Legacy Lost & Saved: Extinct and Endangered Birds of North America

Through July 2015

What lessons can be learned from the demise of the passenger pigeon? Project Passenger Pigeon, a nationwide educational initiative marking the 100th anniversary of the species’ extinction, inspired the Woodson exhibition Legacy Lost & Saved: Extinct and Endangered Birds of North America. Comprising works from the collection and loans, including two Owen Gromme passenger pigeon paintings and sculpture by Todd McGrain, Legacy Lost & Saved features other artists’ portrayals of species such as the great auk and ivory-billed woodpecker. Related programs consider how a brighter future can be shaped by the past.

Exhibition Highlights

Mary Cornish, The Contender, 2009, oil on linen on board

Don Richard Eckelberry, Imperial Woodpecker, ca. 1945, acrylic on J. Whatman illustration board

Louis Agassiz Fuertes, Whooping Crane, ca. 1900, watercolor and gouache

Todd McGrain, Carolina Parakeet, 2012, bronze

Todd McGrain, Passenger Pigeon, 2012, bronze

Paul Rhymer, Ivory-billed Woodpecker, 2005, bronze

Andrea Rich, Marbled Murrelet (10/50), 1989, woodcut on paper

Prideaux John Selby, Great Auk, 1824-34, hand-colored etching on paper

Allan Brooks, Carolina Parakeet and Thick-billed Parrot, 1936, gouache and watercolor on paper on board