Community and Conservation

The Waterfowl Festival celebrates its 50th anniversary with dynamic wildlife and sporting art.

Beginning November 12, the entire town of Easton, Maryland, will be abuzz with excitement for the 50th anniversary of the Waterfowl Festival. There will be many events occurring during the weekend of this wildlife art and sporting expo celebration, including fly retriever and fly-fishing demonstrations, goose calling contests and galleries spread across the town featuring paintings, carvings, sculpture and photography. 2019 attendees visit a photography exhibit.

“We pretty much take over the town,” says executive director Margaret Enloe. “We have three to four central locations and five art galleries, with over 85 community partner organizations that make this all happen. We have the historic Avalon Theatre, art museum and the Pavilion on Harrison Street and Christ Church next door to our headquarters that allow us to take over their spaces for the weekend.”

There’s a lot of criteria that’s considered in keeping with the Waterfowl theme and history when it comes to the many world-class, original artworks that grace the event. “There are artists from all over the world that participate, and they really have to have a commitment to conservation,” says Enloe. They really capture the beauty of nature in traditional, realism-style works, but it’s not just bird life.” Artists will display other wildlife to show their passion and dedication to the show and its values. Bart Walter, Wind and Waves, bronze, multiple sizes

Bart Walter, a native of western Maryland, has been named this year’s featured artist for Waterfowl. He will be contributing a unique sculpture piece titled Wind and Waves, “a bronze of two Canadian geese taking flight while three canvasback ducks look on,” organizers note. “It features a unique, cross-section perspective that illustrates the movement of take-off and its resulting ripple effects from above and below the surface of the water. Canada geese and canvasback ducks are two of the most beloved waterfowl species found in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.” The bronze will be available for purchase in three sizes: miniature, tabletop and monument. Mary Pritchard, Monologues, pastel, 22 x 30”

Additional talents at the event are artists like Mary Pritchard, who depicts farms and rivers of Maryland’s Eastern Shore, found in her show piece Monologues. “The pandemic’s restrictions intensified my focus and allowed me to explore existing concepts in greater depth,” she says. “A working farmyard is an endless source of inspiration. One of my favorite themes is the Looking Through series, in which an open barn door frames a view of a distant field—creating a landscape within a landscape. The grasses and trees reflected in the rivers and creeks near my home inspire paintings that deal with the complexity of nature and the interplay of light and water.”Mary Veiga, Dreaming of Flying, oil on canvas, 30 x 30”

Artist Mary Veiga, also familiar with Maryland farmland, draws inspiration from her surroundings and works full time in plein air. “I’m honored to be a part of the Waterfowl Festival and their 50th celebration,” she says. “This marks a long history of celebrating the beauty and nature of Maryland’s Eastern Shore from which I draw so much inspiration for my work. This beauty and wildlife provide so much for all of us and so worthy of celebration.” Her show piece Dreaming of Flying, featuring an ocean scene with birds flying amid a perfectly lit sky, illustrates her masterful grasp on the genre of landscape.

While there will be an abundance of fun festivities for this time-honored event, Waterfowl also hopes to convey their overall mission to support conservation, habitat and heritage. Get your tickets now and enjoy a weekend of community and joy. —

The Waterfowl Festival
November 12-14, 2021
40 S. Harrison Street Easton, MD 21601
(410) 822-4567, www.waterfowlfestival.org