All about Audubon New museum curator devoted to history of wildlife artist

By JUDY JENKINS, Gleaner staff 831-8339 * jjenkins@thegleaner.com
September 27, 2005

Gleaner photo by Darrin Phegley - 831-8375 or dphegley@thegleaner.com
Alan Gehret, the new curator for the Audubon Museum, sits outside the building Monday afternoon.

It was an offer Alan Gehret couldn't refuse.

Though he loved his 20-year position as museum coordinator for John James Audubon's historic home in Mill Grove, Pa., and found it difficult to leave, the opportunity to become curator of Audubon Museum here was irresistible.

"The reputation of this museum is first rate," said the Norristown, Pa. native who began his new position on Sept. 19. "Audubon Museum has the largest standing display of Audubon works anywhere in the U.S. The collection is easily three times the size of what we had at Mill Grove.

"We had the house Audubon lived in (as a youth who moved there from France at age 18 to avoid conscription into Napoleon's army) and we had the grounds that inspired him," Gehret said, "but what we have here is phenomenal. The opportunity to work with it is an honor, and it's an honor to be asked to fill the shoes of (retired former curator) Don Boarman."

The 53-year-old, with a Temple University master's degree in secondary environmental education, relishes Audubon research and has traced the painter's footsteps on journeys that have taken him to sites such as Fort Union in North Dakota.

It was on that Missouri River expedition that Audubon did the original drawing of the ground squirrels for the "Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America" volumes and the drawing is in the museum collection here. "I stood at the same location where Audubon drew it," Gehret said, noting that the area remains much as it was in the artist's time.

The drawing fascinates him, as does the copper plate that was used in the printing of Audubon's crowning achievement, "The Birds of America." Like a child invited to sample anything he wants in a candy store, Gehret is excited about access to the collection that includes Audubon writings, correspondence and family mementos.

He and his wife Carol initially visited the museum about a decade ago, he said, and were overwhelmed by the treasures. He and Boarman and Park Manager Mary Dee Miller became friends as well as collaborators. "Audubon people tend to become best friends," he chuckled, pointing out that they share a passion for the works of the legendary wildlife painter.

He and Boarman were in regular communication over Audubon items, and Gehret said no matter what piece was being discussed, Boarman would usually say, "We have one here."

Miller calls Gehret "the perfect person for this job. Don and I felt the same way about that. Alan knows Audubon and all the (Audubon) contact people and he's so devoted to Audubon as an historical figure. For him to move all the way down here is just phenomenal. He's really interested in programming and bringing people into the park -- which is what we need."

Gehret's wife Carol was a Spanish and English-as-Second-Language teacher until 2003, when she retired to be full-time mom to adopted daughter Leah, 5. The couple are in the process of adopting a second child.

The new curator, who says he grew up with a keen interest in watching birds and learning about wildlife, was always an Audubon fan but became much more so after accepting the Mill Grove post. "Something about Audubon drew me in," he said. "It became an obsession, if you will."

Were he to have a chance to ask the artist anything, he said he would want to know how Audubon felt about the changing face of America in his time, and how he and wife Lucy maintained such a close relationship through Audubon's long absences from home.

Gehret, who once pastored a church in White Fish, Mont., said he's envisioning a number of exhibits for the museum, including one focusing on Audubon's travels and another on the works of other wildlife artists such as the late Roger Tory Peterson.

The curator is still familiarizing himself with the wealth of Audubon artifacts surrounding him, but figures he'll have lots of time to do that. "I'm looking forward to many good years here."