In the fall of 2025, the U.S. administration announced that the 2026 national parks pass would feature the sitting president instead of the winner of a photo contest, as was the tradition.
National park loyalists were outraged, and watercolor artist and ecologist Jenny McCarty, one of those people, decided to do something about it.
She turned her paintings — a pika in the Rocky Mountains, a grizzly in Denali, a wolf in the Tetons — into stickers people adhere to the top of their parks pass to reclaim as their own. The response was immediate, and it kept coming.
In episode 277 of The Art Biz, Jenny walks me through what happened next: coverage in Outside Magazine and on SFGATE and Last Week Tonight, nearly $30,000 raised for the National Parks Conservation Association, and thousands of new names on her email list.
But she is direct about what actually allowed that moment to benefit her art business.
The viral moment isn’t the point
Of course it’s wonderful to have all of that attention, but you’ll be in trouble if you’re not ready for it.
Before any of this happened, Jenny had automations in place that helped her build and segment her list for her weekly email and correspondence with her serious collectors. When thousands of new people showed up, she had somewhere to put them.
When it became clear that some people wanted a sleeve for their parks pass instead of a sticker, she partnered with another artist who was already making one. When the orders outgrew what she could handle on her own, she asked her community for help. A former park ranger now fulfills orders.
Both partnerships run on written contracts.
A year in, Jenny ran the numbers on her own business and saw that her originals were where the revenue actually lives, which showed her how important it was to spend more time in the studio. She has hired a social media manager to help her do just that.
I hope you’re inspired by this interview to systematize your art business. I’ve included related posts and episodes below to help you with that.
Listen
Jenny McCarty Quotes
“I’ve had several posts now go viral, and without systems in place, they don’t lead to any revenue.”
“I reached out to my community and said, ‘Hey, I need help.’ People were coming out of the woodwork.”
“[A contract] just keeps everything nice and black and white and clear.”
“I don’t think big things like this happen because of just one person.”
“National parks are not partisan. They’re all about nature. They’re for everybody.”
“How can I leverage a partnership, a relationship, a contract with somebody else to make that happen?”
Mentioned
Jenny’s tech stack resource
Shannon Prindle’s Park Pouches
National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA)
The internet might be ruining artists’ livelihoods with William Deresiewicz (205)
About Jenny McCarty
Jenny McCarty is the Colorado-based watercolor artist and ecologist behind Sage Leaf Studio. After years of field research — marine biology in New Zealand, wildlife work in East Africa, fieldwork in Alaska — burnout led her back to the paintbrush. Now she paints joyful, hidden-wildlife watercolors inviting collectors to slow down and look closer, just like nature does.
Every piece is eco-friendly and she gives 10% of profits to conservation. When a national park sticker of hers went viral, her systems turned it into 5,000+ email subscribers and sold out originals, plus over $30,000 donated to national parks.
Follow Jenny on Instagram @sage_leaf_studio
The post Will you be ready if your art goes viral? with Jenny McCarty (277) appeared first on Art Biz Success.