2017 Friends of Nemours - Artist Grainger McKoy

Mike and Gigi McShane with artist Grainger McKoy

2017 program cover features McKoy's work

The Nemours Wildlife Foundation is based at Nemours Plantation in the ACE Basin, situated in Beaufort County at the intersection of the Combahee River and Highway 17. Each year their Board of Directors invites a guest speaker to educate others about their own outdoor experiences, reinforcing the legacy of Eugene Nemours duPont III who founded this 10,000-acre conservation experiment. Renowned sculptor and wildlife artist Grainger McKoy grew up in Sumter, but his considerable talent for carving avian life allows him to fly into the rarified air of being in demand on an international scale.

             

These 'Friends' are an attentive and appreciative crowd 

The weather on Saturday October 21 was sunny and bright, with unseasonable warm temperatures. Board President and CEO Ernie Wiggers gave an update of activities at the Nemours Wildlife Foundation. He recognized two professors from Clemson in the audience, Greg Yarrow and Bob Jones, before announcing the creation of a new scholarship. “The Eugene and Laura duPont scholarship at Clemson University will go to an intern working in the field of wildlife conservation,” said Wiggers.

Speaker Grainger McKoy approached the podium and quickly found out that first page of his lecture notes corresponding to his slide show were missing. Like a bird taking flight, they were simply gone, and he closed his eyes briefly and then launched into an engaging tale about his life. When his hour-long talk concluded, including inspirational stories and anecdotal notes, one patron told me that Mr. McKoy needs to lose his notes more often!   

            

Student Richard Coen explains Lydar mapping to me

“It’s good to be back in this neck of the woods with the Friends of Nemours, because this is an area that gave me a lot of support when I was a young man,” said McKoy. “After finishing college at Clemson I lived in Beaufort for a time and gladly listened to mentor Gilbert Maggioni to try my hand at carving. We were both avid outdoorsmen but he lived a carefree life as a painter and sculptor and that appealed to me at the time. But most important he taught me the value of hard work and attention to detail. It was around May of 1970, living in Beaufort, that I made my first sale, it was a semi-palmated plover carving bought by Ms. Chase from Twickenham Plantation. Every sculpture in my life since that one has a story, and each one is a measure of my own growth,” said McKoy. “Just like how the stories from the special places in the ACE Basin are still evolving.”

1923 Pick Up truck with Nemours Wildlife Foundation logo

To view the entire feature article in the newspaper click on Colletonian.

To view past blog entries from Friends of Nemours click on 2014 - 2013 - 2012 - 2009

To view past blog entries from Nemours Wildlife Foundation click on 2011 Mottled Duck Study - 2012 Army Corps of Engineers - 2014 Red-Cockaded Woodpeckers - 2014 USDA Under Secretary

To view past blog entries on shorebirds click on 2017 Shorebird Symposium / Kiawah Conservancy