Pat Godin: Bird’s Eye

Fall 2026 Exhibition at Glenhyrst Art Gallery

Pat Godin, Bufflehead Pair, 2008, acrylic on tupelo wood. Image courtesy of Nellie Williams.

Pat Godin: Bird’s Eye

September 12 – November 8, 2026
Opening Reception: Sunday, October 4, 2 – 4pm
Glenhyrst Art Gallery, Brantford

Curated by Matthew Ryan Smith

This exhibition features the waterfowl carvings of local artist Pat Godin alongside selections from Glenhyrst Art Gallery’s collection, and represents the artist’s first exhibition at a public art gallery or museum. One of the world’s leading and most decorated waterfowl carvers, Godin’s work demonstrates his extraordinary skill, attention to detail, and ongoing commitment to waterfowl conservation. Combining design elements, wood carving, and painting, Godin’s carvings are near-exact replications of avian species, such as wood ducks, red-breasted mergansers, and Canada geese. Their presence next to 19th-century landscape and avian paintings by notable artists, including Robert Reginald Whale and John Hicks Whale, considers how waterfowl have been represented in the region of Southwestern Ontario over a period of nearly one hundred and fifty years. The exhibition provides an opportunity to recognize one of Canada’s most accomplished artists while further bending the boundaries between fine art and contemporary craft.

About the Artist

Born in Brantford, Ontario, in 1953, Pat Godin is a 19-time world champion in waterfowl carving. Godin developed a passion for flora and fauna while growing up near the banks of the Grand River. At the age of sixteen, he apprenticed at a local tool and die shop, where he learned aspects of precision machinery, skills that would translate into his carving work. After completing a Bachelor of Science degree in Fisheries and Wildlife Biology at the University of Guelph, Godin studied the distribution of Mallard duck populations for his Master of Science degree. In 1973, he entered his first duck decoy competition in the Canadian National Decoy Contest. In 1976, he won his first World Championship title in the Decorative Decoy category. Godin is the author of Championship Waterfowl Patterns, four instructional books for bird carvers, and is the subject of two books on his career: Pat Godin: Waterfowl Carving (2023) and Pat Godin: Wildfowl Sculpture (2025). He is also the recipient of the Jimmie Vizier Memorial Award, was entered into the Waterfowl Festival Hall of Fame in 1994, and received a star on Brantford’s Walk of Fame in 2001.

About the Gallery

Glenhyrst Art Gallery is a small public gallery mandated to serve the communities of the City of Brantford, Brant County, and Six Nations of the Grand River. The Gallery organizes exhibitions year-round, complemented by classes, garden and arboretum tours, workshops, lectures, special events, and an art rental and sales centre. It also holds a collection of over 625 pieces of historical and contemporary artwork by artists of local, regional, and national significance.

Glenhyrst is home to The Golden Teapot and Gift Shop, which offers high tea sittings, and Glenhyrst Gardens features an outdoor sculpture garden. The Gallery operates an educational and studio facility year-round in the Coach House, hosts performing artists on the Coach House Stage, and organizes an artist incubator residency program in the Gardener’s Cottage. We welcome between 55,000 and 60,000 visitors annually.

Admission is free, donations are appreciated, and everyone is welcome.

Glenhyrst Art Gallery
20 Ava Road
Brantford, ON N3T 5G9
www.glenhyrst.ca
info@glenhyrst.ca
(519) 756-5932

Instagram @glenhyrst
Facebook @glenhyrst

Accessibility
Glenhyrst Art Gallery is fully accessible, with an elevator and an accessible washroom. The main entrance is reached by a concrete pathway and can be opened using an automatic door opener. For assistance or any accessibility-related questions, please contact the gallery.

Acknowledgements
Glenhyrst Art Gallery acknowledges that we are on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishnaabe, and Haudenosaunee Peoples. This land is part of the Dish with One Spoon Treaty between the Haudenosaunee and Anishnaabe peoples and symbolises the agreement to share, protect our resources, and not to engage in conflict. The City of Brantford and Glenhyrst is situated on the Haldimand Tract, land promised to Six Nations, which includes six miles on each side of the Grand River.