Many well-known decoy artists have worked in collaboration, forming partnerships that sometimes last for many decades. The works of Lem and Steve Ward; Charlie and Edna Perdew; and William and David Turner are all examples of the art that is created when two talents come together to create a rare harmony. This exhibit, on display… Read more »

This exhibition in our Welcome Gallery features artwork from local K-12 students centered on the theme of family. The theme and noncompetitive nature of the exhibit foster creative freedom as well as a sense of community that complements our LaMay gallery exhibit, Natural Partnerships: Collaborations in Wildlife Art (see above).

Most decoys are used to attract birds within gunshot range for the purposes of hunting; however, decoys can have an altogether different purpose for conservationists. As hunters have observed for centuries, many species, like the puffins at right, exhibit social behavior, preferring to nest, rest, or feed in groups. Conservationists seeking to attract birds to… Read more »

What do passenger pigeons, golden toads, and Caribbean monk seals have in common? They’re all extinct as a direct result of human activity. This exhibition showcases art that brings attention to the endangered, threatened, and extinct species, featuring the work of animal carver Dr. Edward “Bud” Kaufman, who created the extinct (but still dapper) dodo… Read more »

Basket weaving is arguably the most widespread traditional art form in the history of human civilization. Archaeologists have found pressed imprints of woven baskets decorating clay pots more than 10,000 years old. The technique of weaving has been passed along, re-discovered, and expanded upon by countless cultures, and basket makers are as innovative today as… Read more »

Clyde Butcher’s powerful black and white photographs explore his personal bond with the environment. The exquisite beauty and depth of his work draw the viewer into a relationship with nature. For more than fifty years, he has been preserving on film the untouched areas of the landscape. His large format cameras allow him to express… Read more »

Lloyd J. Tyler (1898-1971) carved his first decoy at the age of twelve using a spokeshave, pocketknife, and hatchet. Even as an adult with a formal art education and other tools at his disposal, Tyler continued, using just a hatchet, a rasp and a spokeshave to produce good-looking, functional decoys by the hundreds, made in… Read more »

Each year the Ward Museum invites students from Delmarva to submit their artwork to the annual Student Art Show held in the museum’s Welcome Gallery. Work exhibited there is thought up and created by individual students, as well as students in groups. This year’s theme was “The Art of Conservation,” and all art reflected students’… Read more »

Maryland Masters: Edwin Remsberg’s Portraits of Maryland Traditions is a collection of images that reveal the unique flavor of Maryland and its distinctive community traditions. These traditions have been handed down from generation to generation, from master to apprentice. Edwin Remsberg, Maryland photographer and Maryland Traditions collaborator since 2008, has captured these rituals in this… Read more »

In honor of Women’s History Month, the Ward Museum featured an exhibit of carvings by women from the early twentieth century to the present day. Although bird carving is associated strongly with me, women have been carving since at least the 1920s, when Helen Lay Strong of upstate New York began selling her carvings of… Read more »