Living Legacy Wildlife Museum: Artist uses illusion to bring realism to wildlife, landscapes

Five years ago, Brittany Stromberg joined the staff at the Living Legacy Wildlife Museum as the sole artist to complete the massive task of bringing life to the museum through paintings. Throughout the course of the years, her expertise has also led her to become one of the main landscape designers for the museum.

The wildlife museum, located off East Weber Road in Ritzville, includes 27 diorama rooms and well over 100 taxidermy animals. While the museum is still in the process of being completed, the staff hopes to unveil four of the largest diorama rooms at the end of the year.

The dream started with Dr. Donald Sebasta, who had the vision of creating an educational wildlife museum with the large collection of taxidermy animals he has hunted and collected from various continents throughout his lifetime.

Stromberg had the opportunity to complete a Mount Kilimanjaro mural for Sebasta’s previous animal display in Othello when she was still in high school, and her talent and style captured the attention of the doctor.

Stromberg said her preference is pen and ink drawings, but her talent expands to a variety of mediums. Pen and ink drawings allow her to create amazing details within her artwork, and she enjoys the intricacy of the medium.

Originally after high school, Stromberg attended Northwest College of Art and Design in Poulsbo to focus on portrait and industrial artwork, two of her favorite styles, but returned home before graduation to help care for her mother.

Initially concerned about having the opportunity to use her talent without completing her schooling, Stromberg had a chance encounter that led her into a once in a lifetime job.

Sebasta remembered Stromberg from when she had completed the mural in his garage and expressed his desire to have her join him in a much larger painting project. Once she learned about the opportunity and realized how unique it was to be involved with a project of this magnitude, she quickly agreed to help Sebasta make his dream a reality.

Stromberg was given the task of creating vibrant and realistic landscapes in each individual diorama room to capture and portray the natural landscape surrounding the wildlife displayed in the room. Stromberg explained the type of animal, as well as separating the animals based on the region where they are located, categorizes each room.

The largest diorama is the Africa room, which will eventually be divided into two sections to display the jungle animals on one side and the desert-based animals on the other. Stromberg has already completed a full wall painting of Mount Kilimanjaro, but there is still a lot of work to be done to create the landscape surrounding the African animals.

For Stromberg, the majority of the paintings are determined in a collaborative effort between her and Sebasta. While he provides her with a description of his ideas, she researches the trees and plants native to the area in order to complete the masterpiece and satisfy both of their artistic interpretations.

“You’re looking through window at a natural landscape,” Stromberg described the end product. “I love this part of my job.”

While Stromberg said many of the rooms do not have a large amount of detail in the actual painting, every completed landscape provides depth and realism to the room. The only room that is fully completed is the entryway into the museum, which has an alligator propped up on a rock in a swamp.

Stromberg said the room was recently completed in order to serve as a benchmark for the staff members who have been working tirelessly for over five years on the project. While the majority of the electrical work has been completed, Stromberg said providing the visual of what the dioramas will look like helped motivate the staff and rekindled the passion for why they are there.

“It’s incredible how much work it’s taken,” Stromberg said about the museum. “We have an incredibly patient crew. You have to be.”

Along with her talents with painting, Stromberg is charged with the task of creating the landscapes within the room. She builds trees out of chicken wire, uses sheetrock to build bases for the animals, cuts grass from a nearby CRP field and even created homemade glue to hold all of the final landscape pieces in place. The tasks are new for Stromberg, but she taught an after school program at the Old Hotel Art Gallery last year, and said the experience there helped her gain a better understand for molding sculptures.

The museum, once completed, will serve as an educational hub for locals and tourists in the area, and Stromberg said she learns something new everyday. She has also self-taught herself how to build and design many of the landscape structures, and truly understands the importance of education and hands-on activities.

When Stromberg is not working at the museum, she spends time with her three young children in Othello and also completes commissioned jobs in the surrounding areas. She enjoys bringing her creativity to others and using her talents to provide happiness to her customers.

“My favorite part is getting to go meet people and figure out what they like,” Stromberg said. “And then create it.”

Stromberg still is amazed she has the opportunity to participate in a project of this size, and is excited to open the doors to share the impressive and unique wildlife with others. She is proud to be leaving her mark on the museum through the landscape design, but said she believes the educational component combined with the extensive amount of wildlife is truly something to be valued and will be without comparison to museums throughout the country.

“I’m so absolutely blessed and so grateful,” Stromberg said. “Honestly, I can’t believe I have this job.”