Elmer Sprunger art featured in Glacier Park benefit

Three Rivers Bank is spearheading a fundraiser for the Glacier National Park Conservancy with a memorial tribute to Bigfork artist Elmer Sprunger.

The fundraiser features the sale of giclée oil on canvass reproductions of two paintings Sprunger did in Glacier National Park. The original paintings were purchased by Three Rivers Bank, and reproduction rights were granted by Sprunger’s son, Jerry Sprunger, the Bigfork Eagle cartoonist.

 “We want to promote it as a memorial to Elmer Sprunger,” fundraiser coordinator Kevin Moore said. He runs the annual Glacier Gala Benefit Auction. Moore said that the main purpose is to raise $20,000 that Three Rivers Bank has committed to donate to the Glacier National Park Conservancy, a nonprofit organization that supports the park in a variety of ways.

“Rams at Logan Pass” and “Alpine Dwellers,” a painting of mountain goats in the Hidden Lake area, were selected because Spunger didn’t often use Glacier National Park as a backdrop. His focus was mostly on wildlife in the Swan Mountain Range. The original paintings are on display at the bank’s locations in Kalispell and 100 reproductions have been printed and are available at the banks.

The reproductions are the same size as the originals, at 24-by-36 inches, which is not common in the art world, Moore said. They are being sold as a set for $596. The reproductions also come with a certificate of authenticity.

“To me, the managing officers and the board of directors at the bank view Glacier National Park as a true world renowned asset for our community,” said John King, Three Rivers Bank president. “The proceeds go back to the Glacier Conservancy to assist in maintaining and improving the park. To us, it was just a no-brainer to see if we could help the park.”

King said he appreciates that both of the paintings are set at Logan Pass, probably the most common destination for people visiting Glacier.

“The other thing is Elmer Sprunger, being a person from the Flathead Valley, this was a local boy who did real well with his paintings,” King said. Sprunger was born in 1919 in Kalispell. After spending some years in Washington, Sprunger and his family returned to Bigfork in 1953, where he lived the remainder of his life. In 1971 he devoted himself to his artistic career full-time. He was well known for his editorial cartoons, which appeared in the Bigfork Eagle for 24 years. He died at the age of 87 in August 2007.