NPR Commentator to Host Workshops at Canton's Visual Arts Center

The is excited to welcome Julie Zickefoose to host two workshops on November 11 and 12. Zickefoose is a nationally known artist and author and has submitted natural history commentaries for NPR’s All Things Considered for the past six years. 

Bird Watcher’s Digest has been the major print venue for her writing since 1986, and she has painted 21 covers for the magazine. Julie was mentored by artist Robert Clem, whose is currently on view at the Visual Arts Center exhibition gallery.

Her two workshops are diverse in nature. In the first workshop on Saturday November 12, Julie will explore her current project The Bluebird Effect: Uncommon Bonds With Common Birds, (due from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in early spring 2012.)  Julie will reveal how her startlingly close experiences mothering and healing birds has given her an intimate connection with them.  She weaves stories that show how her passion and concern for the animals are reciprocated in an uncommon way.

On Sunday’s workshop, Julie will open her journals and discuss her process of painting birds - from opening sketches to final wash. How does she move from one stage to the next? In this discussion she will present her methods of selection and of gathering inspiration for composing a work.  Please join us for one or both programs. Registration is required, please call us at 781-821-8853. Participants of either workshop will be admitted to the True to Life: The Art of Robert Verity Clem exhibition.

The Bluebird Effect: Uncommon Bonds with Common Birds, is on Saturday, November 12, at 2:00 p.m.; $12 for members/$15 for non-members.

Painting Birds with Julie Zickefoose, is on Sunday, November 13, at 11:00 a.m.; $12 for members/ $15 for non-members.

The Mass Audubon Visual Arts Center is a family-friendly art museum, set on a 124-acre wildlife sanctuary with walking trails, and located 15 miles south of Boston. Current exhibitions are True to Life: The Art of Robert Verity Clem and A. Elmer Crowell: A Sampling. Exhibitions are open to the public Tuesday-Sunday, 1-5 pm, and include activities for children. Trails are open Tuesday-Sunday, 9 am–5 pm. Admission is free to Mass Audubon members, $4 adults, $3 children and seniors.  The museum offers a wide variety of programs for children and adults, including the weekly Toddler Tuesdays and the monthly Second Sundays series which includes Family Art Studios and an exhibition tour. For more information: 781-821-8853 or www.massaudubon.org/visualarts.

-Press Release contributed by the Visual Arts Center in Canton.