San Diego Arts. : Art

- Maher Morcos, an artist living in University City, has been named a finalist in the first annual “Arts for the Parks” competition co-sponsored by the National Parks Academy of the Arts and the National Park Foundation in Jackson Hole, Wyo.

Morcos’ painting “Spider Rock” represents Canyon de Chelly National Park in Arizona and is one of 100 finalists selected from 2,706 entries, all depicting subjects in the national park system. An exhibit of the 100 finalists’ works was on display in Scottsdale, Ariz. It opens Monday at the Great Hall in the Castle at the Smithsonian Institution.

Morcos, who specializes in Western themes, recently completed a bronze monument to Don Diego (Tommy Hernandez) that stands at the entrance of the Del Mar Fairgrounds. His sculpture “The Only Good Indian . . . “ was given to President Reagan in 1984 as a birthday gift from the City of San Diego.

The show of the finalists’ works is tentatively set to come to San Diego in the spring.