Speaking of Birds and Blogs

Just recieved The Illustrator in America 1860-2000. This colossal will be great winter reading in preparation for Hartford.

Also...I was checking out the Woodson Museum's ( of "Birds in Art" fame) website and came across this great exhibition of illustrated letters by artists. Also, in a brilliant stroke of museum PR genius ( or most likely the AAM) the staff, (curators, exhibition designers, and educators) have started a new blog ( like the Lab of O) to let folks know and understand all the behind the scenes stuff that goes on in museums. Imagine that...I love the idea and think blogs should be mandatory for ALL museums or at least included in the accreditation guidelines:) I think it is probably a national trend now and I hope it continues. Having worked in a museum for 10 years, I think this kind of PR can go a long way to improving communication between the institution and the general public. And I think this particular blog is a good model. So there's my rant (of sorts)....

The Leigh Yawkey Woodson Museum (Wausau, Wisconsin)

More Than Words: Illustrated Letters from the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art

Saturday, Nov 15, 2008 to Jan 18, 2009

A handwritten letter is a welcome surprise in this hurried electronic era. An illustrated letter, filled with masterful drawings, comical cartoons, or whimsical doodles, is even more remarkable, expressing the writer/artist’s undeniable sense of creativity, intimacy, and purpose. In 60 examples of epistolary art, More Than Words offers art lovers an unprecedented window into the passions, heartbreaks, business affairs, and travels of some of the most revered artists of the 19th and 20th centuries, including Alexander Calder, Thomas Eakins, Frida Kahlo, Andy Warhol, Andrew Wyeth, and many others.

Click on the link below to view one from this exhibition. There are more on the museum's site.

Paul Bransom