HINCKLEY — An opening reception for “On and Off the Wire: Birds in Urban and Natural Landscapes” is scheduled for 5:30-7:30 p.m. Friday, May 11, at the L.C. Bates Museum, on U.S. Route 201. The exhibition displays works of art representing birds, as well as bird-related objects — feathers, nests, bird feeders, etc. The exhibition will run until Oct. 15.

The museum’s Audubon Gallery features hundreds of colorful and diverse taxidermied birds — including the Maine bird dioramas with backgrounds hand-painted by impressionist Charles Hubbard in the 1920s.

More than 20 Maine artists will show work, depicting birds in a wide array of forms and settings. Contributing artists include Nina Bolen, Milton Christian, Abbott Meader, Sharon Yates and Holly Berry. Berry, one of the featured artists, said “birds are magical and mysterious to me. I long to touch, hold and hug one but have never had any physical contact with a bird in my life. Actually, I have no true desire to capture and contain such fantastic creatures,” according to a news release from the museum. Berry’s linocuts capture in precise and yet playful detail birds’ unique essence.

Over the summer, the museum also plans to hold several artists’ workshops for children, which will stimulate creativity and shed light on the artistic process. Artist Jon Meader also will offer a Bird Migration program on Wednesday, July 25, in his traveling planetarium.

The exhibition is co-curated by Colby College sophomores Yuzhou Cen and Emily Carter, under the guidance of Professor Véronique Plesch, and has been organized with support from the Colby College Center for the Arts and Humanities.

For more information about the museum’s summer art exhibition and related programs, contact the museum at 238-4250 or lcbates@gwh.org.

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