Quilt artist Susan Madden, who will serve as Mesa Verde National Park’s artist in residence May 2-15, presents an interactive program for visitors at Mesa Verde on Friday, May 13, at 7 p.m. in the Chapin Mesa Archaeological Museum auditorium.

Visitors will have the opportunity to create their own artistic works using bleach pens on fabric, which they will then be able to take home as a reminder of their visit to Mesa Verde.

Madden, who resides in Salt Lake City, has been an artist for more than 35 years. About 15 years ago, while learning traditional quilting, she began to wonder if she could transfer her knowledge of landscape painting into working with fabric. Using applique and piecing techniques, she layers pieces of different colored and textured fabric to create realistic landscapes, which she then quilts on her home sewing machine. She has shown her work in many art and quilt shows, and has won several local and international awards for her unique art form. In regard to her upcoming residency, Susan said, “I’m very excited to spend two weeks at Mesa Verde, immersed in the landscape and architectural remnants of the Anasazi culture so beautifully preserved in this amazing place.”

The artist-in-residence program offers professional writers, composers, and visual and performing artists the opportunity to pursue their particular art form while being surrounded by the inspiring ancient architecture of the Ancestral Pueblo people and the sweeping natural landscape of the park. This year’s artists were selected from 64 applicants by a jury consisting of Mesa Verde National Park staff and local artists and residents. Other 2016 artists include photographer Gregory Spaid, environmental writer Bronwyn Mauldin, landscape photographer Kit Frost, and painter Joyce Heuman.

Learn more at www.nps.gov/meve/getinvolved/artists_in_residence.