‘The Art of Ezra Tucker’ coming to the NIC

CASPER, Wyo. — The Nicolaysen Art Museum is hosting an opening reception for “The Art of Ezra Tucker.”

That’s according to a release from the NIC, which states that the reception will be held on Friday, April 25 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Guests are invited to view the exhibition while enjoying light refreshments and connecting with fellow art enthusiasts. Admission is free for NIC members and $5 for nonmembers or $10 for families.

“THE ART OF EZRA TUCKER is an exhibition that consists of forty paintings produced by the artist from 1985 through 2023,” the release states. “Artworks fall into these groupings: Group I. Classic mega fauna (principally North American mammals, but also a few from Africa and elsewhere), and Audubonesque birds; Group 2. Untold Stories (of Black experience in the history of the American West); and Group 3. Allegory, Fantasy, Illustration, and Narrative.”

The release can be seen in its entirety below:

Press Release
Media Contact:
NJ Beeson Wallace – Marketing Manager marketing@thenic.org
+1 307 441 7741 www.thenic.org
THE ART OF EZRA TUCKER at THE NIC
An opening reception for The Art of Ezra Tucker will be held on Friday, April 25, from 5:30 to 7:30 PM at The Nicolaysen Art Museum. Guests are invited to view the exhibition, enjoy light refreshments, and connect with fellow art enthusiasts. Admission is free for NIC members, and $5 for non-members ($10 for families).

THE ART OF EZRA TUCKER is an exhibition that consists of forty paintings produced by the artist from 1985 through 2023. Artworks fall into these groupings: Group I. Classic mega fauna (principally North American mammals, but also a few from Africa and elsewhere), and Audubonesque birds; Group 2. Untold Stories (of Black experience in the history of the American West); and Group 3. Allegory, Fantasy, Illustration, and Narrative.

THE FIFTH OF SIX CHILDREN whose parents moved from the farm to the city and brought themselves and their children up by their bootstraps, Ezra Tucker’s story is one of adaptation, growth, and extraordinary achievement. Ezra Tucker is the son of a Memphis minister who pastored during the era of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the grandson, brother and nephew of Pentecostal ministers. He has written that he attended church “sometimes more hours than I slept.” At the age of five or six, he happened to see an illustrated bible of an older attendee who allowed him to look at its pictures. These illustrations of scripture were inspiring, and he would spend hours drawing scenes of biblical scripture related to the Garden of Eden, Noah’s Ark and the Book of Revelation, in the borders of his bible and a friend’s bible, though, as he wrote in his memoir, “My parents were not happy about this.”

Reared during the era of mass media featuring pictures, particularly magazines, and the emergence of television programing targeted at children, young Ezra searched through magazines, newspapers, books, comics and watched television programs ranging from nature to science-fiction which fueled his imagination with infinite possibilities for creative expression. “I had an aunt who was a librarian and she would bring me old magazines like Saturday Evening Post, that she would rotate out for newer publications. I was always eager to see the covers.” “The Wonderful World of Disney was must see TV every Sunday.” “Anything I could imagine was possible,” he wrote. A child of the late 50’s and ’60’s, young Ezra would express himself through dioramas of prehistoric creatures made from clay and tempera painted cardboard cutout figures of animals entering Noah’s Ark, assembled with glue, masking tape, string and cardboard.

Please consider donating to help support the Nicolaysen Art Museum to continue its mission and vision; visit thenic.org/donate. For more details about the museum and its programs, visit the NIC’s website (thenic.org), Facebook page (facebook.com/nicartmuseum), or follow @nicartmuseum on Instagram.

Before long, as Ezra Tucker matured so too did his art. In 1967, “my brother sparked my ambition at Christmas by giving me a gift of a book titled, Animal Drawing: Anatomy and Action for Artists by Charles Knight.. which challenged me to draw animals from the inside out…” and in fact, as early as eighth grade, he was encouraged to think about a career in the graphic arts and actually began researching professional possibilities. This led him to scour the entire 24 volume set of World Book Encyclopedias, which his parents had purchased on credit in 1968, and thousands of hours spent copying paintings, drawings, maps, photos, graphs, etc.

In the early 1970’s, when the Memphis Board of Education began to integrate its public schools, Ezra Tucker benefited from the teacher exchange program at Hamilton High School where he was a student. There he designed and created stage sets for theatrical performances, athletic poster art and banners, and bulletin board decorations. And, he was allowed to take senior level art class for four years because he was good enough and bold enough to petition the school principal to get out of boring lower level art classes doing craftwork. This fueled his confidence and his ability, which led him to apply to and be accepted at the Memphis Academy of Arts (though at the objection of his father because he saw no future in art for a young black man). To buy art supplies and gas for the family car, he worked a night job as a dishwasher at a Mexican restaurant and package handler for Fed Ex. At the Academy, life drawing instructor and mentor, Jack Lew, allowed him to practice drawing at the Memphis Zoological Gardens instead of in the studio. The Memphis Zoological Gardens was next door to the college and free to art students. “I would spend hours there filling sketch books with drawings of zoo animals. He [Lew] accepted them as class assignments. [But] I removed pages of my sketch book for myself so that he would not keep my best drawings and color studies.”

After earning a BFA and graduating with honors in 1977, Tucker began his career as an illustrator for Hallmark Cards. He subsequently flourished in Los Angeles with commercial art contract work including work for Hollywood film studios, and illustration assignments of all kinds from there to Chicago and New York. In the 1980’s Ezra Tucker settled with his bride in Solvang, California, where he began to transition his career from that of an illustrator, to fine art. The full expression of his well-honed artistry emerged after he moved to Colorado, and was represented there by galleries in Aspen and the five-star Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs. In Colorado, Tucker devoted himself to a full-fledged career as an independent artist. And he has never looked back.

The complete story of the life of Ezra Tucker is like a screen play for a feature length film. But it is his art, particularly the quality of his wildlife art, that is most notable in terms of achievement. Ezra Tucker’s wildlife art is characterized by its dynamic composition, unexpected color, lighting, and scale. Its large scale gives a sense of dignity and presence to each creature. His subjects seem alive and animated, ready to step out of two dimensions into a three dimensional world. Ezra Tucker possesses exceptional drawing skills and scientific knowledge from careful study. A hallmark of his work is his ability to achieve a bold, romantic look by using a color palette and lighting that is familiar yet new. Though his background is as a commercial illustrator and designer, his use of earth tones and warm light give his subjects the glow of an old master’s work. Of his current work, the artist says, “The challenge I have for myself is to present the beauty and majesty of the natural world to encourage the preservation of wildlife and diversity through my art.”

Ezra Tucker is generally known for his paintings of mammals but he also portrays birds as well as historic scenes. Of his wildlife art, Ezra Tucker has said, “A successful work of fine art should be educational, inspirational, and entertaining and evoke an emotional response from the viewer. I hope that my work… inspires people to undertake the conservation efforts necessary to protect the endangered animal kingdom of our planet.”

This is the first traveling museum exhibition of artworks by Ezra Tucker. The exhibition Tour Itinerary is as follows:

THE ART OF EZRA TUCKER
Traveling Museum Exhibition Produced by David J. Wagner, L.L.C.

David J. Wagner, Ph.D., Curator/Tour Director
PREMIERE
Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum July 1 – October 1, 2023
Oradell, NJ (Metropolitan New York Area)
TOUR
Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum November 4, 2023 – March 3, 2024 Chicago Academy of Science Chicago, Illinois
The Haggin Museum June 6-August 18, 2024 Stockton, California
The Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Arts January 23-March 23, 2025 Houston, Texas
The Nicolaysen Art Museum April 11 – June 15, 2025 Casper, Wyoming
San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts July 10-September 7, 2025 San Angelo, Texas
Turtle Bay
October 1 – December 31, 2025 Redding, California
Brookgreen Gardens
January 24 – April 19, 2026 Murrells Inlet, South Carolina
Fort Wayne Museum of Art
May 2 – June 28, 2026
Fort Wayne, Indiana
ADDITIONAL VENUES MAY BE ADDED. For Updates, Visit: ezratucker.com/content.aspx

David J. Wagner, L.L.C., Tour Office; davidjwagnerllc.com
Member, American Alliance of Museums; International Council of Museums
The Curator of the exhibition is David J. Wagner, who earned his Ph.D. in American Studies and served as a museum director for 20 years. He authored the book, AMERICAN WILDLIFE ART, and serves as President of David J. Wagner, L.L.C., a Wisconsin-based company that produces and manages traveling museum exhibitions.

For further information, contact:
David J. Wagner, Ph.D. Curator/Tour Director
THE ART OF EZRA TUCKER
David J. Wagner, L.L.C., Tour Office
Office Phone: (414) 221-6878
Email: davidjwagnerllc@yahoo.com
Website: davidjwagnerlic.com
“As a young child, I would imagine what it would have been like to have traveled with Darwin or with the Lewis and Clark expedition as an artist to document their discovery of the natural world in artwork. To have traveled with the explorers during the age of exploration to exotic and unknown worlds still fascinates and stimulates my imagination and sense of wonder.”