Hailey artist on
White House roster
By DANA DUGAN
Express Staff Writer
For the White House’s annual exhibition of
painted eggs, Hailey artist, Ginna Parsons Lagergren was commissioned to submit
an Idaho egg. The tradition for each state to submit a decorated egg was
initiated in 1994 by former First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton.
The American Egg Board sponsors the
four-week display in the White House. Every year, each state and the District of
Columbia may submit one egg to the display. The winning artists and two guests
are invited to a special tour of the White House and the display held in April.
Afterwards, the eggs are displayed at the Presidential Library in its permanent
collection.
Entries must represent a special feature
of the state and be painted on a large white chicken egg with the contents
removed.
Lagergren painting, "The Heart of Idaho,"
depicts the Sawtooth Mountains, the Salmon River, a syringa bush, which is the
state flower, and other wildflowers. Also in the painting are a Labrador and a
golden retriever eyeing birds, including a bald eagle in flight in a clear Idaho
sky.
Having lived in the Wood River Valley
since the early 1970s, Lagergren was inspired by the sites she has come to know
well from camping, kayaking, hiking and biking in the mountains.
"The mountains in the heart of Idaho are a
playground where various wildlife and recreationalists play," Lagergren said.
Regulations for the annual display dictate
that no bases, stands, hangers, or attachments are permitted and that the small
end of the egg should be facing up. Lagergren’s egg was painted with oil paint
over gesso and epoxy and finished with acrylic varnish.
Lagergren and other egg artists will be
present at a reception at the White House with First Lady Laura Bush on April
14.