Now that the Smokey Bear paintings are on display at four Forest Preserve District visitor centers, we thought we would find out more about the man behind the artwork. 

The paintings are part of the “Smokey Bear: The Rudy Wendelin Collection” on loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service. The collection is on display through March 2 at Four Rivers Environmental Education Center in Channahon, Isle a la Cache Museum in Romeoville, Plum Creek Nature Center in Crete Township and Sugar Creek Administration Center in Joliet. Viewing hours at Four Rivers, Isle a la Cache and Plum Creek are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wednesday to Sunday. These visitor centers are closed Monday and Tuesday. Viewing hours at Sugar Creek Administration Center are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday; and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturdays, Jan. 18 and March 2.

Artist Rudolph “Rudy” Wendelin was born in 1910 and died in 2000. He began his career with the Forest Service in 1933 and retired in 1973. Wendelin’s daughter, Elizabeth C. Wendelin, responded to several questions about her dad's life and career for this in-depth look at the man behind Smokey Bear. 

Here are her responses, which have been slightly edited:

What was your dad’s childhood like?
My dad was born in Herndon, Kansas, to Paul and Mary Wendelin. He and his siblings, Verna, Richard and Roy, enjoyed fishing and swimming in Beaver Creek, hiking to Rock Hill, riding ponies, tinkering with old cars, playing ball and other outdoor games, having picnics and dancing parties. These made up some of the most memorable moments.

What led him to a career in art?
He had always been interested in art, admiring his mother’s embroidery of two rabbits on a seesaw that she had stitched on his school bag. When he was nine, he worked as a clerk at a local Ludell store, earning him $4 a week. He enrolled in a cartoon correspondence course, although he did not complete it. His earliest cartoons were featured in local papers, predominantly featuring sporting events. He secured a position as “official cartoonist” for the Decatur Dictator in Oberlin, Kansas, as a junior in high school. He also took a course in mechanical drawing during high school. He was basically a self-taught artist. He was able to enroll at the University of Kansas in 1929 and chose the School of Architecture as his major, “because it seems to be a more professional occupation to work toward,” even though his first interest was art and drawing. He contributed illustrations for the covers and cartoons for the University of Kansas-Sour Owl campus publication during his time in college. He joined the ROTC and learned the basic skills of drafting. These skills, architectural drawing, drafting, illustration and cartoons, set the stage for his work in the Forest Service.

What were his early adult years like?
Dad could not finish college because of the Depression and left the University in 1932. He looked for work in Kansas City and Denver, dreaming of a job in architecture or as a cartoonist but did not find work. Upon his return to his hometown, he was asked to make a map of a proposed lake and its surroundings for a park in Atwood, Kansas. With the help of his brothers, he surveyed the site and made a detailed rendering in pen and ink and watercolor. This map and his illustrations from college secured his position in 1933 as a topographical draftsman in the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service office in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His drawing abilities were recognized, and he began designing exhibits and illustrating publications and posters. Word soon spread to the Washington, D.C., office of his artistic abilities, and he was transferred there in 1937.

Where did he serve during World War II?
Dad served in the U.S. Navy from 1942 to 1945 as a specialist first class and was stationed in the Washington D.C. area. His artistic skills were again utilized during his tenure with the Navy. He drew cartoons for publications and illustrated training manuals and materials for the troops. He was on official furlough from the Forest Service. When he returned to his job in 1946, he was assigned to the Forest Service’s Smokey Bear Program which had begun in 1944. He continued as Smokey’s caretaker for the Forest Service until his retirement in 1973.

Did your family go out in nature a lot (hiking, camping etc.) because of his work with the Forest Service and Smokey?
We traveled across the country on two long distance trips when I was a child, camping and visiting family along the way. We would choose national forests as sites for camping. We would also take hiking trips in Virginia, along the Appalachian Trail. On one of those trips my mom, dad and I visited Spruce Knob in the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia. Dad made sketches for a viewing tower, utilizing his architectural skills, and it was eventually built based on his drawings. A road trip in 1971 took the three of us to Montana, Wyoming and Colorado. Dad had been commissioned by the Forest Service to sketch, photograph and paint scenic views. We were taken to many sites by the forest rangers of each area, often into the back country. He made additional commissioned trips like this to paint national forest landscapes in his favorite medium of watercolor.  

You said your dad gave Smokey his “soul.” Can you explain what you mean? 
He was the caretaker of Smokey’s image at the Forest Service and oversaw other illustrators’ depictions of the bear. There are many artists who have been hired by the Ad Council for national campaigns. Over the years, dad would start to soften and humanize the image of Smokey Bear. Claws and fangs were eventually removed from the original Albert Staehle rendition. Dad helped to form the fingers so Smokey could point. And he gave Smokey animated features to his face, including smiles and gestures to emphasize the importance of wildfire prevention. Even his body type reflected dad’s own over the years! Dad always loved working for the Forest Service, and it shows in his renditions of Smokey Bear.

Did your dad have a favorite Smokey painting or story? 
“Smokey’s Fan Mail” (1979) was my dad’s favorite. In some respects, it reflects aspects of his career. On the top shelf of the desktop in the painting are two Smokey sculptures, a gold and silver. These were modeled by my dad for the Ad Council, National Association of State Foresters and the USDA Forest Service and were awarded to recipients for outstanding public service to forest fire prevention. There also is a picture on the shelf of the live Smokey Bear who resided at the National Zoo in Washington D.C. from 1950 to 1976. The Smokey Bear stuffed animal may be a memory of the contribution he made to one of the earliest products, manufactured by the Ideal Toy Company. My dad helped the toymaker with the face on the 1952 stuffed Smokey. There is a small calendar on the wall which he designed for the OKT/Colson Company just after he retired in 1973. My dad’s ability to humanize Smokey’s features are evident in his smile, as he faces the audience, pleased with the amount of fan mail.

What did Smokey Bear mean to your family?
As children, both my brothers (Michael and David) and I knew dad had a job with the Forest Service and Smokey. We were aware of Smokey and the national forests on our cross-country trips. When we became adults we recognized his immense talent for Smokey Bear, watercolors, stamps etc. and were very proud of him. My mother, Carrol, kept the house running so dad could devote much of his time to his artwork; she was the “woman behind the man.” To this day, we all acknowledge that we are his children and that legacy has been passed on to his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Immediate and extended family also claim their connection to my dad. He loved what he did.

What are some of your dad’s other achievements and creations?
Dad was involved in designing stamps, bronze statutes and other advertising campaign mascots. Throughout his career he:

• Designed six commemorative stamps:1958 Forest Conservation (won best design award); 1960 Fifth World Forestry Congress (co-designer); 1961 Range Conservation; 1964 John Muir; 1969 John Wesley Powell 1869 Expedition; 1984 Smokey Bear (first animal stamp for the USPS)
• Created clay models of John Muir, Gifford Pinchot and a Fire Fighters Memorial that were eventually cast in bronze.
• Was the lead artist on a team that designed Woodsy Owl, the Forest Service’s anti-pollution mascot.
• Created Spunky Squirrel for the American Forestry Association in 1983.
• Painted a 28-by-9-foot mural depicting the history of Rawlins County, which was installed in the Rawlins County Historical Society, Atwood, Kansas, (Bicentennial Project, 1976).