Three simple words – birds in art – took on a life of their own when they became a Woodson Art Museum exhibition title in the mid-1970s. Birds in Art has morphed and grown and now is recognized around the world as the exhibition that sets the standard for avian art. Each year the Woodson Art Museum, located in Wausau, Wisconsin, invites contemporary two- and three-dimensional artists working in all mediums other than crafts and photography to submit artworks interpreting birds and related subject matter for jury consideration. The Birds in Art phenomenon owes its success to the more than 1,000 artists whose artworks have comprised the annual exhibition since 1976. The stars of Birds in Art – avian species interpreted in oil, watercolor, the graphic arts, bronze, stone, and more – fly thousands of miles every autumn to reach the Woodson Art Museum. When they arrive, they stretch their wings, preen their feathers, and put on a show for appreciative audiences who experience the best indoor birdwatching in Wisconsin. Sixty artworks from each Wausau exhibition then are presented at museums across the United States and across the Atlantic and Pacific. In this way, Birds in Art makes new friends for the Woodson Art Museum and delights audiences worldwide.

Featured Image: Kathleen Dunphy, Out for a Gander, 2015, Oil on linen, 37 ¾ x 38 ¾ x 2 ¼