Bob Kuhn: Drawing on Instinct
June 1 through September 8

Some of the world’s most magnificent creatures will be on display this summer as the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History features Bob Kuhn: Drawing on Instinct. A selection of stunning masterpieces and sketches by the late great wildlife artist Bob Kuhn will be on view in the Brown Gallery from June 1 through Sept. 8.

This retrospective exhibit, organized by the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson Hole, Wyo., and curated by Adam Harris, focuses on a selection of masterpieces from Kuhn’s work, displaying the relationship between predator and prey. The exhibit includes drawings from Kuhn’s childhood sketches of animals at the Buffalo Zoo in New York as well as sketches and paintings of wildlife in North America and Africa from later in his artistic career.

The museum’s collection displays 155 sketches and paintings, selected from more than 5,000 studies, and exhibits a compilation of Kuhn’s artwork until his death in 2007.

Some of the sketches tie directly to finished works of art in the exhibit, but many are included to be appreciated on their own merits.  Seeing this material together gives visitors a sense of the artistic process behind Kuhn’s masterpieces.

In addition to sharing rarely seen artwork by Bob Kuhn, this exhibit hopes to inspire young artists to sketch with the same enthusiasm and vigor as Kuhn did.  Reaching farther, this exhibit hopes to inspire visitors of any age to take up pencil and paper and experience the rewarding practice of sketching the world around them – indoors and outdoors.

Beautiful Beasts: The Unseen life of Oklahoma Spiders and Insects
February 2 through September 8

Imagine traveling on safari through a land of bizarre and alien beasts, a world of predators and prey. Who would think that this place exists right outside your back door?

Oklahoma photographer Thomas Shahan will take you there.Beautiful Beasts presents a series of Shahan’s immense color macro photographs alongside descriptions of where and how the photographs were made. The exhibit chronicles the photographer’s tireless search for arthropods, a venture that has made him into an outspoken advocate for education about the role they play in our lives.

Shahan’s up-close views of Oklahoma spiders and insects promise to forever change how visitors think and feel about these creatures. For more information about the exhibit, visit www.snomnh.ou.edu. Sponsored by a grant from the Norman Arts Council.