Charles Schwartz, Missouri's Audubon: An Artist in Nature

Bass Pro Sportsman's Center

3101 Bass Pro Drive
Columbia

The Society, with support from Bass Pro Shops and the Conservation Federation of Missouri, will exhibit Charles Schwartz, Missouri's Audubon: An Artist in Nature. This exhibition, devoted entirely to the artwork of Charles Schwartz (1913-1991), highlights the Society's collection of over 500 Schwartz drawings and studies, and includes sculpture loaned by the Conservation Federation of Missouri, original illustrations from the Aldo Leopold Foundation, and works from several private collections. The wildlife art of this distinguished conservationist promises something for everyone, with meticulous scientific accuracy and aesthetic beauty.

The exhibit will open Friday, September 10, at a ticketed event at the Bass Pro Sportsman's Center in Columbia with proceeds benefitting the Society. The display will remain at Bass Pro over the weekend of September 11-12, supported by guided tours, artist seminars, and conservation educational activities. The exhibit will then move to the Society's Main Gallery and remain on display through January 2011.

Charles Schwartz earned degrees at the University of Missouri and met his future wife and lifelong collaborative partner, Elizabeth Reeder, while serving as a graduate assistant under her instruction. The couple married in 1938. Charles joined the Missouri Conservation Commission in 1940 as a biologist, and in 1945 the commission published his illustrated study, The Prairie Chicken in Missouri. Over the next thirty-five years, the Schwartzes worked together to produce many award-winning conservation and wildlife films, publications, and studies. Perhaps their best-known work, Wild Mammals of Missouri was copublished by the Conservation Department and the University of Missouri Press in 1959. It was revised in 1981 and is still available due to continued demand.

Charles Schwartz also created a monumental mural, Man and Wildlife in Missouri: The Conservation Effort, for the Department of Conservation's new headquarters in Jefferson City in 1965, and on the occasion of the department's 50th anniversary in 1987, offered a final four panels.

Most of the artworks in the Society's new exhibit are original drawings published in Wild Mammals of Missouri and other Department of Conservation publications, as well as preliminary studies for the murals.

The late Jim Goodrich, former executive director of the Society, wrote about Charles Schwartz: "His life was synonymous not only with wildlife art but also with conservation education. Not only did Missourians learn from his biological research, writings, lectures, motion pictures, paintings, bronzes, drawings, and photography, but people throughout the nation and the world benefitted from his commitment to nature and its creatures."

Charles Schwartz, Missouri's Audubon: An Artist in Nature

September 11 Free Events 9:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. View the Exhibit 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. Featured Working Artists Doug Ross, artist and former graphic artist /illustrator for MU's Extension/Agricultural Information Office, will demonstrate opaque watercolor painting. Jeff Nichols, artist and owner of a custom art and framing business, will demonstrate the use of acrylic painting. Frank Stack, internationally known artist and Professor Emeritus of Art at the University of Missouri, will demonstrate watercolor painting. 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. Kid's Art Activities coordinated and demonstrated by Dr. Ann Mehr, Art Teacher at Lee Expressive Arts School in Columbia. Activities include: Missouri clay sculpting, drawing from taxidermy, crayon leaf rubbing and the Gyotaku-Japanese art of fish printing. 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. Guided Tours by Dr. Joan Stack, Art Curator for the State Historical Society of Missouri.

September 12 Free Events 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. View the Exhibit 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. Featured Working Artists Doug Ross, artist and former graphic artist /illustrator for MU’s Extension/Agricultural Information Office, will demonstrate opaque watercolor painting. Glenn Chambers, world renowned artist and wildlife photographer, will demonstrate techniques and proper equipment use to capture the wonders of nature. Terry Martin, artist and Professor of Art at William Woods University, will do a demonstration in pastel. 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. Kid's Activities coordinated and demonstrated by Dr. Ann Mehr, Art Teacher at Lee Expressive Arts School in Columbia. Activities include: Missouri clay sculpting, drawing from taxidermy, crayon leaf rubbing and the Gyotaku-Japanese art of fish printing. 1:00 p.m. Guided Tour by Glenn Chambers, World Renowned Artist and Photographer. 3:00 p.m. Guided Tour by Dr. Joan Stack, Art Curator for the State Historical Society of Missouri.