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The Rock Art Foundation (RAF) is a Texas non-profit organization established in 1991, with 501(c)(3) status since 1992. The Foundation exists to promote the conservation and study of the Native American rock art in the Lower Pecos region of Southwest Texas.
For over five millennia, aboriginal artists recorded elaborate scenes upon the limestone canvas of canyons and rock shelters in an area defined by the lower courses of the Pecos and Devil's rivers and their confluences with the Rio Grande. The pressures of modern development, burgeoning populations, industrial pollution, environmental degradation, natural rock decay, and vandalism are inexorably erasing these fragile works of art. The Rock Art Foundation believes that the most effective conservation program must incorporate two approaches: education and preservation.
The call for more public education was first articulated over 50 years ago by A. T. Jackson, an early chronicler of the pictographs. It is the goal of the RAF to educate the public by fostering an appreciation for these endangered art treasures, and rallying support for their preservation and further study. Rock art conservation is a field in its infancy and long-term experimentation is a prerequisite for attempts to clean, preserve, or restore the cave paintings. Much more immediate action is needed to ensure that at least a sample of the elaborate and diverse pictographs and petroglyphs remains for the next generation to appreciate. With this in mind, the RAF is pursuing several options:
Educating public and private sectors about the endangered status of rock art in Texas
Restoration and preservation research
Acquiring endangered sites for transfer to agencies capable of ensuring their integrity.
Continuing to locate and document previously unrecorded sites
Fostering harmonious relations with land owners for site management / protection and supervised visitation
Archiving photographic collections
The Rock Art Foundation seeks support from foundations, agencies, and individuals who share a concern for this vanishing legacy of prehistoric art and lifeways. All funds are devoted to achieving these goals. Anyone interested in becoming a member of the Rock Art Foundation may purchase a membership through our online store or call us toll free at 888-ROCKART Please call 210-525-9907 if you are in the San Antonio area. You may also write the Foundation at PO Box 702052, San Antonio, TX 78270-2052.
THE ROCK ART FOUNDATION ALSO PROUDLY SERVES AS "THE FRIENDS OF SEMINOLE CANYON" THE NON-PROFIT SUPPORT GROUP FOR
SEMINOLE CANYON STATE PARK
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