Weekend Showcase: Waterfowl Exhibit
Bird lovers will flock to the Hopkins Center for the Arts for an exhibit courtesy the Minnesota Decoy and Wildfowl Carvers Club. The exhibit is titled “Illusions in Wood” and runs through Sept. 14.
The Minnesota Decoy and Wildfowl Carvers Club numbers about 50 members. They meet once a month to exchange ideas and show off their latest projects.
Longtime carver Matt Gouette organized the exhibit on behalf of the club. He’s an award winning artist. A book called “Game Bird Carving” by Bruce Burk inspired him to create and carve decoys.
“They are always created with the intent of being painted,” explains Gouette. “However some of them I don’t always paint. If the grain turns out really nice or it has some kind of aesthetic quality that looks good.”
Decoy carving might have started as a practical way to produce objects for duck hunters, but artists like Gouette have elevated the decoys to a work of art.
“I have always thought of what I’m doing as art,” said Gouette.
To learn more about this exhibit and others at the Hopkins Center for the Arts, click here.
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