Join the Wendell Gilley Museum Director Sean Charette for a virtual talk that explores the connections between people, nature and art and learn more about Wendell Gilley himself. This year the Wendell Gilley Museum celebrates its 40th anniversary.

Charette says, “Our goal at the Wendell Gilley Museum is to help people connect with nature, and with their own creativity, through art. The possibilities for engaging with nature and with art are limitless.” His presentation will explore the ways the Gilley provides opportunities for anyone to learn and create, explore and get in touch with nature. The idea of connecting people, art and nature all come from how Wendell Gilley worked. Wendell was a third-generation plumber who became a nationally renowned artisan. His carvings have been in the White House and are still in museum collections across the country and in countless private collections. His love of nature is what got him started first in taxidermy and then in carving. Even at the height of his fame as an artist, even at his busiest, he love working with people to help them find their own creative spark.

Charette has been at the Wendell Gilley Museum since 2017. He spent two years working with The Clark, Williams College Museum of Art and MASS MoCA exploring how the museums could connect with local schools. Before that he worked with Getty Conservation Institute in Los Angeles helping museums with their historic collections. He holds a Master’s Degree in Conservation from the University of Durham in Northern England.