Exhibitions of the Society of Animal Artists

Carel Pieter Brest van Kempen, Charles Allmond and Bob Kuhn at the 2001 SAA Annual Exhibition at the West Valley Art Museum, Surprise, AZ.

With the Society of Animal Artists' 59th Annual Exhibition upcoming, I thought it would be interesting to share some of the SAA exhibition history with you.  There have been nearly 1,000 artists featured in the exhibitions to date.  The first was held in 1960 at the Burr Gallery in New York, NY, and up until 1980, the exhibitions were held in various galleries located in New York City.  

Louis De Donato, Michelle Daniels, Marilyn Newmark, Guy Coheleach, Leslie Delgyer, and Pam Coheleach at the 2003 SAA Annual Exhibition at the Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum, Oradell, NJ.

In 1981 the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, PA began the SAA's expansion into various regions of the United States and Canada. The touring aspect of the Society's exhibitions started in 1988 when the SAA recruited David J. Wagner to create and manage tours of artwork selected from their annual exhibitions.  To date, this includes over 100 venues!

In the SAA's history, over 70 artists have been selected by the juries 15 times or more to have their artwork included in the exhibition, and 25 artists have been featured in 25 or more!  SAA Master Signature Artist, Guy Coheleach, holds the current record of participating in 46 Annual Exhibitions, and he will again be featured in our 2019 exhibition! Marilyn Newmark (in the photo above with Guy) participated in 41 exhibitions before passing away.

Eileen Matias, Rachelle Siegrist (My first time attending an Annual Exhibition opening), James Coe, Tucker Bailey, John Pitcher, and Sue Westin enjoy a museum-style picnic in the Bennington Center for the Arts, Bennington, VT.

Artists & Artworks in the 2019-2020 SAA Tour
(Last month's blog had the list of all artists in the exhibition)

Adair, Sue deLearie - This Way to the Eelgrass! 

Beecham, Gregory A. - Winter Survivor

Bieler, Lucrezia - Covey of Quail

Birchill, Jeff - Gulf Coast Treasures

Bradshaw, Jeremy - Splittin' Hare

Brest van Kempen, Carel - Out Of Their Depth

Chen, Dan - Take Two to Tango

Coe, James - Cool Shadows

Cohleach, Guy- Mountain Flash

Crouter, Anni - Arabesque

Diment, Kim Rae - A Pair In A Partridge Tree

Doellinger, Mick - Incoming

Donahue, Mikel - Your Moment's At Hand

Dunphy, Kathleen - Wingbeats

Faust, Anne Senechal - Another World

Frentner, Rusty - New Life

Fullingim, Sharon - Busy Body V

Geise, Ann - Goats Galore

Glanz, Daniel B. - Soulful

Graves, Sandy - Gone Fishin'

Gylling, Gemma - Treasures of the Elkhorn Slough

Hakeem, Sherif - In Focus

Hillier, Matthew Simon - Under The Curl

Ingram, Alison - Red Kite and a Mob of Crows

Kellner, Justin - An Easy View

Kiehm, David - Who's Turf?

Laird-Lagassee, Janet - Eye of the Beholder

Martin, Roger - Circumstantial Evidence

Martone, Jeanette - Waiting

Matia, Walter - The Talk of the Town

Maxwell, Sally - Fading

Maynard, Chris Maynard - Amphibian Delight

Miller, Darin - The Old Garden Gate

Murray, Robin E .T. - Wolverine in Taiga

Murtha, Sean - Golden Grace

Nimmo, Timothy - Constellation

Pepin, Patricia - Swan Flower

Plank, Millie Whipplesmith - Smith River Canyon, Double Dippers 

Plishka, John - Feeding Koi

Pokorny, Tamara - Behold but Beware 

Rankin, David - Ranthambhore Ambush 

Rhymer, Paul - The Candidate

Rigsby, Jody - Hopnotized

Rogers, Julia - Elephant in the Room 

Rosetta - Settled In

Siegrist, Rachelle - Stealthy Approach 

Siegrist, Wes - Southern Sentinel 

Solberg, Morten E. - This Is Paradise 

Soos, Heather - The Fish Hawk 

Stajcar, Pati - Rushing Home 

Stauffer, Amy - I Believe I Can Fly 

Sussino, Mark A. - Ambush Point 

Thompson, Carol Lee - Inquisitive 

Thornton, Rita - Vulturine Guineafowl 

Tryggmo, Gunnar - Shimmer

Tucker, Ezra - Splendor of the Plains 

Ullberg, Kent - Lone Wolf

Walter, Bart - The Embrace 

Yablonski, Scott - Sunspots

York, Sherrie - Chasing Daylight

TOUR VENUES / DATES

The Evelyn Burrow Museum

February 1 – April 15, 2020, Hanceville, AL

The Stamford Museum & Nature Center

May 22 – September 13, 2020, Stamford, CT

Until next time . . .

Rachelle Siegrist for the SAA

Meet the Tour Director for the Society of Animal Artists

David J. Wagner, Ph.D.

The Society of Animal Artists is pleased to present this post highlighting our Tour Director, David J. Wagner.  Dr. Wagner began working as the SAA Tour Director in 1988 and has taken the SAA all over the United States to a list of museum venues that would make any organization proud.  He has achieved a remarkable career thus far and holds a particular fondness for the SAA and its artists.

Dr. Wagner at the Allentown Art Museum for the Premiere of his exhibition, American Wildlife Art

Presented to David J. Wagner in 2002 at the 42nd Annual Exhibition of the Society of Animal Artists at the Grand Opening of the Wildlife Experience in Denver, CO

In 1975, David's career was re-directed from the world of concerts to museums. After earning a bachelors degree in applied piano with a minor in voice, and being accepted into the Indiana University Music School as a Graduate Student, he took an elective course in Museum Studies as part of the curriculum for a Masters degree in Arts Administration from the Graduate School of Business, which he intended at the time, to lead to a career in concert management.

David J. Wagner, book signing at release of American Wildlife Art, Charleston , SC, February 2008

David was a museum director for 20 years and his career has been multifaceted.  In the visual arts, he has focused much of his time and energy on the production of traveling museum exhibitions, which edify the public about wildlife, but also domesticated animals, ecology, and the environment.  In 1998, he formed a limited liability corporation for the principle purpose of producing and managing traveling exhibitions for display at museums and related art, cultural and scientific institutions in North America and abroad.

David J. Wagner with artist, Robert Bateman

In addition to serving as President of that company for the past 20 years, David has spent a portion of that time as author (most notably, American Wildlife Art), lecturer, occasional guest curator, and adjunct faculty at colleges and universities.

Dr. Wagner directed an expedition of artists and naturalists to the Sea of Cortez in Mexico in 2011

David sometimes coordinates guest appearances by artists at venues hosting his company’s exhibitions, in addition to occasionally serving as guest speaker himself.  He also serves as principle copy writer and editor of his exhibitions’ texts.  But mostly, truth be known, he spends most of his time marketing and managing his traveling museum exhibitions.

ANTHOLOGY OF AUDIO INTERVIEWS OF SAA MEMBERS

Robert Bateman, Carel Pieter Brest Van Kempen, Kent Ullbergand Dr. David J. Wagner

February 27, 2003: Interview of Carel Pieter Brest van Kempen and David J. Wagner on The Nature of Things, FM 90 Utah Public Radio, Salt Lake City

February 2008: Interview of David Wagner by Dan Small on Outdoor Wisconsin, Wisconsin Public Television

August 28, 2008: Partial Interview Without Listener Phone Calls of David Wagner by Larry Meiller on Wisconsin Public Radio

August 28, 2008: Complete Interview including Listener Phone Calls of David Wagner by Larry Meiller on Wisconsin Public Radio

November 12, 2008: Interview of Kent Ullberg and David Wagner by Larry Meiller on Wisconsin Public Radio

November 17, 2008: Interview of Robert Bateman and David Wagner on KPBS, San Diego

September 14, 2010: Interview of Robert Bateman, Kent Ullberg, and David Wagner on KHOL 89.01 Jackson Hole Community Radio

THE SEA OF CORTEZ, Field Trip Documentary Produced by Molly Moore Fine Art for David J. Wagner, L.L.C. for the 2013 museum exhibition, THE SEA OF CORTEZ (Richard C. Brusca, Ph.D., Field Trip Leader, to San Carlos, Mexico from March 19-26, 2011)

February 1, 2016: Environmental Ideology in Art by David Wagner on TEDxMHK, Kansas State University, Manhattan

July 12, 2018: Interview of David J. Wagner by Bonnie North on Lake Effect at WUWM 89.7 Milwaukee's NPR Station

Among exhibitions produced or toured by David J. Wagner, L.L.C. are the following: America's Parks, American Birds, American Still Lifes, American Studio Glass, American Wildlife Art, Andrew Denman: The Modern Wild, Animals in Art, Art and the Animal (from the Society of Animal Artists), Art of the Dive / Portraits of the Deep, Art of the Rainforest, Biodiversity in the Art of Carel Pieter Brest van Kempen, Blossom ~ Art of Flowers, Brian Jarvi's African Menagerie, Cory Trépanier's Into The Arctic, Crocodilian Scratchboards by John Agnew, Endangered Species, Flora and Fauna in Peril, Environmental Impact, Exquisite Miniatures by Wes and Rachelle Siegrist, Feline Fine: Art of Cats, John James Audubon, Kent Ullberg: A Retrospective, LeRoy Neiman, On Safari, LeRoy Neiman: A Retrospective, Masters of American Photography, Masterworks from The International Guild of Realism, Paws and Reflect: Art of Canines, Robert Bateman - A Retrospective, Sandy Scott: A Retrospective, Sayaka Ganz: Reclaimed Creations, Society of Animal Artists National Geographic Society Outdoor Sculpture Garden, The Horse In Fine Art (annual exhibition of the American Academy of Equine Art), The Sea of Cortez, The Art of Robert Bateman, Thomas D. Mangelsen: A Life in the Wild.  These exhibitions and others have toured and continue to tour to venues nationwide and in Canada under the auspices of David J. Wagner, L.L.C.

... and recent news as this blog goes to post: David is being honored in 2019 by The Dancing Star Foundation in Los Angeles, CA for his work!  In 2010, he was the recipient of the SKBF Black-Parkman Award for Art Industry Leadership.

For more information about Dr. Wagner visit his website: davidjwagnerllc.com
For a synopsis of David's complete career, visit: Synopsis
Additional videos are posted here: YouTube

~ Rachelle Siegrist for the SAA