August, 2020
Dear Friends,
Sanctuary.
That’s a word we’ve heard a lot since we reopened the museum this summer. Sanctuary is a place where you feel safe. You feel rejuvenated. Inspired.
That’s what we offer at Roger Tory Peterson Institute. Our 27-acre nature preserve is a forested refuge filled with birdsong. Our pollinator meadow is abuzz with bees. Our wildflower gardens are bejeweled with butterflies.
Our museum is a rustic temple made of wood and stone. As soon as you step inside, the vaulted ceiling lifts the spirit and fills you with awe and wonder. One of our visitors exclaimed there is no more beautiful building between Jamestown and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater.
We agree.
And the art’s not too bad, either. RTPI is an ark, harboring the world’s largest collection of Roger Tory Peterson’s artwork, films and photographs. Some of his most vibrant bird paintings are on display now in conversation with the bronze bird sculptures of Stefan Savides. “Exhibiting my work at RTPI,” Stefan recently shared during a video tour of his home and studio in Oregon, “is one of the highlights of my career.”
Rejuvenating and inspiring. And safe – our visitors have loved our health and safety signage. We’ve repurposed some of Roger’s famous field guide birds to remind everyone to wear their masks “right” at all times, to be “eagle smart” and stay “six feet apart.” We’ve even got a friendly Canada goose to remind us to use two squirts of sanitizer before and after shopping in our Snowy Owl Museum Store.
Due to Covid, it’s been a short season for us, for everyone, this year. Already the days are growing shorter, the nights cooler. But there’s still time to find sanctuary at RTPI. Yoga every Saturday morning on the back patio. Guided bird walks on Thursdays, guided plant walks on Friday. Galleries open Wednesday through Sunday, with special exhibition tours every Friday.
Your Sanctuary Awaits,
Arthur Pearson
