Call to Artists! America's Parks

Call to Artists!

AMERICA'S PARKS Through The Beauty of Art 

Entries Must Be Postmarked by October 15

AMERICA'S PARKS Through the Beauty of Art is an exhibition competition open to all artists, the purpose of which is to recognize and promote excellence in original artworks depicting any North American park (national, state, provincial, county, city) in Canada, Mexico and The United States. Selections will be made by a professional jury consisting of: M. Stephen Doherty, Editor, PleinAir™ Magazine; Susan T. Fisher, American Society of Botanical Artists Past President and Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Art Institute Director; and Todd Wilkinson, Managing Editor, Wildlife Art Journal.

The 2013 inaugural exhibition of AMERICA'S PARKS Through the Beauty of Art is scheduled as the first of three, with others to follow in 2014 and 2015. The 2013 inaugural exhibition will premiere in Bolivar, Missouri from March 17 - April 14, 2013 at The Ella Carothers Dunnegan Gallery of Art. The Dunnegan is a noteworthy museum that has hosted such notable traveling museum exhibitions as Art and the Animal of The Society of Animal Artists, Blossom ~ Art of Flowers sponsored by The Susan K. Black Foundation, Exquisite Miniatures by Wes and Rachelle Siegrist, and Paws and Reflect: Art of Canines, all of which have toured under the auspices of David J. Wagner, L.L.C. The Dunnegan has also had a tradition of hosting park art exhibits, notably, ARTS FOR THE PARKS. Coincidentally, David J. Wagner proposed the very first tour of the ARTS FOR THE PARKS exhibition, served as a Juror for that exhibit, managed the ARTS FOR THE PARKS tour for its first five years (1988-93), and served on the Advisory Board of its parent organization, the National Park Art Academy. AMERICA'S PARKS Through the Beauty of Art is an entirely new initiative, produced by David J. Wagner, L.L.C.

Original artworks depicting subject matter found in any national, state, provincial, county, or city park, or any park of any other such unit in Canada, Mexico, and The United States is eligible. Original, two-dimensional art completed in 2010, '11, or '12 is eligible. Eligible media includes: oil, acrylic, watercolor, gouache, mixed media, pastel, pencil, pen and ink, tempera, batik, alkyd, scratchboard, and original prints (e.g., lithograph, etching, engraving, serigraph). Ineligible media includes: any media not listed above such as computer enhanced or generated artwork, photography, reproduction prints, sculpture, video. Not including frame or mat, the maximum size for entered artworks is 900 square inches. Calculate by multiplying the horizontal and vertical dimensions. Example: A 30" x 30" painting would equal 900 square inches. Entries must be postmarked by October 15, 2012.

Awards include: America's Parks Curator's Choice Award, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Juror's Choice Award, PleinAir™ Magazine Juror's Choice Award, Society of Animal Artist's Wildlife Art Award, Susan Kathleen Black Foundation Floral Art Award, Wildlife Art Journal Juror's Choice Award.

For a Prospectus (Entry Form) email: americasparksartexhibit@yahoo.com

Visit: http://davidjwagnerllc.com/competitions.html 

Or by clicking here.

Book Signing at the Art and the Animal reception

American Wildlife Art

Book signing!

Friday, October 5, 2012

The Society of Animal Artists

52nd Annual Exhibition Artists’ Reception

The Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum

Oradell, NJ

David J. Wagner, Ph.D., will autograph copies of his book, AMERICAN WILDLIFE ART,  at the Friday, October 5 Reception for the 52nd Annual Exhibition of The Society of Animal Artists at The Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum.   Proceeds will benefit The Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum thanks to a generous donation by The Susan Kathleen Black Foundation.

American Wildlife Art...
Bookshelves abound with accounts of wildlife artists and their artistry, but no book is truly comparable to American Wildlife Art. In American Wildlife Art, scholar David J. Wagner, tells the story of this popular genre’s history, shaped by four centuries of cultural events and aesthetic and ideological trends, from its beginnings in colonial times to the monumental works of the present day. In his insightful accounts of the artists, events, and trends at the heart of this uniquely American art form, Wagner explains how the aesthetic idioms and imagery of American wildlife art have evolved, how its ecological ideologies have changed with changing circumstances and ideas about animals and their habitats, and how artists and entrepreneurs developed and influenced the market for wildlife art.

Wagner’s history begins with the works of John White and Mark Catesby, artists who documented the flora and fauna of the New World and presented Europeans with a view of both the economic potential and the natural wonders of the then sparsely settled continent. After the American Revolution, as the new nation grew, artists such as Alexander Wilson and especially John James Audubon caused the course of American wildlife art history to turn and advance, setting the stage for Arthur Tait’s collaboration with Currier & Ives, which brought wildlife art to the masses,  and the work of Edward Kemeys, whose impressionistic sculpture captured the essence of disappearing wildlife like the wolf and buffalo at the same time that prominent Americans like John Muir and Theodore Roosevelt promoted wilderness preservation and the ethics of sportsmanship. As Wagner’s narrative moves to the twentieth century and beyond, it embraces in revealing detail the lives of artists Louis Agassiz Fuertes and Carl Rungius, painters who were among the most influential wildlife artists of their time. Wagner’s account concludes with portraits of recent and contemporary wildlife artists such as Ray Harm, Robert Bateman, Bob Kuhn, Roger Tory Peterson, Stanley Meltzoff, and Kent Ullberg—artists whose work at once departs from and embodies the legacies, traditions, and innovations that informed and preceded it.

Through a rich array of illustrations and its incisive text, American Wildlife Art will appeal to collectors, conservationists, and artists—to everyone who already enjoys wildlife art or who is learning about it for the first time. Wagner’s authoritative and even-handed prose brings this compelling art form to life, reminding us of the treasures found on America’s wild lands.

David J. Wagner...
David Wagner joined the Society of Animal Artists as Tour Director in 1987. He served as Director of the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum from 1977 to 1987.  David has also served as Curator of the Society of Animal Artists sculpture courtyard at National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C. from 2002 - 2007.  He earned a Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota and wrote his award-winning, two-volume dissertation on wildlife art prints.

   

LeRoy Neiman

LeRoy Neiman

(1921-2012)

Most people probably don't think of LeRoy Neiman as a wildlife artist, and for good reason.  He was much more.  But he did in fact paint wildlife.  In 2003, LeRoy Neiman had an exhibition at The Wildlife Experience in Denver based on the book of the same title: LeRoy Neiman: On Safari.  The exhibit was comprised of nearly seventy artworks inspired by a trip the artist made to Kenya in 1994.  Many of the exhibited works, including a new eight-foot high masterpiece of a Maasai warrior painted especially for the exhibit, and a 19-foot wide canvas of “the big five” painted in the African bush, were by Neiman from his private collection.

 

The Big Five

LeRoy Neiman passed away on June 20.  He was 91. For decades, he was the most recognized artist in America.  Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Neiman used the GI Bill to enroll at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he subsequently served as a member of its faculty from 1950 to 1960.  In 1963, the same year he held his first one-man show at Hammer Gallery in New York City, Neiman established a studio there, and never left.  Robust, with a persona that matched his art, LeRoy Neiman created a large body of distinctive, memorable, and for many, provocative artworks, that matched his often outrageous persona.     

“For me, the most impressive thing about Neiman's art, even more than his splashy, signature-style paintings and range of subjects and themes, has always been his incredible talent as a draftsman.  I’ve never met an artist who could draw what he observed better. As a painter, Neiman had the rare ability to use his talent to express extraordinarily creative ideas, and in the process, convey the character of his subjects.”~David Wagner

David J. Wagner, Dave Liniger,chairman of the board, RE/MAX International and founder of The Wildlife Experience Museum in Denver and Neiman at the exhibition opening for "On Safari" in 2003. Photo by Lynn Quayle

Wildlife Art Journal Editor, Todd Wilkinson interviewed David Wagner about LeRoy Neiman the day after the artist's death.  The interview can be read in its entirety here on the Wildlife Art Journal website (Click Here)


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The Modern Diorama?

Now that the 51st Art and the Animal exhibition is now open at the Milwaukee Public Museum, or tour director Dr. David J. Wagner wrote an interesting article on the Birth of the Modern Diorama, something that we mostly take for granted while enjoying a walk through one of our many museums.

Enjoy!

The Milwaukee Public Museum

and The Birth of the Modern Diorama

from unedited research notes

of Dr. David J. Wagner

for American Wildlife Art

american-wildlife-art.com

Carl Akeley

Carl Akeley (1864–1926), along with William Hornaday (1854–1937), were first-generation American taxidermists who received on-the-job training from European taxidermists recruited by Henry A. Ward (1834–1906).  Carl Akeley completed the first complete museum habitat diorama in the world, depicting a muskrat colony, at the Milwaukee Public Museum in 1890.

In 1895, Frederick J. Skiff enticed Akeley to leave the Milwaukee Public Museum to become chief taxidermist at the new Field Museum of Natural History, where he would oversee the production of dioramas with painted backgrounds by painters like Charles Knight. While this was the beginning of the “golden age of dioramas,” it would reach its zenith fourteen years later when Akeley would leave Chicago for New York to work at the American Museum of Natural History.  In 1893, Marshall Field agreed to contribute $1 million to acquire the collection of Ward’s Natural Science Establishment, which was on display at the Columbian Exposition, to establish a public museum of natural history for Chicago.  The Field Museum opened on January 16, 1894.  By contrast, The Milwaukee Public Museum which was chartered in 1882 has already opened to the public ten years earlier in 1884.  Its existence however can be traced back to 1851 and the founding of the German-English Academy in Milwaukee.

For futher information, visit: davidjwagnerllc.com, SCHOLARLY RESEARCH: - Taxidermy and Habitat Groups: The Milwaukee-Chicago Connection and The Birth of the Modern Diorama or click:

http://www.davidjwagnerllc.com/Milwaukee-Chicago-Connection.pdf

The Siegrists World of Nature in Miniature Exhibition Tour and Workshop

When you think of wildlife art, large paintings comes to mind almost automatically. But this is not the case when you are talking about Wes & Rachelle Siegrist. They are two of the nation's premiere miniaturists and we are honored to have them as members of the Society of Animal Artists. They have many museum exhibits coming up along with a workshop in January of 2011. If you are near any of these venues please take the opportunity to view the exhibit.

The World of Nature in Miniature
Paintings by Wes and Rachelle Siegrist
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
Tucson, Arizona
December 11, 2010 - March 13, 2011
Produced by David J. Wagner, L.L.C.
David J. Wagner, Ph.D., Curator/Tour Director

WORKSHOP
Three day workshop on miniature art
"The Techniques of Working in Miniature Art"
Friday, January 14 - Sunday, January 16, 2011

Explore the enchanting world of miniature art with two of the nation's premiere miniaturists, Wes & Rachelle Siegrist. Watch them demonstrate techniques and try your hand at creating one of these diminutive gems of the art world. Learn about the guidelines contemporary miniature art shows and societies follow to preserve and promote working "in little". While all media are acceptable the instructors will be specializing in watercolor on a variety of surfaces.

The class will include a gallery walk by the Siegrists to discuss and field questions about their 50 paintings concurrently on exhibit at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum as well as a Power Point presentation on the history and scope of miniature art today. Miniature Art Society exhibition catalogues will be displayed in the classroom to illustrate the variety of media, technique and styles acceptable in modern miniatures.

This class counts towards the Art Institute's Nature Illustration Certificate. Individuals following this course will need the prerequisites Pencil I and Watercolor I. The workshop is open to all individuals working in their preferred medium. Cost is $365 for Museum members and $405 for non-members. Space is limited and advanced registration is required. 

For more information:
Email Wes & Rachelle at siegrist@artofwildlife.com
Or contact the Institute directly at:
Email: arts@desertmuseum.org
Phone: (520) 883-3024
Fax: (520) 883-3043
Mail: 2021 N. Kinney Rd., Tucson, AZ 85743
Website: www.desertmuseum.org/arts/
Maps & Classroom Location (PDF)

Please contact Wes & Rachelle if you have any questions concerning the workshop.
This exhibition will feature 50 of the Siegrists' miniature paintings of wildlife drawn from their book The World of Nature in Miniature: Paintings by Wes and Rachelle Siegrist.

A Traveling Exhibition of
EXQUISITE MINIATURES BY WES AND RACHELLE SIEGRIST

Produced by David J. Wagner, L.L.C.
David J. Wagner, Ph.D., Curator/Tour Director
Each of these exhibitions will feature 50 of the Siegrists' miniature paintings.

The Museum of the Southwest, Midland, TX
Friday, June 10 through Sunday, August 28, 2011
THE MUSEUM OF THE SOUTHWEST, 1705 West Missouri Avenue, Midland, TX 79701-6516
(432) 683-2882

The Dennos Museum Center, Traverse City, MI
Saturday, November 5, 2011 through Sunday, January 1, 2012
THE DENNOS MUSEUM CENTER, 1701 E. Front St., Traverse City, MI 49686
(231) 995-1055

Museum of the Gulf Coast, Port Arthur, TX
Sunday, April 7 through Sunday, June 2, 2013
MUSEUM OF THE GULF COAST, 700 Procter St., Port Arthur, TX 77640
(409) 982-7000

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Congratulations to David J. Wagner!!!

Society of Animal Artists Curator/Tour Director, David J. Wagner was honored at the September 2010 Annual Workshop of The Susan K. Black Foundation in Dubois, WY as the Recipient of the Foundation's Black Parkman Award for Art Industry Leadership. Dr. Wagner also serves as Curator/Tour Director for the Foundation's triennial exhibition, BLOSSOM ~ ART OF FLOWERS.

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SAA’s Signature Members, Wes & Rachelle Siegrist, Making History

SAA's Signature Members, Wes & Rachelle Siegrist are making history with two concurrent solo museum exhibitions, curated by David J. Wagner, Ph.D.. They have on display 100 of the Siegrists' miniature paintings. They represent the largest solo exhibition of miniature paintings by living miniaturists in the genre's history at one time and are taking place now in Louisiana.

Under The Magnifying Glass: Exquisite Miniatures

by Wes and Rachelle Siegrist
The R.W. Norton Art Gallery, Shreveport, LA

Tuesday, May 4 through Sunday, July 25, 2010

"Fishing the Wreck of the Elizabeth Lee"

GUEST APPEARANCE: 2:00 Saturday, June 12, 2010: Presentation and lecture by Wes Siegrist on The History of Miniature Art and David J. Wagner, Ph.D. on Nature in Art History immediately followed by an exhibition Gallery Walk conducted by Wes and Rachelle and book signings by Wes and Rachelle Siegrist and David J. Wagner, Curator/Tour Director.

This exhibition will feature 50 of the Siegrists' miniature paintings of wildlife, landscapes, portraits and still life drawn from their book Exquisite Miniatures by Wes & Rachelle Siegrist.

For more information and photos please see: http://www.artofwildlife.com/exquisite_miniatures.html

The World of Nature in Miniature:

Paintings by Wes and Rachelle Siegrist

The West Baton Rouge Museum, Port Allen, LA
Sunday, May 16 through Saturday, July 31, 2010

"Dimunitive Great Egret"

GUEST APPEARANCE: 2:30-4:30 Sunday, June 13, 2010: Presentation and lecture by Wes Siegrist on The History of Miniature Art and David J. Wagner, Ph.D. on Nature in Art History immediately followed by an exhibition Gallery Walk conducted by Wes and Rachelle and book signings by Wes and Rachelle Siegrist and David J. Wagner, Curator/Tour Director.

Tour Venues: December 11, 2010 - March 13, 2011: Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Tucson, AZ

Sept. 1 - Nov. 15, 2010: Open/Pending

 

This exhibition will feature 50 of the Siegrists' miniature paintings of wildlife drawn from their book The World of Nature in Miniature: Paintings by Wes and Rachelle Siegrist.

For more information and photos please see: http://www.artofwildlife.com/world_of_nature.html

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