A Question of Balance: Walter T. Matia

This volume of Walter T. Matia's sculpture was published as a companion to an exhibition of his work in the Raymond F. Evans Sporting Art Gallery at the Albany Museum of Art, Albany, Georgia, in December of 2000. 

Matia is the first sculptor to be featured in the gallery, and his sculptures of game birds and sporting dogs convey the spirit of hunting in southwest Georgia that Mr. and Mrs. Evans strove to capture in founding the gallery. 

Throughout his lifetime, Walter Matia has combined his passions for wildlife, the outdoors, and creating art. Born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1953, much of his early skill and knowledge was gained during a long apprenticeship in the Exhibits Department of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. 

It was in 1980 that Matia began casting his sculpture, and within four years had launched Curlew Castings to devote himself full-time to sculpting and the production of limited-edition bronzes. 

Initially, he concentrated on bird life, gradually adding sporting dogs and other mammals to his repertoire. Matia's work has been exhibited extensively throughout the United States as well as in Europe and Asia. He has been a regular participant in the Society of Animal Artists shows, the Easton Waterfowl Festival, and the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition. In 1996 he was elected a Professional Member of the National Sculpture Society.