If you haven't seen it yet, we were featured in an article for the Smithsonian Magazine!
Last month, Prey Taxidermy made a trip to the Whatcom Museum in Bellingham, Washington courtesy of Adrienne Dawson, a Prey student and the museum's Director of PR and Marketing. In addition to having a few events over the weekend, we worked with their Director of Collections, Maria Coltharp, to consult on their incredible John M. Edson Hall of Birds.
The grooming/posing stage of bird taxidermy. Photo courtesy of the Whatcom Museum.
Our weekend consisted of two few public events: we had a Stuffed viewing with a Q&A and the following morning had a Taxidermy Lab event with presentations and demonstrations. Those who attended the lab were able to see every major step of bird taxidermy: prep, assembly, and posing/grooming.
The assembly (or, "Reconstruction") stage of bird taxidermy. Photo courtesy of the Whatcom Museum.
Following our events, we had a consultation to assess the state of all the birds in the collection. The specimens are from the collection of John M. Edson, who was an ornithologist in Washington and was known for his species accounts and journal notes of the Pacific Northwest local fauna in the early 1900s. The collection is now in the Whatcom Museum and has been diligently maintained by staff for public viewing. We are very excited to continue our relationship with the Whatcom Museum to support their staff in any restoration and maintenance needs the collection has.
Getting a closer look at one of the puffin specimens from the John M. Edson Hall of Birds. Photo courtesy of the Whatcom Museum.
That weekend sparked a conservation about historical collections, museum taxidermists, and the future of taxidermy in museums. We spoke about the importance of maintaining a historical collection while maintaining the quality of taxidermy collections on display for the public. If you are interested in diving into the topic, give the article a read!
We have more opportunities to visit the Prey studio coming up, so bring your curiosity and ask us questions about the historical relevance to modern taxidermy.
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