Dan Brown did not start carving decoys until he was in his early thirties. Born in 1930, he worked as a salesman for a dairy company and a semi-professional baseball player prior to becoming a bird carver.
Brown met the Ward brothers in the 1950s while playing baseball in Crisfield. He had always been artistically inclined and the Ward Brothers brought out these artistic abilities. During visits to the Wards’ workshop, Brown was taught the art of decoy carving. Over the years, they willingly critiqued bird carvings he brought to them. The influence of the Wards ultimately led him to decorative bird carving and his mastery of the art form.
Since 1965, Brown has won hundreds of carving awards in just about every class of carving competitions. His work has been featured in National Geographic Magazine, the Smithsonian Institution, and numerous exhibitions, print articles, and videos.
Brown is a founding member of the Ward Foundation. As Ward Museum curator, he played a major role in the planning and installation of the permanent galleries, as well as changing exhibits. His passion for carving and preserving the legacy of Lem and Steve Ward has guided the Ward Foundation to what it is today.
Dan passed away in 2010.