Show Preview | Society of Animal Artists’ 63rd annual Exhibition

Founded in 1960, the Society of Animal Artists is devoted to showcasing some of today’s best wildlife art. This year, for the prestigious international organization’s 63rd annual exhibition, a panel of jurors selected 118 works by members to be displayed at the Stifel Fine Arts Center in Wheeling, West Virginia. The selected pieces showcase a variety of subjects, styles, media and techniques, ensuring that the exhibition will have a wide scope.

“It’s an extremely broad show with seven different countries represented in the exhibition, and the subject matter is varied,” says Wes Siegrist, executive director of Society of Animal Artists. “You get a lion, zebra, otter, great blue heron, but we also get some very non-typical subject matter as well…there are insects and species you might not have heard of before.”

In 2023, some of the highlights will include Jeff Gandert’s painting HICKORY; Lucrezia Bieler’s work WOODCOCK, which is an intricate cutout from a single sheet of black paper; and John Brennan’s painting CELESTIAL DANCE, depicting birds flying high against the clouds. A lesser-recognized insect subject is the star of the scratchboard work THE UNSEEN by Lori A. Dunn.

The show, on view August 12 through October 28, will be highlighted by a reception on October 13 that will have some of the exhibiting artists in attendance and the announcement of the award-winning art. During the reception week, SAA will host demos, workshops, panel discussions and more for its members. Some of the events will be open to collectors, who will also get the chance to meet selected participating artists. Complete information about the festivities was not available at the time of press, but look for updates on the Society of Animal Artists’ website.

Following the closing of the show at The Stifel Fine Arts Center, 60 artworks will go on tour to select museums around the country. From November 18 through January 14, 2024, art lovers will find the exhibit at the Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum in Oradell, New Jersey. It then arrives at the Dane G. Hansen Memorial Museum in Logan, Kansas, on March 1, where it will remain on view through May 27. The tour ends in Chicago at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum from June 15 to September 2. —Rochelle Belsito 

contact informationsocietyofanimalartists.com 

This story appeared in the August/September 2023 issue of Southwest Art magazine.

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