Roswell Celebrates Nature With 'Go Wild' Festival

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The entire month of June will see Roswell Go Wild as it celebrates its natural side.

With that in mind, the Historic Roswell Convention and Visitors Bureau is urging residents immerse themselves in the great outdoors by checking out the Chattahoochee Nature Center, the Chattahoochee River, the city’s award winning parks and trails and an abundance of activities planned throughout the city.

The month-long Go Wild Festival will feature special festivals, concerts, river races, performances and exhibits. Residents will also be able to take part in scavenger hunts, tours, al fresco dining, camp-outs, group river paddles and the chance to help support the environment.

A month-long wildlife art exhibit and sale will take place at the Roswell Visitors Center featuring artist Larry K. Martin. The center will host a meet-the-artist reception from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. June 16 to meet Martin and his Wren’s Nest Gallery partner Crystal Hancock.

The event is free and open to the public.

When Martin returned home to Alabama in 1976 from a career in tropical medicine, he began to pursue another lifelong ambition – Wildlife Art. He had received a PhD from Tulane and combined tropical medicine research at Walter Reed Army Medical Center with field research in the Amazon rain forests of Colombia and Brazil. But a stronger calling then led him to a career in art and wildlife conservation.

After three years as curator of the Anniston Museum of Natural History he, in partnership with C.D. Hancock, began publishing his wildlife paintings through Wren’s Nest Gallery, Inc. Since that date more than 400 of his paintings have been issued as print editions.

His original paintings and prints can be found in major corporate and private collections including those of President George H.W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Bob Hope, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lee Greenwood and Generals Colin Powell and Norman Schwarzkopf.

A percentage of sales of Eagle-themed art will benefit the Chattahoochee Nature Center. A portion of other sales will benefit Rhinoactionfund.org.

For a complete list of Go Wild events, visit www.visitroswellga.com and click on the Go Wild icon. The Roswell Visitors Center is at 617 Atlanta Street.

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Photo: the Chattahoochee River from the Chattahoochee Nature Center’s property. Credit: Historic Roswell Georgia’s Facebook page.