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A Spark of Life: The Bird Carvings of Ralph Sandquist

Opening August 8, 2025, on view through November 2, 2025

What are the odds that two master bird artists would spring from Western New York? Like Roger Tory Peterson, Busti, NY native Ralph Sundquist is world famous for his bird art, only his medium was wood. Over his 23-year career as an award-winning woodcarver, Sandquist created nearly 1,000 carvings of game birds, birds of prey, and songbirds. Many of the carvings on exhibition were among his personal favorites, displayed throughout his home.

Sandquist’s trademark was portraying birds in their natural habitat, surrounded by flowers and plants, trees and bark curls. Sandquist worked mainly in tupelo, which is a favored material of woodcarvers. It is an easy to carve type of wood, and holds small details well. Sandquist added detailing via a burning pen and colored with acrylic/oil paints. His finished work was so accurate and convincing that, when on display at competitions, competitors sometimes mistook the carvings for real, taxidermied birds.

Sandquist’s awards and honors include the 1997 winner in the Open Game Bird category at the Ward Foundation World Competition in Ocean City, Maryland, First Place in the Intermediate Game Bird category at the Masters Carving Competition in Racine, Wisconsin, and Second Place in the Open life-size Decorative category at the Florida Wildlife Exposition in Orlando. He has won First Place and 3rd Best of Show in the World in the Ward World Competition for his carvings of a golden pheasant next to a magnolia. His carvings have received the best overall display in competitions in New Jersey, Virginia, Ohio, and New York.