Roger Tory Peterson Institute

This quote feels even more relevant today.

This quote feels even more relevant today.

Still time to pre-purchase your tickets for Friday evening's Art After Five. Great art, great music, great food, great drinks, great optional program for no additional charge. Pre-purchased tickets are just $18 or $60 for a four-ticket pass. Photo club members - save $2 on admission when you come see the Mangelsen exhibition between now and April 10, 2022 and mention the name of your photo club. #ArtAfter5 #Art #Nature #NaturePhotography #Photography #Drinks #Charcuterie

Still time to pre-purchase your tickets for Friday evening's Art After Five. Great art, great music, great food, great drinks, great optional program for no additional charge. Pre-purchased tickets are just $18 or $60 for a four-ticket pass. Photo club members - save $2 on admission when you come see the Mangelsen exhibition between now and April 10, 2022 and mention the name of your photo club. #ArtAfter5 #Art #Nature #NaturePhotography #Photography #Drinks #Charcuterie

RTPI staff took a 40 minute walk around the preserve this morning as part of the #GBBC (Great Backyard Bird Count). Seven species on a quiet morning. About 17 degrees F, mix of sun and clouds, and a stiff breeze (low teens) out of the northwest. You can participate in the GBBC, too (go to birdcount.org for details). Send or upload a photo you take for a chance to win an RTPI membership (good until 4/30/23) or day passes (good until 12/31/22). Email pics to [email protected] or upload to https://forms.gle/L6Bkxz24M16dJfp89. Submit your photos by Wednesday, February 23 for a chance to win. #Birds #winterbirds @audubonsociety @cornellbirds Birds Canada

RTPI staff took a 40 minute walk around the preserve this morning as part of the #GBBC (Great Backyard Bird Count). Seven species on a quiet morning. About 17 degrees F, mix of sun and clouds, and a stiff breeze (low teens) out of the northwest. You can participate in the GBBC, too (go to birdcount.org for details). Send or upload a photo you take for a chance to win an RTPI membership (good until 4/30/23) or day passes (good until 12/31/22). Email pics to [email protected] or upload to https://forms.gle/L6Bkxz24M16dJfp89. Submit your photos by Wednesday, February 23 for a chance to win. #Birds #winterbirds @audubonsociety @cornellbirds Birds Canada

Love birds? Then plan to take part in the Great Backyard Bird Count this Friday (2/18) through Monday (2/21). https://www.birdcount.org/ Share a picture or video of a bird you see during the GBBC with us at https://forms.gle/qRzCNERJkFSRViDC7 You could win a membership (good from date of award through 4/30/23) or a day pass to RTPI (good through 12/31/22).

Love birds? Then plan to take part in the Great Backyard Bird Count this Friday (2/18) through Monday (2/21). https://www.birdcount.org/ Share a picture or video of a bird you see during the GBBC with us at https://forms.gle/qRzCNERJkFSRViDC7 You could win a membership (good from date of award through 4/30/23) or a day pass to RTPI (good through 12/31/22).

Just in time for Superb Owl Sunday - Maria Ferguson, our Collections Curator, has written a great piece about adding this early Roger Tory Peterson watercolor to our collection. Read all about it at https://rtpi.org/recent-acquisition-great-horned-owl-water/

Just in time for Superb Owl Sunday - Maria Ferguson, our Collections Curator, has written a great piece about adding this early Roger Tory Peterson watercolor to our collection. Read all about it at https://rtpi.org/recent-acquisition-great-horned-owl-water/

Superb Owl Sunday is this week. We think these three Owl paintings by Roger Tory Peterson are superb. Do you have a superb owl image to share? #SuperbOwlSunday #SuperBowl #SuperBowlSunday #SuperbOwl2022

We are happy to share that we were recently awarded a grant from ASI, which will help us provide programs for youths in our Art & Nature Lab. Look for program announcements this spring.

Superb Owl Sunday is this week. We think these three Owl paintings by Roger Tory Peterson are superb. Do you have a superb owl image to share? #SuperbOwlSunday #SuperBowl #SuperBowlSunday #SuperbOwl2022

We are happy to share that we were recently awarded a grant from ASI, which will help us provide programs for youths in our Art & Nature Lab. Look for program announcements this spring.

A Year of Exceptional Challenges -- an update from our board chair, Doug Schutte Dear Friends, This is a very different year-end letter than I intended to write. On December 3, I received a text from Arthur Pearson, RTPI’s Chief Executive Officer:... FYI, fire at RTPI. Under control. Everyone safe. Will update you when I can. Racing to RTPI, letting slip a few expletives, I couldn’t help but wonder, What next?! COVID. Our beautiful building closed for months. The loss of 70% of our revenues. A year that simply needs to end. And now this! The good news is, no one was hurt. The fire, likely due to a faulty lighting fixture, was extinguished quickly, resulting in no substantive damage to the building exterior. The Peterson Collection is safe, too, thanks to the exhaustive efforts of staff and the emergency crew. However, there is extensive water damage throughout the interior of the building. First Covid, followed by the fire does this spell the end of RTPI? From this board member’s perspective, absolutely not. Despite all that has happened, I feel confident about the future of this institution. RTPI’s future has never looked brighter. My confidence lies in our CEO, Arthur Pearson. Since starting his job in mid-March, he has navigated us through not one, but two crises. Under his leadership, we spent much of the year engaged in a comprehensive strategic planning process. In my five years on this board, I’ve never seen a more engaged and talented group of board members, a more hard working staff all collectively focused on reimagining RTPI to match the legacy of Roger Tory Peterson. My confidence lies in our new strategic plan. The final draft, which we plan to roll out in early 2021, will launch RTPI on an exciting three-year trajectory that will channel education and conservation through the lens of our museum including new onsite programs, a dynamic online presence, and world class exhibitions of Art that Matters to the Planet. Most of all, my confidence lies in you, our friends and supporters. You have helped us through an unprecedented year of challenges. However, one more challenge awaits us one we relish. An anonymous donor has offered RTPI a $100,000 challenge grant. To date we are halfway toward meeting our goal. Every dollar you donate in our year-end campaign will be matched, effectively doubling your gift. Please join me in supporting RTPI to put the challenges of this year behind us and move into the bright future that lies ahead. Please go to our website -- rtpi.org -- and click Support our Work to make your online contribution today. Or, if you’d prefer, you may send a check to our mailing address: 311 Curtis Street, Jamestown, NY . Blessings to you this holiday season and thank you for your generosity. Sincerely, Douglas L. Schutte, Board Chair Roger Tory Peterson Institute

Charlotte & David Shaw of Arkansas are ready for the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC). Are you? If you want an introduction to doing a bird count, come to RTPI this Saturday at 9am to hear Craig Thompson talk about it and see which birds are visiting our feeders and flitting about the woods. Call Craig at 518-788-7412 to reserve your spot. (Photo by Charlotte Shaw)

First bird walk of the year. Come to RTPI on Saturday, Feb. 13th from 9-10am for a walk in the woods with Craig Thompson, Vice Chair of the Audubon Council of New York State. Craig will talk about how to do a bird count and participate in this weekend's Great Backyard Bird Count. Spaces are limited. Call Craig at 518.788.7412 by 5pm on Thursday (2/11) to reserve your spot. Masks are required, binoculars are a plus but not essential.

Happy to announce that George Harper has joined us as our new Director of Development & Communications. Exciting changes coming to RTPI this year and George is primed to share them with everyone. https://www.post-journal.com//rtpi-hires-new-director-of-/

We love any story that begins, "When I was growing up in Virginia, my mother took my siblings and me on frequent bird-watching junkets. We fought over the family copy of Roger Tory Peterson’s Field Guide to the Birds and kept our own life lists." https://www.gazettenet.com/Living-Get-Growing-with-Mickey-R

Happy Holidays from all of us at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute. This year especially -- when the lingering effects of Covid and a recent building fire at RTPI keep us from celebrating the season with each other -- please know that we are with you all in spirit and look forward to the day when we can gather together in person and celebrate our shared love of each other and the wonder of the natural world. Until then, be safe, be well.

RTPI will be temporarily closed due to a small fire. Please check our website for additional information and updates.