2012 to 2014 – WILD CORTES – WOODS, WETLANDS & WATERS
(Curated by Laurel Bohart, mounted by Lynne Jordan and Hannah Petkau)
This exhibit began with a Wild Cortes Photo Contest culminating in early June with the Old School House Art Gallery teaming with the Museum to display and judge all the photos that were entered. Mounting at the Art Gallery was done by Hannah Petkau and Lynne Jordan. Winning photos in the various categories went on to become part of the major exhibit in the Museum.
When summer student host, Hannah Petkau, arrived in May, she began immediately to paint four floor-to-ceiling murals as backdrops for four different ecosystems highlighted in the Wild Cortes exhibit. Curator and taxidermist, Laurel Bohart, transformed half of the exhibit gallery by creating the four different ecosystems with plants, animals and birds that would be found in each habitat. A stunning new mount of a female bald eagle faced the entrance, waiting to greet visitors as they walked in.
A glass-topped case displayed various sized skulls found on Cortes, ranging from a tiny shrew to a huge Steller sea lion.
Wild Cortes had evolved with ongoing additions and changes, like the additons of: Eelgrass Beds and Significant Ecosystems by Sabina Leader-Mense, and Cortes Island Shellfish by Hannah Petkau (whose father Brent is The Oysterman).
A small part of the earlier Clam Gardens exhibit was also mounted as part of the Klahoose Band exhibit.
