The Back to Space organization is building a state-of-the-art edutainment science facility in Jacksboro, Texas called the Lunar Landscape Experience, and the artwork of E. Lee Wilson, Jr. will be an integral part of it. Due to the generous donation of Mary A Beck Patil at the Apollo 14 celebration at Kennedy Space Center in June 2021, the painting entitled "Spaceship Earth 1968" will now hang in City Hall, in Jacksboro, Texas, until the facility is completed, sometime in 2022.

The city of Jacksboro was very welcoming to the artist and his family during the time they spent in the small town, which is the county seat of Jack County, Texas. They where treated to a number of local events and experiences during the three-day visit, which occurred on homecoming weekend for the high school football team.  A parade, visits to local restaurants, a fishing outing, and a chance to see the Tigers play (and win).  Mr. Wilson was also invited to exhibit more of his Cosmos work during the dedication ceremony.

In honor of the 50th anniversary of Apollo 14, the Back to Space organization hosted a gala under the massive Saturn V rocket at Kennedy Space Center. In addition to the distinguished guests, which included celebrities and space exploration icons, the event featured the cosmos artwork of E. Lee Wilson, Jr., in association with Aldrin Art Space. The event was also a fundraiser for Back to Space, and included a silent art auction of Lee's work. Mary A Beck Patil won the bid for "Spaceship Earth 1968" which was originally created in honor of the iconic "earthrise" photo taken during Apollo 8.

Ms. Beck generously donated the painting to Back to Space, and it now hangs in the city of Jacksboro's City Hall until the Lunar Landscape Experience is completed, sometime in 2022, where it will hang in the facilities permanent art collection.

Announcing a new partnership, with the Aldrin Family Foundation! They will be representing E. Lee Wilson, Jr., just as a gallery would, to promote certain paintings in his Cosmos series to an international audience. 

Aldrin Art Space (@AldrinArtSpace) is a new initiative created by the Aldrin Family Foundation to celebrate the “A” in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math). These unique art pieces provide valuable funding for the Foundation’s educational space programs. The Foundation President is Andrew Aldrin, son of Apollo 11 Buzz Aldrin.

Visit Aldrin Art Space to see and purchase artwork.

The Museum of Science and Industry, in Tampa, Florida, recently hosted a new exhibition of artwork with science and space themes, curated and produced by the Space for Art Foundation (founded by artist astronaut Nicole Stott).  

The Space for Art exhibition featured a series of work by E. Lee Wilson, Jr. entitled "Visions of the Cosmos", and included several mixed media space art paintings, as well as informational panels about science-based art and "How to Build a Painting". 

The show began in June 2020 and ran until January 2021, even though no events could be held due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However a 3D 360 virtual tour is being created in order to present the exhibition to the world online. See the Space for Art Foundation website for more information. 

#spaceforart

Novaspace, the producer of Spacefest and Novaspace.com, is now carrying the work of E. Lee Wilson, Jr. on their website, and store in Tucson, Arizona. In addition to some smaller originals, they are also selling limited edition signed and framed art prints. 

Having shown his work at Spacefest twice before, this was the next logical step for Lee's work. Many thanks to Kelsey Poor of Novaspace for this great honor and opportunity. 

#SpaceArtRocks

Following the Space for Art Foundation fundraiser at the White Porch Gallery at R House in Miami, Florida, on September 19, the space-themed group art exhibition continues through the month of October. Five of Lee's Cosmos paintings are currently in the exhibition, and a collaborative painting with curator JonLouis Gonzales is now being created, just ahead of the international art exhibition, Art Basel, which spawns numerous satellite shows, including in the Wynwood art district, where the gallery is located.

Space for Art Foundation will receive a portion of the proceeds of any sales during the exhibition. Contact JonLouis at info@jonlouisstudios.com for information about purchasing artwork from White Porch Gallery.

The Space for Art Foundation fundraiser on September 19, 2019, held at White Porch Gallery and R House (in the Wynwood art district of Miami Florida) was a spectacular showcase of space-themed original art and high-tech interactive art therapy techniques for pediatric cancer patients. The art show was curated by JonLouis Gonzales of White Porch Gallery, which exhibited his work and several others, including E. Lee Wilson, Jr. 

Space for Art Foundation was the brainchild of artist and veteran NASA astronaut Nicole Stott. She and a group of talented and dedicated team members developed a way to increase awareness for both art therapy for severely ill children and the wonders of art in space, and about space.

Promotional video:

It was a magical evening, as the gourmet food was sampled and the libations flowed, while the crowd viewed the artwork.  They were also entertained by young dancers and the amazing art therapy technology was displayed and experienced.

More information about Space for Art Foundation can be found on their Facebook page Space for Art Foundation and website spaceforartfoundation.org.

Caption above: E. Lee Wilson, Jr. with artist astronaut Nicole Stott and the Exploration Art Spacesuit.

E. Lee Wilson, Jr. returned to Spacefest in August for a second year to exhibit his Cosmos artwork. Spacefest X was the 10th year that this event has been held, and was the largest in both artist exhibits and in general attendance to date. The show is run by Novaspace, which also sells space art and astronaut memorabilia online. 

This year Lee rented a large van and drove 2000 miles, from the Tampa Bay area in Florida, all the way to Tucson, Arizona, passing through Houston, Texas on the way.  He was able to bring many large paintings that would have been too expensive to ship to the event.

Here is a shot of the initial display for Spacefest X.

Due to his active presence on Facebook, the first painting sold before it was even displayed at the show! It was purchased by a collector from Hawaii who had seen a similar piece at Spacefest last year, but had not made the decision to buy before someone from Switzerland snapped it up first. This year when he saw the new painting on one of Lee's Facebook posts, he asked for first dibs and plucked down a deposit to hold it for the show.

You never know who you're going to meet at Spacefest! This year Lee had the distinct honor to show his lunar painting "Six Giant Leaps" to Rick Armstrong, son of Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the moon!

Lee was very lucky to have some expert help with his exhibit space at the show. Linda did a great job of representing his work when he had to be away. Thank you Linda!

It was so much fun to see the cosplay folks walking around. They had some of the most creative space-themed "costumes" out there.

As a final surprise on the last day of the show, at the very end of the day, who came by to see Lee's work but the amazing Geoff Notkin, co-host of the TV show "Meteorite Men" and president of The National Space Society.  Lee is looking forward to working with him on future projects.

Overall, Spacefest X was a fabulous and successful event! Lee will definitely be back in 2020 for Spacefest XI.

More information about this event at Spacefest.info

In honor of the 50th Anniversary of Apollo 8 and the famous "Earthrise" photo taken from lunar orbit in 1968, the Constellation Foundation held a special event at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida on December 21, 2018. E. Lee Wilson, Jr. was invited to show his Cosmos artwork for the event, along with some other members of the International Association of Astronomical Artists (IAAA).

Part of the event was held directly underneath the Space Shuttle Atlantis, within the Atlantis exhibit building. Lee and the other IAAA artists setup an art show in the shadow of Atlantis. They also donated some prints and smaller pieces to a silent auction for the event, in which proceeds went to benefit the Foundation. In addition, a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the larger artwork also benefitted the Foundation.

Founders, members, and friends of the Constellation Foundation pose for a PR photo opportunity.

Lucille, one of Lee's favorite collectors, traveled from Kentucky to Florida to attend the event and got to meet Al Worden, Command Module Pilot for Apollo 15 (who also saw Earthrise from the Moon). Here they pose in front of Lee's Earthrise painting.

  

It was such an honor to be asked to participate in this event, especially in this location!

E. Lee Wilson, Jr. was accepted to exhibit his Cosmos artwork at Spacefest IX in Tucson, Arizona, in July of 2018. This was his first time showing his work at this event, and it was very exciting! To be in the same show with some of the best space artists on the planet, as well as being able to meet notable astronauts and space experts of various kinds was certainly a dream come true for him. Lee even got to meet moonwalkers for the first time! It was truly stellar!

Lee brought a combination of small originals and Artography Impressions™ framed prints. People seemed to gravitate to the original work. Two were sold to a collector from Switzerland, and one when to the daughter of a moonwalker. The last one was later purchased by a Shuttle and ISS astronaut.

As Lee later realized, you never know who you're going to meet at Spacefest. Tim Dodd, The Everyday Astronaut, a famous Youtuber, came by to look at his work. It was a magical moment!

A bittersweet moment came near the end of Spacefest, when Lee got to meet the daughter of Apollo astronaut and fourth man to walk on the moon, Alan Bean.  As Lee recalls:

"Alan had been a hero of mine, because in addition to being an astronaut, he was also an amazing artist, who painted about his time in the Apollo space program. I had received his coffee table book Painting Apollo just a few weeks before (on my birthday in May)."

"Alan was supposed to come to Spacefest and exhibit his work, as he had done several times before, but tragically, he died just a few weeks before – on my birthday! I was heartbroken! I was really looking forward to meeting him, and showing him my work. Alan had a reputation at Spacefest for spending time with the other artists, critiquing their work, and encouraging them. I never got to do that."

"When I found out Alan had died, a few days after my birthday I decided to create a new Cosmos painting, in honor of him. I selected am image from his book and used elements from it as inspiration. I painted a moonscape with an Earthrise, barely peeking over the horizon. My painting style is a little like his, so I exaggerated that for this piece, then placed a small meteorite fragment in the lunar surface of the artwork. It was my therapy art."

"When I met Alan's daughter, Amy Sue Bean, I told her the story, and then decided to give her the painting. It was my way to connect with Alan, through her. It warms my heart to know that now she shares that connection with my art."

There were other connections made during that first exhibition at Spacefest. One of those was meeting Dustin Dickins, with Top Meteorite. Dustin loved Lee's work and they decided to start trading art for meteorite material. This has allowed Lee to obtain much more rare and expensive samples, like Lunar and Martian meteorite specimens. Some of them are now embedded in the newest works that Lee has created.

Spacefest is now a goal for Lee to attend and exhibit in every year!