Transit-Oriented Taxidermy at the Whatcom Museum
Just off Route 232, you can explore the Hall of Birds and learn Taxidermy 101 from two accomplished practitioners.
When pondering the various possibilities for where I could start a semi-regular rhythm of transit-oriented Around Town spotlights for BhamByBus, I thought that I’d likely start out at one of Bellingham’s numerous breweries.
Instead, let’s turn to taxidermy, a topic I know very little about. Lo and behold, Bellingham is not only home to the John M. Edson Hall of Birds in the Old City Hall building of the Whatcom Museum, but on Friday, May 31 and Saturday, June 1, there are two events where you can learn about taxidermy from accomplished practitioners of the artform who are visiting town.
The Whatcom Museum will be hosting Allis Markham and Paloma Strong of Los Angeles-based Prey Taxidermy for Friday night’s screening of the 2019 documentary “Stuffed,” a film that explores this “genre of art, formed by a collection of people who have a fanaticism for nature, matched only by their desire to protect it. They love animals and see life where others only see death.” The film screening, which is $35 for members and $45 for non-members, will be followed by a Q&A with Markham and Strong.
On Saturday at 10 a.m., they’ll be holding a demonstration and presentation course and on-site tutorial about museum taxidermy. While this isn’t a hands-on workshop, Prey Taxidermy notes it will be “an excellent opportunity if you have ever wanted to learn taxidermy but didn't know where to start, or if you are exploring taxidermy and have questions.” There’s limited availability to participate in the lab, which is $120 for members and $135 for non-members.
“There are many taxidermy courses out there. And I think a lot of them are more focused on oddities, or taxidermy as a craft, rather than taxidermy as a tool for education, conservation,” told The Bellingham Herald in a recent interview. “We put anatomy first.”
Learn more about Prey Taxidermy.
If you haven’t been, the Whatcom Museum’s Hall of Birds opened in 2017 on the top level of the Old City Hall, but its collection of more than 600 mounted birds originally came together in the 1890s by John Milton Edson starting in the 1890s.
As the museum notes, the collection is “a testament to early Whatcom County ornithology and the impetus for the very existence of our outstanding community museum.”
- How to Get There: The John M. Edson Hall of Birds is on the top floor of the Whatcom Museum in Old City Hall in Downtown Bellingham (121 Prospect Street at Flora Street). The museum is about a 10-minute walk from Bellingham Station, served by most WTA bus routes in Bellingham. Route 232 (Downtown to Cordata/WCC), which serves the Green GO Line corridor, along with Route 50 (Downtown to Lummi Nation), have stops near the museum at Prospect Street & Flora Street (northbound) and Prospect Street & Central Avenue (southbound).