From the familiar feathered friends of Central Wisconsin to exotic avian life found across the globe, the world is flocking to Wausau this weekend. The Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum is gearing up to unveil its 51st annual Birds in Art exhibition on Saturday, Sept. 12, bringing fresh perspectives, unexpected mediums and 120 internationally renowned artists to its always-free galleries in Wausau.
The exhibit, which runs Sept. 12 to Jan. 3, kicks off with an all-day opening reception featuring 70 artists, many of whom will perform “artists in action” demonstrations in the morning, followed by a free, family-friendly hands-on workshop in the Glass Box studio during the afternoon.
“Over half of the artists that are exhibiting come to Wausau,” said Bryce Cebula, marketing and communications manager at the museum. “You just get to meet these people, you get to have your favorite artist sign your catalog if you choose, you get to talk to them about their work in real time.”
Birds in Art is truly an international affair. This year, the jury selected 100 artworks out of 1,108 entries submitted by 672 artists worldwide, with 34 international artists representing 12 countries (including South Africa, Japan, Belgium, Australia and Sweden). All the art is new, having been created sometime in the past three years.
After 50 years of exhibiting artwork with a limited subject — birds — you’d think Birds in Art would become a stale experience — but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Every new year breeds a fresh crop of diverse artists presenting work in a variety of media. This year’s exhibit includes 18 first-time Birds in Art artists, 20 previously named Master Wildlife Artists and 12 Wisconsin residents.
“This year especially, we have a significant number of new artists to the exhibition, which is always really exciting,” Cebula said. “In that same vein, we also have a lot of names that we’ve had since the very beginning who are still submitting year after year and being a part of the exhibition. So it’s staying true to what Birds in Art was intended to be 50 years ago, but also trying to bring new life into that exhibition as well.”
It’s not just first-time artists who keep the five-decade exhibit filled with new life; a rotating jury introduces fresh perspectives when evaluating submissions every year.
“We select three new jury members every year, so it’s not the same group of people that are looking at the artwork and deciding what’s going to be a part of the exhibition,” Cebula said. “They’re always well-renowned people in the art world that we find and have connections with, but it’s fresh eyes every single year. So I think that helps a ton with making sure that the exhibition stays fresh.”
But the best part of Birds in Art? It’s free.
“It really was the founding family’s wish to make sure that this was a place that was always accessible for everybody in the community, so we make sure to keep that going as much as we can,” Cebula said. “We still get a lot of support from the founding families as well, to make sure that we uphold that. Since the first iteration of Birds in Art, it has always been free and open to the public. Everything else that we do is free and open to the public, and it’s because we get such great support from the founding families, from all of our members — all of the people in the community that have become members of the museum.”
For more information on this year’s Birds in Art exhibit, visit lywam.org.
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