The Decoy Collection of Tamara and Donald Kirson

Tamara and Donald Kirson began collecting decoys in earnest about ten years ago by just buying things they liked. Since then, they have traveled throughout the country, visited numerous collections, gone to many auctions, and gathered some of finest decoys from the different regions of the country. This selection, on display in the Ward Museum’s Decoy Study Gallery, features birds from some of the great hunting regions in the United States.

Back from the Brink: Stories of Wildfowl Conservation

September 30, 2011– January 22, 2012

Opening Reception: Friday, October 7, 4:30-6:30p.m. at Chesapeake Wildfowl Expo Pig Roast

On the Eastern Shore of Maryland and throughout the United States, several species of birds have neared extinction as gunning practices and habitat loss have taken a toll on wildfowl populations. Over the last century, the efforts of lawmakers, birdwatchers, environmentalists, hunters, and everyday citizens have helped to bring some species back from the brink. This exhibit shares stories of successful conservation efforts, attempts that came too late, and what the future might hold for currently threatened species and habitats.

Swanfall

December 2, 2011 - February 5, 2012

Opening Reception: December 2, 5-7 p.m. 

Swans have fascinated humans for centuries; these beautiful and graceful creatures have been cast as central characters in fairy tales and mythology, revered as the vehicles of Hindu deities, and kept as living decorations in the gardens of royalty. Their natural behavior and habitat is equally fascinating; their mating and migratory patterns, species distribution, fossil record, and evolution history are all rich areas of research. This exhibit in the Welcome Gallery will showcase carvings, paintings, and artifacts, as well as photography from the new edition by Tom Horton and David Harp, Swanfall: Journey of the Tundra Swans.

Maryland Masters: Edwin Remsberg’s Portraits of Maryland Traditions

January 27 – April 8, 2012

Opening Reception: January 27, 2012

Maryland Masters: Edwin Remsberg’s Portraits of Maryland Traditions is a collection of images that reveal the unique flavor of Maryland and its distinctive community traditions. These traditions have been handed down from generation to generation, from master to apprentice. Edwin Remsberg, Maryland photographer and Maryland Traditions collaborator since 2008, has captured these rituals in this series of portraits of men and women performing their individual practices, including some of the state’s oldest living traditions – like foxhunting, Smith Island Cakes, boatbuilding, Native American beadwork, and African-American gospel quartet singing – as well as some of its newest – like Colombian vallenato accordion and South Indian bharathanatyam dance. The Maryland Masters exhibit is part of a year-long series of events marking the tenth anniversary of the founding of Maryland Traditions, the folklife program of the Maryland State Arts Council.

Making Her Mark: A Showcase of Women Carvers

February 10 - April 1, 2012

Opening Reception: February 10, 5-7 p.m.

In honor of Women’s History Month, the Ward Museum features an exhibit of carvings by women from the early twentieth century to the present day. Although birdcarving is associated strongly with men, women have been carving since at least the 1920s, when Helen Lay Strong of upstate New York began selling her carvings of miniature waterfowl, songbirds, and dogs. Gladys Black, “the bird lady of Iowa” and an avid conservationist, exhibited a carving in the very first Worlds exhibition by the Ward Foundation in 1968. Join us as we explore the legacy of women carvers past and present.
 

Subject to Interpretation

April 13 - July 8, 2012

In 1987, the Ward World Championship Carving Competition introduced an interpretive category to the lineup of divisions, allowing for carvings that emphasize form, content, and movement over realism. This exhibit features a selection of the wide variety of bird species rendered by artists in ways that provoke thought and wonder.

Something to Crow About: A Cultural History of the Chicken

June 15 – August 5, 2012:

Opening Reception: June 15, 2012

One of the most common and widespread domestic animals, chickens have been providing meat and eggs for humans for at least 5000 years. In fact, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird. From the backyard to the table, chickens have played an important role in the culture of the Eastern Shore for generations. This exhibit in the Welcome Gallery will examine the history of this staple of farm life and traditional foodways through art, archival photographs and ephemera, and oral histories and folklore.

The Photography of A. Aubrey Bodine

July 13 – September 30, 2012

Opening Reception: July 13, 2012

In photographic circles around the world, A. Aubrey Bodine (1906-1970) was regarded as one of the finest pictorialists of the twentieth century. His pictures were exhibited in hundreds of prestigious shows, in scores of museums, and he won awards against top competition. His photographs were seen in the Sunday Sun, numerous books and magazines, on calendars, as murals, and as framed prints decorating homes. This exhibit, on display in the LaMay Gallery, showcases a selection of Bodine’s work in the Chesapeake Bay region.