Wildlife Art Exhibition And Sale Commemorates 50th Anniversary Of Fishery And Wildlife Biology Education At Colorado State
Monday, March 24, 1997
Note to editors: Color photographs of sculptures that
will appear in the exhibit are available through the
Public Relations Office at (970) 491-6432.
FORT COLLINS--Fifty years ago, 51 students enrolled in
Colorado State University's new department of forest recreation
and game management. Today, the renamed department of fishery and
wildlife biology boasts 459 students and is ranked one of the
best programs of its kind in the nation.
To celebrate the department's 50th anniversary, more than 80
works by wildlife sculptors and painters from the Rocky Mountain
region will be displayed in an exhibition and sale April 3 and 4.
The exhibition runs 11 a.m.-6 p.m. April 3 and 10 a.m.-7 p.m.
April 4 in the Lory Student Center Art Lounge. The event is free
and open to the public.
A portion of the art sale's proceeds will go toward the
Douglas L. Gilbert Scholarship Fund, created in honor of Douglas
L. Gilbert, who led the department from 1975 to 1980.
"This is a great opportunity to see and purchase wildlife
art created by some of the best artists in the Rocky Mountain
region," said Gene Decker, fishery and wildlife biology professor
and exhibition coordinator. "It also allows us to recognize the
department's accomplishments over the last 50 years and look
ahead to a new era in fishery and wildlife biology education."
Some of the wildlife art community's most noted sculptors--
including several from Colorado--will showcase their work in the
exhibition. Sculptors include Colorado State alumnus Chapel, who
received a commission to create a life-size sculpture for the
Loveland Civic Center Plaza; Gerald Balciar, a well-known bronze
sculptor who lives in Parker; wildlife painter Bob Coonts of Fort
Collins; and George Walbye, a Loveland sculptor who was one of
five artists chosen by the High Plains Arts Council to install
founding works in the city's nationally-renowned Benson Park
Sculpture Garden. Works in the exhibit will be judged by John
Mumma, director of the Colorado Division of Wildlife.
The event also honors one of the department's pioneers, the
late Gustav A. Swanson. A conservationist, ornithologist and avid
collector of wildlife art, Swanson joined Colorado State as head
of the department of fishery and wildlife biology in 1966. Even
after Swanson retired from the department in 1975, he remained at
the forefront of national wildlife conservation and preservation
issues. He died in 1995. His wife, Evadene Swanson, will
participate in the art exhibit.
The College of Natural Resources launched the department of
forest recreation and game management in 1947. In that year, the
Colorado Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit also was founded. A
fisheries program was added to the research unit in 1963 and the
name was changed to the current Colorado Cooperative Fish and
Wildlife Research Unit in 1984. The program remains one of the
most prominent national research units and involves Colorado
State, the U.S. Geological Survey's Biological Resources
Division, the Colorado Division of Wildlife and the Wildlife
Management Institute.
For more information on the art exhibit and sale, call Gene
Decker at (970) 491-5656.
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