Kesler Woodward is one of the artists of Alaska, known for his colorful paintings of northern landscapes. He taught art for two decades at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and is now an honorary professor. In 2001, he was appointed artist of the Harriman expedition of 1899, a reconstruction of one of the most ambitious scientific studies conducted in the 19th century.
The Harriman Expedition, organized by Edward Harriman, a wealthy railroad magnate, passed 9,000 miles of exploration along the coast of Alaska. The best American experts of that time were invited, including geologists, botanists, foresters, ornithologists, paleontologists, zoologists, artists, photographers and writers.
In 2001, Thomas Litwin from Smith College led the trip along the original expedition. Two dozen scientists, artists and writers left British Columbia aboard the Odyssey of Clipper to follow the Harriman’s route through the Inner Passage, up the Gulf of Alyasin and along the Aleutian Archipelago, and then north through the Bering Sea. Four weeks later, they made their last stop in Nome, Alaska.