A Parliament of Owls: Children’s Art from Russia
March 7 – October 18, 2020
Fireside Gallery
Artem Firsiankov, age 8, Russia
Organized in partnership with the International Owl Center in Houston, Minnesota, this exhibition presents children’s artworks submitted to the owl art contest, held by the Center for young people under 18 from across the globe. Owls large and small, happy and sad, scary and friendly, were painted by youngsters from Russia, age 8 through 17. Also on view are three specimens of owls common both in the US and in Russia, from the Center’s research collection.
The owl art contest is part of the Center’s International Festival of Owls – the only full-weekend, all-owl event in the United States! From its inception, the Festival hosted an owl coloring contest for children, which has now grown into a highly competitive international children’s owl art contest. In 2019, there were 4,444 entries from 37 different countries and 20 US states. The country that sent in the most entries by far in 2019 was Russia. The opening of A Parliament of Owls took place during the 2020 Owl Festival, held this year March 6 through 8.
The International Owl Center opened in 2015; its mission is to make the world a better place for owls through education and research. The Museum of Russian Art is grateful to Karla Bloem, the Center’s Executive Director, for a productive and happy collaboration.
The Museum gratefully acknowledges Dare L. White and William F. White Foundation for exhibition support.
