Wildlife artist's work featured at Lake Chelan museum

CHELAN — The Lake Chelan Museum of Wildlife, Natural History & Art is showcasing a new mixed-media art exhibition featuring the work of award-winning western and wildlife artist Dean Rainey. The exhibit, which opened on October 9, is part of the museum's 2024 art gallery program.

Rainey, a Wenatchee-area painter and sculptor, presents a collection of works that capture the diverse landscapes and wildlife of Washington state and the Pacific Northwest. His pieces, primarily oil and acrylic paintings on Masonite panels, reflect his lifelong connection to the natural world.

"Born on a cattle ranch, I was inspired early by the blank rolls of butcher paper and wide range of artist supplies my mother purchased when I was a youngster," Rainey said in a statement. "While I'm was mostly self-taught in the beginning, I learned to paint and draw on the big paper sheets. Luckily, I was encouraged to express my visual world through a child's imagination."

The exhibition also features bronze sculptures by Lorenzo Ghiglieri, a world-renowned artist known for his evocative animal figures.

Shannon Kollmeyer, co-founder of Nature's Window, expressed enthusiasm for the new exhibition. "We are pleased to unveil this new selection of Dean Rainey's paintings in the Nature's Window art gallery with impressive bronzes sculptor Lorenzo Ghiglieri plus pieces that are from the museum's permanent collection," Kollmeyer said.

The museum, established in 2019 by Shannon and Cris Kollmeyer, serves as an education center for wildlife conservation and works to increase appreciation for diverse wildlife worldwide. It houses over 150 taxidermy species from the Americas, Asia, and Africa in its 9,000-square-foot facility.

"All of us at the museum engage our guests in the wonder of wildlife. It is the merger of science, technology, and art that tell the true, complete story," Kollmeyer remarked.

In addition to the art gallery, the museum features an extensive Fire Ecology exhibit designed by John Marshall of Wenatchee, documenting historic fire disturbances in the Pacific Northwest.

The Dean Rainey exhibition will run through November 3, with the museum open to the public Friday through Sunday, from 11 A.M. to 5 P.M. Nature's Window is located at 21285 Highway 97A, Chelan, approximately 10 minutes south of Chelan and 45 minutes north of Wenatchee.

Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for children aged 5-16, and free for children under 5. A family package is available for $25. For more information, visitors can contact the museum at 509-670-8081 or visit their website at natureswindowmuseum.com.