THE SOCIETY OF ANIMAL
ARTISTS 54TH ANNUAL EXHIBITION
AND 2014-2015 ART AND
THE ANIMAL TOUR
 |
| The Wildlife Experience, Parker, CO, Founded by Dave and Gail Liniger |
THE 2014-2015 ANNUAL EXHIBITION AND ART
AND THE ANIMAL TOUR are largely due to individuals who have dedicated
themselves and their resources to the Society of Animal Artists beginning with
Dave and Gail Liniger, co-founders of The Wildlife Experience in Parker,
Colorado. Dave and Gail made a personal
commitment of their considerable resources to the continuous display of exhibitions
by members of The Society of Animal Artists in the name of art, conservation,
and education at The Wildlife Experience beginning with the museum’s inaugural
exhibition in 2002. In September of that
year, the Linigers celebrated the Grand Opening of The Wildlife Experience by
hosting the premiere of the 42nd Annual Exhibition of The Society of Animal
Artists. Five years later, in 2007, The Wildlife
Experience hosted the Society’s 47th Annual Exhibition. And now, in 2014, The Wildlife Experience is
again hosting the Annual Exhibition of the Society of
Animal Artists, this time, the 54th.
 |
| Dave and Gail Liniger and their dog, Max |
But that is not all that Dave and Gail
Liniger have done for The Society of Animal Artists. Far from it.
Thanks to their continuous support, The Wildlife Experience has displayed
the Society of Animal Artists’ Art and the Animal traveling exhibition in each
of the other years of the museum’s first decade. And, The Wildlife Experience also hosted numerous
other traveling exhibitions that have featured artworks by members of The
Society of Animal Artists, including many that I have been involved with such
as America’s Parks, American Birds - A Flight Through Time, Art of the
Rainforest, The Art of Robert Bateman, Art of the Dive: Portraits of the Deep
(inspired by Dave Liniger's own passion for scuba diving), Biodiversity in the
Art of Carel Pieter Brest van Kempen, Blossom
~ Art of Flowers; Exquisite Miniatures by Wes and Rachelle
Siegrist, Feline Fine: Art of Cats, LeRoy Neiman: A
Retrospective, Paws and Reflect: Art of Canines, The Sea of Cortez, Kent
Ullberg: A Retrospective, and others to come including Andrew Denman: The
Modern Wild and Crocodilian Scratchboards by John Agnew. Speaking from years of experience as a museum
director, curator and tour director, I know of no individuals who have personally
done more to showcase the work of The Society of Animal Artists than Dave and
Gail Liniger.
The Hiram Blauvelt
Art Museum in Oradell, New Jersey, is the first venue this year on the Art and
the Animal Tour. But The Blauvelt is not
new to The Society of Animal Artists. The
Blauvelt was an Art and the Animal tour venue in 1998. In 2003 and 2004, The Blauvelt hosted The Society’s
43rd and 44th Annual Exhibitions. Under the leadership of James Bellis, Jr., who
assumed the duties of President of The Blauvelt-Demarest Foundation in 2010,
The Blauvelt hosted the 52nd
Annual Exhibition in 2012, committed to be a tour venue in 2013, 2014, 2015, and
2016, and pledged to host The 57th
Annual Exhibition in 2017. Since 1993, The
Blauvelt-Demarest Foundation has made Purchase Awards from The Society of
Animal Artists Annual Exhibition for the purpose of building the permanent
collection of The Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum. Recipients are as follows: 1991 Dennis
Anderson, 1994 John Schoenherr, 1996 Walt Matia, 1997 Renee Headings and Wayne
Trimm, 1998 Lanford Monroe, 1999 Terry Miller, 2000 Kent Ullberg, 2001
Walter Matia, 2002 Julie Chapman and Matthew Hillier, 2003 Daniel Smith, 2004 Pete Zaluzec, 2006 James Coe, 2007 Dino
Paravano, 2008 Paul Rhymer, 2009 Matthew Hillier, 2010 Peter Clinton Gray and
Stephen Quinn, 2011 Robert Bateman, 2012 Mick Doellinger and Cynthie Fischer,
2013 Kim Diment and Kathleen Partridge. The
Blauvelt has also maintained a robust artist-in-residence program which has
included members of The Society of Animal Artists, and hosted any number of
one-man shows including Ocean Life by Stanley Meltzoff, and the two-man show
earlier this year of work by Guy Harvey and Kent Ullberg.
An individual who is
responsible for bringing Art and the Animal now five times to the state of
Missouri for display at The Ella Carothers Dunnegan Gallery of Art in Bolivar
is Director, Jo Roberts. In addition to
the on-going display of work by members of The Society of Animal Artists, The
Dunnegan has also hosted America’s Parks I and II which featured work by
numerous members of The Society of Animal Artists several of whom received
awards, and various other traveling exhibitions produced by David J. Wagner,
L.L.C., for which I am also exceedingly grateful.
I’ve often thought
that true proof of success and a compliment to any businessman including one in
the arts like me, is repeat business. That
is why I am so grateful to people like Dave and Gail Liniger at The Wildlife
Experience, Jim Bellis, Jr. and his father before him at The Blauvelt-Demarest
Foundation, and Jo Roberts at The Ella Carothers Dunnegan Gallery of Art. But without new business, it’s impossible to
achieve growth. And that’s why I am pleased
all the more to add a new venue to the long list of previous venues which have
hosted Art and the Animal over the years; one, I’m sure, that will be a source
of great pride for members of The Society of Animal Artists: The National
Sporting Library and Museum in
Middleburg, Virginia. Several individuals played a role in making the display of
Art and the Animal at the NSLM a reality.
As early as 2009, Turner Reuter of Red
Fox Fine Art in Middleburg, encouraged NSLM to host Art and the Animal, as
would SAA member, Anita Baarns. Curatorial
Assistant, Hannah Reuter, and niece of SAA member Diana Reuter-Twining, subsequently
advocated display of the exhibition at NSLM.
Advancement of display from concept to reality finally coalesced thanks
to the initiative of Claudia Pfeiffer George L. Ohrstrom, Jr. Curator, and Melanie Leigh
Mathewes Executive Director,
to whom I am now indebted.
I encourage all members
of The Society of Animal Artists and anyone else interested in helping advance its
mission and cause, to contact me with leads and suggestions for other new
venues, so that I may continue the campaign to share the extraordinary
outpouring of work that comprises the Society's Annual Exhibition and Art and
The Animal Tour with new audiences far and wide into the future.
David J. Wagner, Ph.D.
Tour Director, Curator, and
Author, American Wildlife Art
David J. Wagner, Ph.D.
Tour Director, Curator, and
Author, American Wildlife Art
ART AND THE ANIMAL TOUR ITINERARY
(Dates/Venues subject to change.)
PREMIERE
The Wildlife
Experience
August 23 -
October 22, 2014
Parker, CO
TOUR
The Hiram
Blauvelt Art Museum
November 15, 2014
- January 4, 2015
Oradell, NJ
The Ella
Carothers Dunnegan Gallery of Art
February 1 - March
15, 2015
Bolivar, MO
The National
Sporting Library and Museum
April 17 - August
30, 2015
Middleburg, VA
DAVID J. WAGNER, L.L.C., ART AND THE ANIMAL TOUR OFFICE
(414) 221-6878; davidjwagnerllc@yahoo.com
David J. Wagner, Ph.D., Tour Director
davidjwagnerllc.com
Member, American Alliance of Museums; International
Council of Museums
