It was all hands on deck to hang Peter Bruce’s latest wildlife sculpture: a pair of bald eagles engaged in a mating ritual. Stratford, Conn.

Review & Onsite Photos by Carly Timpson

GREENWICH, CONN. — The Bruce Museum’s annual Outdoor Arts Festival celebrated its 44th edition on October 11 this year. Despite the show initially being advertised as a two-day “rain or shine” event, an impeding storm caused show director Sue Brown Gordon to reconsider and cancel the second day. Gordon reported, “The artists were treated to a fabulous one-day art festival and with the looming Nor’easter, a prudent and wise decision was made to cancel the second day of the show. Artists were grateful for the call and were able to make their way home safely.” Nearly 75 artists from Connecticut and the Northeast, as well as some traveling from further locales such as Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan and North Carolina, set up their tents along the Bruce Museum’s drive and grounds, bringing the museum environment to the open air.

Gordon noted that the event was still strong despite the foreboding forecast. “We were off to a great start for the 44th year! Sales were brisk as collectors from near and far waited for this event to shop for original fine art. The show was created by Anne Von Stuelnagel, the Museum’s director of exhibitions. The idea was to showcase the best examples of contemporary living artists. Within the landscape of the building, the artists were part of the museum experience. Together with Anne, I have had the pleasure of directing the Fine Arts Festival for over 30 years. This year was no exception to the level of quality and beauty we have come to admire at the Bruce.”

Matt Gabel of West Milford, N.J., was awarded First Prize for his vibrant mixed media compositions. The large tree scene to the left, “Sunset Float,” and “Honey Dew,” at the top, were both done this year.

Each year, prizes are awarded to artists who show at the Festival, and this year’s judges, Nancy C. Woodward and Valerie Rovins, distributed eight as follows: Best in Show to Yang Yang, First Prize to Matt Gabel, Second Prize to Matthew Brown, Third Prize to Zuxin Yu and four Awards of Excellence to Jan Avonds, Larry Agnello, Holly Wach and Tessa Gibbons.

Yang, who resides in Redding, Conn., uses acrylics to capture “an unconstrained perception of humanity.” Gabel, the First Prize winner from West Milford, N.J., creates intricate, textured collages with a combination of oils, acrylics, watercolors, ink, crayon, enamels and metallics. Primarily a landscape artist, he does occasionally create some figural pieces. He’s been coming to the show for about five years now. Brown, awardee of Second Prize, makes woodblock prints using the Japanese hanga method and is based in Lyme, N.H. Yu, from Redding, Conn., blends elements from traditional Chinese ink painting techniques — gongbi (meticulous brush work) and pomo (splash ink) — using acrylics to create sensual, indulgent and textured paintings. As for the Awards of Excellence winners, Avonds, of Ypsilanti, Mich., makes platinum-palladium prints; Amityville, N.Y.-based Agnello makes found object sculptures — or “Broken objects from the past, intricately assembled” — under the name Assemblique; Wach, who is from Pawtucket, R.I., paints watercolor “portraits of nature”; and Gibbons, of Riverhead, N.Y., had black-and-white brushed ink landscapes.

Tessa Gibbons spoke with an interested collector and artist about her brush and ink landscape “Yosemite.” Riverhead, N.Y.

Gibbons, who was at the show for just her second time, brought several imposing landscapes with scenes and subjects to match. “Yosemite,” measuring 30 by 48 inches, depicted one of the park’s grand waterfalls, while others, such as “Rising Path,” depicted a lush wooded trail with tall trees and showed exceptional depth created with just brush and ink. She had a great first show last year and came back because “the quality is really great at this show, and the organizers are awesome. It’s the last show of the season for me — I like to end on a high note and this is it.”

While the show honors art of all media, Gordon reported that “Printmaking was very strong. Perhaps due to the influence of CCP, Center for Contemporary Printmaking, in the area or new interest in mastering the traditional artform.” The class of exhibiting printmakers included Rita Troller, Jenny Pope, Gali Katz, Matthew Brown, Tokoha Matsuda and Flo Kemp. Troller typically creates her works using traditional methods of acid etching, though she noted that she’s “starting to experiment” with other techniques. Her works are printed with oil-based inks and she accents them by hand with watercolors. “I’m from the Chicago area, but I like coming out to this show because they support all fine art, including printmaking, which is somewhat rare at shows,” she shared. A few of the prints she had in her booth, such as “Round Robin” and “Here ‘N Gone” were new, though she noted having several final editions, as she only makes 150 prints of each etching.

Another artform that seemed to be popular with shoppers was assemblage and collage. Several artists reported using found objects to create their works. One, William Finks, collects antique objects and crafts sculptures and other decorative objects out of them. One example, which the Albany, N.Y., artist had sold shortly after the show opened, was an antique doll head and arms mounted to a body made of vintage and antique silver items, including bowls, cups, saucers and kettles. He also had a selection of candlesticks made with salt and pepper shakers that were quite popular with shoppers. “I always love this show because the people who run it are wonderful,” he noted.

Early during the show, William Finks sold the girl with the silver dress, far right, and several flowers made from vintage and antique silver-plated spoons. Albany, N.Y.

Southbury, Conn., resident Tracy Hambley also assembles found objects to create art. She shared, “I’ve been doing this for many, many years. Yes, my studio is packed — I have drawers filled with stuff like medical equipment and watches. I just buy interesting things and when an idea comes, I go ‘shopping’ in my collection. This was the very first show I ever did in 1986, and I’ve done it off and on since then. It’s my favorite; I love the museum and the people.”

Nnamdi Okonkwo is also a sculpture artist, though he molds his pieces out of clay and casts them in bronze. His stylized figures are all female, and he says he makes them not with any one muse in mind but rather with a feeling or experience. “I want to glorify the divine in every one of us,” he shared. The Fayetteville, Ga.-based artist has been showing at the Bruce for about 15 years now and keeps coming back because it’s always a great experience.

Marshall Burns, from Sheridan, N.Y., is a 30-year veteran of the show. His abstract sculptures are all powder-coated aluminum and mostly in primary colors. While they all can be displayed indoors or outdoors due to the material’s versatility, Burns categorizes his works three ways: sculpture, mini sculpture and wall sculpture. Examples of those sculptures, which are his largest pieces, were shown outside his booth, with one placed up by the side of Museum in such a way that this reporter joked they should consider acquiring it for their outdoor collection. The mini sculptures are similar to the larger pieces, though they range in size from three to ten inches and some also incorporate glass tiles. And, as one may expect, those in the last category are built to be mounted to the wall rather than a free-standing sculpture.

Most of Marshall Burns’ aluminum sculptures were shown inside his booth, though these two larger examples looked at home on the grounds of the Bruce Museum. Sheridan, N.Y.

Peter Bowe is a wildlife sculptor who specializes in birds and marine mammals and has been showing at the Outdoor Arts Festival “for maybe 20 years.” Based in Stratford, Conn., Bowe has great opportunities to see some of his favorite subjects along the Connecticut shoreline. Previously a scientist — surprisingly not a naturalist — Bowe shared, “I have always loved shorebird decoys — I’ve collected them since I was a young boy — and I love marine mammals, so that’s what I make!” He uses wood, bronze and stone to create his representational bird carvings, traditional decoys and stylized realism sculptures. His most recent work on display was a pair of bald eagles with interlocked talons in the “cartwheeling” mating ritual. While most of his works were affixed to solid bases, the eagles were suspended outside his booth.

If you love animals but sculptures aren’t your thing, Bruce Franklin’s booth was just around the corner. Franklin, from Massapequa Park, N.Y., is a wildlife photographer whose striking aluminum prints captured the attention of showgoers of all ages. His first sale of the day was to a young girl who rifled through his photos, not stopping until she found one of her favorite animal: an elephant. Franklin has been attending this show for 10 years, reporting that he sells to a diverse clientele and does well here. When asked his favorite locations to shoot, he shared, “I’ve fallen in love with Iceland, so I’m back-and-forth a lot now.” As a result, he had a great selection of pictures of Icelandic horses. Others included leopards, orangutans, tigers, turtles, parrots and dolphins.

Annette Poitau, of Oberlin, Ohio, was back at the show for her first time in 10 years. She described her paintings as “all oil and very organic.” Despite the show’s slower start due to uncertain weather, when we spoke to her about a half hour after its opening, she reported already having sold a painting.

Bruce Franklin reported a diverse clientele for his wildlife photography, though he noted children always love finding their favorite animals. Massapequa Park, N.Y.

While many of the dealers had been showing at the Bruce for several years, Greg Stones, of Westerly, R.I., was making his debut. “Everything in the booth is new, actually. I’ve painted them all in the last two weeks because my Instagram is blowing up right now and I just have to keep up.” His watercolors, which feature witty, satirical scenes of animals interacting with the world, are increasingly popular with the internet generation, and he’s added new characters to keep up with the demand. While penguins used to be his main subjects, he’s shifted the focus to raccoons, and they’ve been received well online. If you’re interested in following along with his illustrations online like the more than 50,000 others already doing so, his username on Instagram is @gregstonesart.

The 45th Annual Outdoor Arts Festival will be October 10-11, 2026, and the Bruce’s springtime event, the 41st Annual Outdoor Crafts Festival, will be May 16-17, featuring fine contemporary hand-made crafts in jewelry, wearable and decorative fiber, glass, furniture and housewares, pottery and more. The Bruce Museum is at 1 Museum Drive. For additional information, www.brucemuseum.org or 203-869-0376.