The SCI Annual Hunters’ Convention Features World Renowned Artists
Safari Club International 12.16.13
he SCI Annual Hunters’ Convention has become one of the largest exhibitions of wildlife art in North America and one of the largest gatherings of wildlife artists. Past conventions have featured renowned wildlife artists, such as Guy Coleach, Gary Swanson, and Lindsay Scott. Current artists include such luminaries as John Banovich, Kobus Moller, Brian Jarvi, Stefano Cecchini, Fred Boyer, Jan Martin McGuire, John Seerey-Lester, Craig Tennant, Kim Donaldson and John Tolmay. Many of these artists operate their own booth while others are represented by galleries. This year nearly 70 works by more than 50 donating artists and galleries will be auctioned off to benefit Safari Club International’s work around the globe.
Each year Safari Club International Foundation (SCI Foundation) honors one participating artist by naming them the Conservation Artist of the Year. This year’s honoree is painter Linda Besse. Her oil, “Outgunned”, which features a scene of woodland caribou in Labrador’s Boreal Forest, will be auctioned to benefit conservation of big game in 2014.
“We are excited to have our artists’ amazing artwork featured at the annual Hunters’ Convention,” said SCI Foundation President Joe Hosmer. “It brings recognition to the distinguished artists like Linda, and highlights SCI’s mission of conservation by using the auction proceeds to benefit the Foundation’s conservation work.”
Besse has been exhibiting and selling her artwork at the Annual Hunters’ Convention for more than 10 years. “I am honored to be recognized by the Foundation for my conservation efforts and hope that [the convention] will give my efforts a broader reach,” said Besse.
“While the SCI Annual Hunters’ Convention might seem like an unlikely place to find world renowned art, it is actually a collector’s paradise,” said Hosmer.
Safari Club International members from around the globe will trek to Las Vegas to browse more than 1 million square feet of exhibit space offering the finest in hunting equipment, attend educational seminars and evening auctions, book hunting trips and visit with old friends. This annual event is a true hunter’s paradise, and drew more than 18,000 attendees in 2013.
Join us February 5-8, 2014, in Las Vegas, Nevada, to celebrate SCI’s 42nd Annual Hunters’ Convention. To make your trip easier, SCI is extending the early-bird registration discount through December 18 and extending phone hours for registration through January 19. SCI’s registration lines will now be answered 6:00 am through 7:00 pm MST and 9:00 am through 3:00 pm MST on the weekends. Don’t miss out on the hunt because you missed out on the Annual Hunters’ Convention.
For more information, to join or register, visit www.showsci.org or call 1-888-746-9724.
Protecting hunters’ rights and promoting wildlife conservation, SCI’s two areas of focus, historically has been the interest of hundreds of individuals long before SCI was established. But how did SCI as an organization begin?
Forty years ago, there were many safari clubs across the country made up of local, unaffiliated groups of hunters. One such was Safari Club of Los Angeles, which was formed in April 1971 by forty-seven individuals. In early 1972, an out-of-towner from a similar club in Chicago attended one of the monthly Wednesday night meetings, and it was decided that the L.A. club should attempt to combine with the one in Chicago to make it an affiliated chapter. The founder of Safari Club of Los Angeles, C.J. McElroy, went to the Windy City and instituted the new chapter.
Eleven months after the formation of Safari Club of Los Angeles, on March 9, 1972, the name was changed officially to Safari Club International. SCI continued to reach out to other independent safari clubs throughout the United States in an effort to combine them into a single overall organization.
Today, interest in SCI’s two primary missions has grown a worldwide network. Subsequent involvement and promotion of these missions is rooted in each of our 55,000 members, supported through each of our 190 membership chapters found across the globe, and put into action by government representatives and personnel both nationally and internationally.
In this way, we can encourage an appreciation for nature and wildlife so that conservation efforts remain strong, while also fighting to protect our rich hunting heritage. Big changes can be achieved through the endeavors of many who are united in a mission – the mission of Safari Club International.
