Every Year This Wisconsin Museum Hosts the Best Modern Bird Art in the World

 Audubon > News Read More 

Where can you see the world’s best bird art? Maybe the Louvre, in Paris? Or the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York? Those venerable institutions host a wealth of avian imagery, it’s true. But for modern bird art, you’d need to visit a lesser-known museum in a most unlikely place: the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausau, Wisconsin. That’s the scene of the annual Birds in Art show. In early September this year, the museum put on a major celebration to mark the 50th anniversary of this exhibition.

Birds in Art in its current form is a visual feast of paintings, drawings, sculptures, carvings, collages, and a few objects that defy classification, all representing birds in some way, from hyper-realistic to utterly abstract. This year’s exhibition is the largest ever, with 142 artworks by 142 artists representing 16 countries. More than 80 of the included artists attended the opening on the first weekend of September, some coming from as far away as Australia, and the whole community of Wausau turned out to welcome them.

Somewhat isolated in central Wisconsin and with only about 40,000 residents, Wausau might seem an odd place for a world-class art museum. But for more than a century, the town and the region have benefited from the philanthropy of the Yawkey and Woodson families. Leigh Yawkey Woodson was a lover of art, and after she died in the 1960s, her daughters—Nancy Woodson Spire, Alice Woodson Forester, and Margaret Woodson Fisher—decided that an art museum in her memory would be a fitting tribute. Alice Forester and her husband, John, donated their three-acre estate and spacious home as the starting point. After extensive renovations and additions, the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum was ready to open in 1976.

For a grand opening, the family sought suggestions from their friend Owen J. Gromme, a famed Wisconsin wildlife artist. Gromme assembled an exhibition with some of his own works and some contributed by his friends—and his friends happened to include most of the leading nature artists in North America. Birds of the Lakes, Fields, and Forests opened in September 1976, and it exceeded all expectations, drawing thousands of visitors. It was such a success that it was repeated the following year, with more artists participating. Soon renamed Birds in Art, it has continued every year since.

Today the selection process is always the same. Artists submit images of their artwork to the museum, but an independent jury of art experts makes the selections. The competition is intense: This year, they chose 101 works from among 1,160 entries. The museum also added 41 originals from individuals honored as Master Wildlife Artists in past years, including legends like the late Roger Tory Peterson, George M. Sutton, and Peter Scott, all from the museum’s own collection. The resulting array of 142 works is a stunning look at the best of avian art, and a glimpse into how the genre has changed over the last half-century.

I was lucky to have my painting of two American Flamingos accepted this year (only my fourth time making it into the show), and I couldn’t pass up the chance to attend the gala opening. Over the course of four days I talked with dozens of artists from all over the U.S., as well as from Sweden, England, Germany, Costa Rica, and other nations.

Among the artists who had traveled farthest was Manisha Padhye from Pune, India, who was juried into Birds in Art this year for her sixth time. “It is such an original concept not just as a genre of art, but also in terms of creating awareness about birds and their habitats,” she told me. In India, she said, “there are many artists inspired by nature, birds and wildlife who have solo or group shows. But there is nothing like Birds in Art. There is something very compelling about this exhibition not only as an artist but also as a viewer.”

For Zev Labinger from Kiryat Tiv’on, Israel, attending the opening was an uplifting experience, but so was everything about his practice of art. “My connection to nature, especially birds, together with painting, has become a life saver during the past few years of political turmoil and war,” he said. “It’s really this deep connection to the natural world that gives me perspective and relief from the heartbreaking human dramas unfolding around me.” 

An artist from the Netherlands, Marcel Witte, commented that “You can’t open a newspaper or watch a news report without noticing that wars and violence dominate the world news. The price for these things is extremely high, while the solution is as simple as respect and tolerance for each other.” His painting, “Peacemaker,” depicts a dove building a nest in the gun barrel of a tank.

Besides talking with artists, I also spent hours studying the exhibition and comparing it to those of past years. Two trends seemed especially noticeable: Bird art is getting better, and it’s becoming even more creative and diverse.

I discussed these ideas with Matt Foss, who has been at the Woodson for 15 years and is now the museum’s director. When I asked if the exhibition itself has helped to elevate the level of avian art, he agreed that was likely, citing the overall quality of the show and the relationships established here among the artists as motivators. “The artists push themselves each year to get into the show, resulting in competitive and strong work,” he says. “I hear all the time that artists start working on next year’s submission the day they get home.”

All the artists I spoke with agreed. The motivation to raise the level of our best work is driven partly by the prestige of this show. But another big factor is the experience of being there. As visual artists we often work alone, without immediate feedback or social contact. In Wausau, by contrast, we’re surrounded by kindred spirits, celebrating with other artists and art fans. The whole community, including civic leaders and members of the Woodson family, makes us feel that our work has value. After this magical experience, we’re inspired to make our best art even better.

I also asked Matt Foss if he thought the content of the show was changing or just expanding. “I don’t know if ‘bird art’ is shifting away from traditional approaches,” he said. “I think many of the styles and techniques and concepts remain largely the same. The biggest shift has been the incorporation of more contemporary art and approaches to redefine the concept of ‘birds in art.’ Rather than birds as the ultimate subject, many artists have shifted towards more personalized work where the work is about them and what is happening in their own lives, with birds as part of the story.”

A striking example in this year’s exhibition was “Vacancy” by Gigi Chen. A professional fine artist based in New York City, Chen had featured birds as elements in her imaginative paintings for 10 years. But it was not until 2021, she says, that “I started birding, doing photography and reading about them constantly. Knowing more about them naturally allowed me to change the way I depicted them. Even then, birds are still in my work to allow me to tell a personal story.”

“‘Vacancy’ is part of my suite of works exploring the meaning of home,” she says. It’s a tribute to Flaco, the Eurasian Eagle Owl that escaped from the Central Park Zoo in 2023 and survived for months in the park. Chen observed Flaco repeatedly, and in this painting she creates a metaphor for the owl’s urban life by juxtaposing birds with a neon sign.

Fifty years ago, no one would have used such a surreal approach to avian artwork. But as the definition of the genre continues to expand, the art world at large is taking notice and contributing to the enrichment of this field, ensuring that the future of birds in art will be more dynamic than ever.