Walk on the Wild Side
ON VIEW: APRIL 13 – MAY 11, 2023
OPENING RECEPTION: Thursday, APRIL 13, 5:30 – 7 PM
FREE and OPEN to the Public
The Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts invites you to “Walk on the Wild Side” an exhibit of artwork showcasing the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. The exhibition will feature decoys and other animal carvings, sculptures, photographs, paintings, and drawings that highlight the beauty of nature. Works represent the Great Dismal Swamp, but do not have to be created in the Dismal Swamp. Featured artists: Edward Higinbotham, a woodcarver, and Wayne Martin a watercolorist.
OUR GALLERY: Due to the renovations in the building this exhibit will be featured in our award-winning Norfolk Foundation Gallery. Witness the mastery of visual artists in the gallery space, which hosts an ever-changing array of local and regional exhibitions. The gallery features a beautiful natural light 14-foot ceiling, which has been awarded BEST ART GALLERY GOLD by Coastal Virginia Magazine for both Southside and Peninsula area art galleries, as well as BEST ART GALLERY by the Suffolk News Herald. Suffolk Center’s Art Exhibitions are FREE and OPEN to the public, Tuesday-Saturday, 10am – 4pm.
AWARDS: When participating in the exhibition there is an opportunity for you to be voted 1st, 2nd, 3rd place winner or favorite piece of artwork in the “Walk on the Wild Side” People’s Choice Award. This exhibit will be juried by Jim Gordon an avid woodcarver from Suffolk, Virginia.
Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge contains some of the most important wildlife habitat in the mid-Atlantic region. At near 113,000 acres, the refuge is the largest intact remnant of a vast swamp that once covered more than one million acres.
The Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge is the largest intact remnant of a vast forested wetland that once covered more than one million acres of southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina. Formal protection of this resource began in 1973, when the Union Camp Corporation (a local forest products company) donated 49,097acres to The Nature Conservancy. The Nature Conservancy conveyed the donated land to the federal government, which, combined with additionally purchased land, was used to establish the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in 1974.
The refuge’s conservation priority endeavors to restore the biological diversity of the swamp ecosystem through hydrological restoration, forest management, and fire management. The refuge is home to over 200 species of birds, nearly 100 species of butterflies and skippers, many turtles, numerous white-tailed deer, bobcats, otters, and one of the largest black bear populations on the east coast.
Meet wildlife carver Edward Higinbotham, a Featured Artist in this year’s Walk on The Wild Side Art Exhibition.
Featured Artist Wayne Martin, a watercolorist.
Jim Gordon – Juror
Suffolk Center Art Galleries generously sponsored by:
