The Dude’s Opus, Searching for Home, and Return of the Grizzly
‘Return of the Griz’ screening in Missoula, Montana
What a kick to see my art for Return of the Grizzly blasted up on walls and buildings! this was for a standing room only showing in Missoula, Montana! Over 800 people! The documentary is doing great!
Parks Reece recently had the delight of collaborating with the local community and Jeff Bridges for the documentary ‘Return of the Grizzly.’ Reece supplied the promoting artwork, while Bridges’ supplied his voice for the film’s narration. The artwork, ‘Searching for Home,’ was used for the film’s poster. You can find a print of the original artwork for sale here.
Both the film and Reece’s long collaborative relationship with Bridges were recently mentioned in the Livingston Enterprise. You can find the an excerpt of the article below. You can also read the full article, ‘The Dude’s Hazy Opus,’ on the Enterprise’s website.
“Livingston-based artist Parks Reece is an old friend of Bridges, and collaborated with the actor and others for the making of the 2023 documentary film, Return of the Grizzly. Bridges served as the narrator for the 37-minute film, while Reece produced the promotional artwork.
‘Jeff always enjoyed playing music,’ said Reece. ‘I saw him play at the Elks Lodge for a charity function.’
Reece worked as the artistic director at the Danforth Museum in the early ‘80s when People magazine showed up to write a story about Livingston-based artist and author Russell Chatham.
‘We had a lot of stars around then like Peter Fonda and Jeff Bridges,’ said Reece, who grew up in North Carolina. ‘It was the Wild West back then. My picture ended up in People magazine which gave me some credibility as an artist. My grandmother was very dubious of me becoming an artist.’
Reece said Bridges did a lot of his own guitar playing and singing in the film, Crazy Heart, a 2009 drama about an alcoholic country singer and songwriter. Most of the original music for the film was composed by T. Bone Burnett, who worked with Bridges on his musical performances. Bridges won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Otis ‘Bad’ Blake in Crazy Heart.”
John Carroll Enterprise Managing Editor Apr 22, 2025
Livingston-based artist Parks Reece is an old friend of Bridges, and collaborated with the actor and others for the making of the 2023 documentary film, “Return of the Grizzly.” Bridges served as the narrator for the 37-minute film, while Reece produced the promotional artwork.
“Jeff always enjoyed playing music,” said Reece. “I saw him play at the Elks Lodge for a charity function.”
Reece worked as the artistic director at the Danforth Museum in the early ‘80s when People magazine showed up to write a story about Livingston-based artist and author Russell Chatham.
“We had a lot of stars around then like Peter Fonda and Jeff Bridges,” said Reece, who grew up in North Carolina. “It was the Wild West back then. My picture ended up in People magazine which gave me some credibility as an artist. My grandmother was very dubious of me becoming an artist.”
Reece said Bridges did a lot of his own guitar playing and singing in the film, "Crazy Heart," a 2009 drama about an alcoholic country singer and songwriter. Most of the original music for the film was composed by T. Bone Burnett, who worked with Bridges on his musical performances. Bridges won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Otis "Bad" Blake in "Crazy Heart."
John Carroll Enterprise Managing Editor Apr 22, 2025