Art and science synergize at Avalon Community Hall

Anyone visiting Avalon Community Hall during Wings’ N Water weekend, Sept. 20-21 will be inspired with an appreciation for nature—wildlife carvings, duck paintings, land- and sea-scape paintings, and photography, as well as a traveling display of the 2009 Federal Duck Stamp Competition.
Wildfowl carving legends Harry Shourds and Jamie Hand will be exhibiting and demonstrating their talent, as well as passing along skill-making tips.
Al Jordan is returning as a carving exhibitor and will also do an outside demonstration on falconry and hunting with hawks. Finally, artwork that will be used for next year’s Wings ‘N Water poster will be selected.
“The exhibition tells a compelling story without any words about the value of our habitat,” said Anne Galli, Wetlands Institute trustee in describing the Avalon exhibition. “When employed together, art and science are powerful conservation tools that encourage us to find better ways to use the goods and services that nature provides—much of it for free.”
That asset is captured particularly well in the plein-art exhibition with pieces that are barely dry. During the days leading up to the Festival, artists set up their canvasses around Cape May County, trying to capture the natural lighting and action of a particular scene.
For the first time in 40 years, the festival’s plein air painters are granted rare access to the Stone Harbor Bird Sanctuary. Their work is then available for sale at the Avalon exhibition.
Eight professional photographers are also competing this year for best wildlife and coastal scene pictures.
Wildlife artist Joshua Spies of Watertown, South Dakota, won the Federal Duck Stamp Contest— the oldest and most prestigious wildlife art competition in America—with his elegant depiction of a single male long-tailed duck afloat, with a decoy in the background. It, along with competing works of art will be on display in Avalon.
The program is one of most successful conservation programs in country, according to Galli. Anyone who hunts ducks must buy a federal duck stamp as part of license fees, and proceeds are then used to purchase and manage habitat all over country for waterfowl and other wildlife species.
Ninety-eight percent of the proceeds from the $15 Duck Stamp go to the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund, which supports the acquisition of wetland and associated upland habitat for the National Wildlife Refuge System.
The Wings ‘n Water Festival is supported in part through a grant from New Jersey Department of State, Division of Travel and Tourism (www.Visitnj.org).