59th Annual Society of Animal Artists Exhibition
The Society of Animal Artists’ juried exhibition and tour kicks off this September.
Art and the Animal returns for its 59th annual show September 19 at the Briscoe Western Art Museum in San Antonio, Texas. This year’s juried show, organized by the Society of Animal Artists, will feature animal artwork by 135 of the world’s top wildlife artists, with as many as 100 artists traveling to the Briscoe for the opening weekend.
This year’s show will include a number of student artists, who have been invited to participate in the opening. “As part of our educational emphasis, the SAA held a contest this year for San Antonio-area high school students giving money to the top winners and inviting them to display their winning artwork at the Briscoe Western Art Museum during the opening weekend. The students, their teachers and parents have been invited to attend the reception, and we hope they will interact with our members and
return on Saturday for the public programs and demonstrations,” says artist and SAA executive director Wes Siegrist. “Our membership is certainly looking forward to a presentation by our Master Signature artist Carel Pieter Brest van Kempen covering his life and career. He’s an amazing naturalist in addition to prolific artist that has tales and adventures sure to spellbound the audience...
Most of the SAA artists are planning to take a group excursion to nearby Natural Bridge Wildlife Park, and many intend to visit Bracken Cave while in San Antonio too.”
Artists whose work was juried into the 2019 exhibition include Jody Rigsby, John Seerey-lester, Pokey Park, Kim Diment and Janice G. Bogy, among many others.
“I have been a member of SAA almost as long as I have been a professional artist. Thank goodness for this wonderful organization and the guidance and opportunities they have provided for up-andcoming and established artists alike over the years,” says Seereylester, whose acrylic, Sheltered Danger, depicting a leopard ready to pounce, was juried into this year’s show.
The exhibition will run through January 5, 2020, at the Briscoe before moving on to the Evelyn Burrow Museum in Hanceville, Alabama, from February 1 to April 15. The show will close at the Stamford Museum & Nature Center in Connecticut, where it will run from May 22 to September 13, 2020.