The Louis O. Palmer Gallery on Muskingum University’s campus is filled with a curated selection of vintage and fine art duck decoys. “Ducks! The Art and History of the Decoy” is open until March 27 every weekday from 2-4 p.m.
The exhibit is presented by Muskingum University’s American Environmental History class and was a project assigned by Professor of History Dr. William Kerrigan.
Professor of history, Doctor William Kerrigan stands in the Louis O. Palmer Gallery taking to students about the exhibit and bird watching. Kerrigan assigned this exhibition for his American Environmental History course.
“It’s been great. We had a big, big crowd for the opening reception we open on Monday [March 17] with the informal opening, and we had a good attendance then and then a big crowd on Tuesday [March 17] and every day since then, you know, we’ve had quite a few people coming,” said Kerrigan.
Common Merganser decoys are on display far from their home in Presidents Susan S. Hassler’s office. Once the exhibition is over the decoys will return to her office.
The idea came to Kerrigan after a meeting in the office of Muskingum University President Susan S. Hasseler. He noticed two Common Merganser decoys on display and as a bird watcher, Kerrigan was curious about where they originated.
Hasseler told Kerrigan about a donation of 300 decoys made to the school by benefactor named Bill Rothwell. Kerrigan later requested to use the decoys in the office and the others for a class assignment created this exhibition and she agreed.
A poster titles “Depictions of Duck Hunters in Popular Culture” by Kennath Dorsey is hanging in the Palmer Gallery. Several posters about a wide variety of duck related subjects accompany the decoys.
Students selected a duck species with a corresponding decoy to research along with creating posters exploring other aspects of duck related study. Some of the posters on display include “Depictions of Duck Hunters in Popular Culture, “A History of the Decoy in America,” and “Timeline of Legislation of the Protection of Waterfowl and Wetland Habitats.”
“I’m really proud of the work the students did, I put pretty heavy demand on them to…learn a lot and produce a lot in the very short time period,” said Kerrigan. “…they really came through so I’m deeply appreciative of the student effort. And I’m…very proud of the students and the work that they did in this class.”
A collection of decoy ducks are sitting in a row on display at the Louis O. Palmer Gallery. The ducks are accompanied by placards with the species of duck, the name of the carver, and state of origin.
The exhibition is open through March 27 in Palmer Gallery.
