Only Owls Exhibition Opens at the Montshire Museum September 13
Norwich, Vt, August 29, 2014—Owls are magnificent creatures with exceptional characteristics. They have long been symbols of wisdom and knowledge in our culture, and seem to radiate a sense of mystery, wisdom, and all-knowing—fascinating humans for centuries.
Their distinctive attributes—eyes that enable keen vision used to hunt at dawn and dusk; peculiar facial discs that direct sound to ears on the sides of their heads; unique feather structure that allows nearly silent flight; and more—make them ideal subjects for artistic interpretation.
Only Owls exhibition, opening at the Montshire Museum Saturday September 13, 2014, brings together an array of artistic representations of these remarkable raptors in pencil, charcoal, ink, watercolor, and woodcut. All artwork is drawn from the Woodson Art Museum’s collection.
Each artwork provides insight into the fascinating world of owls and demonstrates a variety of stylistic approaches by thirty artists, including Leonard Baskin, Arthur Singer, Don Richard Eckelberry, Tony Angell, and Bart Walter.
Only Owls is from the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausau, Wisconsin, and will be on display at the Montshire Museum of Science September 13 through December 7, 2014.
Interesting facts about owls:
- A group of owls is called a parliament. Baby owls are called owlets.
- Owls have the ability to turn their heads 270 degrees. Their necks contain 14 vertebrae, rather than the seven found in most other birds.
- Owls are the birds most similar to humans because all owls have upright posture and forward-facing eyes that give them binocular vision.
- Owls have three eyelids: one for blinking, one for sleeping, and one for keeping their eyes clean and healthy.
- There are over 150 species of owls in the world, but only 19 species are found in North America.