CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — For the next few months, "bird" is truly the word.
Exhibitions Curator Elena Rodriguez joined us live to spread the word about the debut of the prestigious, internationally-curated "Birds in Art" exhibition at the freshly-rebuilt Rockport Center for the Arts.
The "Birds in Art" exhibition was first organized and curated in 1976 by the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausau, Wisconsin. In every year since, the Museum has made a yearly, world-spanning effort to curate the best interpretations of birds and their habitats into their diverse collection.
In this year's lineup of bird-inspired artwork, locals can expect to see works by some of the best bird artists in the world – three of whom are based in Texas.
"It's a really big deal for bird artists," said Rodriguez. "[The Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum has] some 500 submissions and they only show 120 works of art, and then 60 of those actually go on tour. There's like four places that the show goes through throughout the year, and we're lucky to be one of those places this year."
The honor of hosting the traveling exhibition is nothing new to Rockport. "Birds in Art" made its first visit to RCA in 2013, where it was enjoyed by the public for a successful two-month run.
The exhibition was also scheduled to return to Rockport in 2017, directly after much of the town, along with the Center for the Arts itself, was left in ruins by Hurricane Harvey.
Fortunately, a little birdie called fellowship was in the ear of the neighboring Art Museum of South Texas, whose curators partnered with the Luis Purón to host the exhibition in their galleries.
RCA Executive Director Luis Purón said in a press release, "We are forever grateful for our friends at the Art Museum of South Texas who canceled an exhibition, opened their space, and utilized their resources to display the exhibition. This year, the show represents a different kind of rebirth, as we can finally host the exhibition in galleries we designed for prestigious exhibitions.”
The "Birds in Art" exhibition will be on display at Rockport Center for the Arts from Feb. 1 to Apr. 23, 2023. The exhibition is free and open to the public during the center's normal operating hours. More information can be found at the center's official website.