. He built dozens of kayaks in the family's basement and led month-long paddling trips in the western US with his Explorer Scouts. He’s shared many river trips with family and friends and competed nationally in slalom and wildwater races.
Doug was a canoeing stuntman and location advisor for the filming of Deliverance. In the wake of the movie's hype, he co-founded Southeastern Expeditions whitewater outfitters and advised for the formation of the permit process to protect the local rivers (and to help protect the over-confident from being tragically surprised by the power of water). He also introduced Jimmy Carter (then governor of Georgia) and Carter's son, Jack, to kayaking, and advocated for wild rivers to lawmakers on the national level.
Doug's photojournalism has been published in many magazines, including Outside, American Whitewater, and Orion. He has authored three books, two of which focus on his outdoor travels: You Took the Kids Where? Adventuring While Your Children are Young, and his memoir, Wherever Waters Flow: A Lifelong Love Affair with Wild Rivers.
Claude Terry and then-governor Jimmy Carter in keyhole rapid on the Chattooga River GA/SC. Photo by Doug Woodward
The Warner Brothers crew filming Ned Beatty and Burt Reynolds in a canoeing scene of Deliverance. Photo by Doug Woodward
Doug Woodward
Steve Snell
