Wildlife in Focus: Matt Patterson’s Journey in Art and Conservation
2026-10-21 18:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
Join us at The Walden Woods Project, as part of The Concord Festival of Authors, for a presentation from Matt Patterson!
About Matt Patterson:
There’s almost no distance Matt Patterson won’t go, almost nothing he won’t do, to learn all he can about the subjects he paints to make them as accurate and lifelike as possible. He’s pulled giant snapping turtles out of Boston’s muddy river, worked with the Turtle Survival Alliance experts to survey radiated tortoises in Madagascar’s Spiny Forest and trapped and tagged turtles in the rainforest of Belize. He has illustrated several books including his first book, “Freshwater Fish of the Northeast”, written by his father. He also illustrated “The Book of Turtles”, which won seven national awards including a Sibert Honor, the NY Times bestselling “Of Time and Turtles”, and the recently released picture book “The True and Lucky Life of a Turtle”. The latter three books were written by Sy Montgomery. Matt is a member of Artists For Conservation, Society of Animal Artists and a Fellow in The Explorer’s Club. His work has been featured in American Art Collector Magazine, Yankee Magazine, Fine Art Connoisseur and has won numerous awards including twice winning the Roger Tory Peterson Wild American Art award and the AFC Medal of Excellence.
About the presentation:
At a young age, Matt was fascinated with nature and art, and he has traveled all over to research his subjects. An important part of his illustration process is seeing and learning about his subjects in the wild. In his presentation, he will discuss his experiences working in the field, conservation, his art, and researching the three most recent books he worked on with the award-winning author Sy Montgomery.
When: Wednesday, October 21, 6:15-8:00 pm EST.
Where: The Walden Woods Project (address provided upon registration)
Doors will open at 6:15 pm for a wine and cheese reception. The presentation will begin at 7:00 pm.
