With 11 residencies under her belt, Heather Heckel is painting and drawing her way through the National Park System. In 2016, Heather Heckel, a middle school art teacher based on Long Island, New York, sat down at her computer and typed in the search terms “nature,” “art” and “travel.” Voila, the National Park Service’s artist residency website popped up. Each year, around 50 park sites host visual artists (as well as some writers, musicians and other creative types) who live in housing in the parks and are asked only to explore and create art — and maybe offer a public presentation or class. Intrigued, Heckel sent out a dozen applications, eventually landing back-to-back residencies at Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas and Weir Farm National Historic Site in Connecticut. The summer unfolded just as she had dreamed it would, and she came home with a collection of new artworks and a determination to keep the park gigs going.