WAUSAU, WI.- The Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum presents the exhibit Birds in Art 2006 through November 12. Birds in Art is the destination for anyone with a ravenous appetite for ravens, a longing for loons, or a yen for wrens. With 128 all-new artworks finding a cozy nesting place at the Woodson Art Museum, visitors are sure to enjoy guaranteed bird-sightings and flights of fancy around every corner. Satisfy your hankering for herons or thirst for thrushes with this year’s gathering of avian masterpieces. This year’s Master Wildlife Artist is Andrea Rich who is known for her complex woodcut designs. Birds in Art – more than three decades young and still soaring!

The Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, located in a beautiful residential area on the east side of Wausau, Wisconsin, offers artworks from every corner of the world to north central Wisconsin residents and visitors through diverse changing exhibitions. Best known is the internationally acclaimed Birds in Art, an annual juried exhibition that showcases a variety of artistic styles – from impressionism to satirical caricature – created by artists the world over and documented in a full-color catalogue.

The Museum is housed in an updated 1931 English Tudor period Cotswold-style residence to which a new main entrance and expansive two-story gallery spaces have been added. The grounds cover four acres highlighted by the Margaret Woodson Fisher Sculpture Gallery, a formal English garden, attractive brick walkways, a shaded arbor and seating area, and on-site parking. All public spaces are accessible to visitors with disabilities.

An active program of eight to ten changing exhibitions each year encourages frequent visits as does an array of programs for children and adults scheduled to complement each exhibition. Regular programs such as Toddler Tuesday, Art Buddies, Art Explorers, Art Ventures, Family Festivals, Coffee & Creativity, and Activity Guides are supplemented with storytelling, lectures, videos, demonstrations, and bus trips. Not to be missed are the summertime Concerts in the Garden and OctoBIRDfest, the Museum’s biggest and birdiest family festival of the year.

Birds in Art opens to the public on the first Saturday following Labor Day every year and is on view for nine weeks. Specific Birds in Art education programs and special events will be available online by August 15 each year.