COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS: Cameron Art Museum Announces With A Southern Accent: Sporting Art and Fine Art of Eastern North Carolina
A Major Exhibition of Sporting Art, Folk Traditions, and Southern Identity
September 19, 2026 – August 16, 2027
Wilmington, N.C. — Cameron Art Museum, Eastern North Carolina's premier art museum, announces With A Southern Accent: Sporting Art and Fine Art of Eastern North Carolina, on view September 19, 2026, through August 16, 2027. Guest curated by sporting art expert Robbie Smith, the exhibition explores the enduring relationship between people, wildlife, and place through the lens of Southern sporting art—where function, craft, and artistic expression converge. From the marsh grass of the Carolina coast to the canvas of the region's finest painters, the exhibition captures a way of life defined by patience, tradition, and an abiding love of the outdoors.
Included in the exhibition is the nationally significant American duck decoy collection assembled by Bruce Cameron Jr., a Wilmington businessman, philanthropist, and outdoorsman. Cameron's collection of more than 300 hand-carved decoys, 40 of which will be on view in this exhibition, represents one of the most comprehensive and exceptional assemblages of its kind, tracing the evolution of waterfowl decoys along the East Coast—particularly in the Carolinas—where regional style and individual maker expression transformed utilitarian objects into sculptural works of American folk art.
These carved birds, once tools of the working waterman and weekend hunter alike, anchor the exhibition and CAM's commitment to honoring the folk art and craft traditions of Eastern North Carolina alongside its fine art holdings. With A Southern Accent offers the public a rare opportunity to see this celebrated collection presented in full context—not as relics behind glass, but as evidence of a living regional artistry passed down from carver to carver, generation to generation.
“At its heart, With A Southern Accent is a celebration of the people, traditions, and landscapes that have shaped Eastern North Carolina,” said Heather Wilson, CEO of Cameron Art Museum. “This exhibition gives us the opportunity to juxtapose craft traditions alongside fine works of art by artists who have interpreted this region across generations. Together, these works honor the knowledge, creativity, and deep sense of place found throughout our community.”
“Sporting art has been a lifelong passion for me because it brings together so many things I love: art, history, the outdoors, and the stories of the people who created and used these objects,” said guest curator Robbie Smith. “I am excited for visitors to experience this exhibition and to see these remarkable decoys not simply as hunting tools, but as sculpture, cultural history, and expressions of the communities and landscapes of Eastern North Carolina. My hope is that everyone who walks through the galleries discovers something that connects them more deeply to this region and its traditions.”
The exhibition features iconic works by renowned decoy carvers including Lee Dudley, James Best, Mitchell Fulcher, Percy Carawan, and Alvirah Wright, among others from Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. These historic working decoys are placed in conversation with fine art by celebrated Southern artists such as Scott Avett, John Beerman, Jonathan Green, Robert Gwathmey, Ivey Hayes, Claude Howell, and Bob Timberlake, creating a dynamic dialogue between sporting traditions and fine art practices across generations.
With A Southern Accent positions sporting art not as a peripheral tradition, but as a vital artistic language that reflects Southern identity, environmental awareness, and cultural continuity. It is an exhibition for anyone who has ever risen before dawn for a hunt, inherited a grandfather's gun case, or simply admired the quiet beauty of a well-carved bird—a celebration of the craftsmanship, land, and lore that continue to shape life in the American South. Through this convergence of folk tradition, contemporary painting, and regional history, the exhibition underscores Cameron Art Museum's commitment to presenting exhibitions that connect Eastern North Carolina to broader artistic narratives.
With A Southern Accent: Sporting Art and Fine Art of Eastern North Carolina is sponsored by Southern Bank.
Click HERE for a selection of early images.
Image credits:
John Beerman (American, b. 1958). White Clouds, Mooselookmeguntic, 1994. Oil on canvas. Dimensions: 36”h x 56” w. Collection of Cameron Art Museum. Purchased with funds provided by Thomas Kenan III in Memory of Owen Hill Kenan and the Jessie N. Howell Memorial Fund for the Purchase of North Carolina Art.
Mitchell Fulcher (American, 1869 – 1950). Pintail. Juniper wood with paint and glass eyeballs.
Claude Howell (American, 1917 - 1997). Canal at Engelhard, 1966. Oil on canvas. Dimensions: 22” h x 30” w. Collection of Cameron Art Museum. Gift of the Estate of Claude Howell.
For press inquiries, please contact Matt Budd at mbudd@cameronartmuseum.org (910) 726-9495
About Cameron Art Museum
Cameron Art Museum provides a cultural gathering place that enriches the lives of museum visitors and the community through high-quality exhibitions, lifelong learning in the arts, dynamic public programs, and stewardship and interpretation of the collection. CAM's four core values: commitment to community, to lifelong learning in the arts, to support of artists, and to collecting, preserving, documenting and interpreting a permanent collection of art. The museum has been a collecting institution since inception, with approximately 4,000 objects in the permanent collection, with a primary and growing focus on modern art. The collection includes work by artists of national and international significance, used in changing thematic exhibitions, loan exhibitions, and for educational purposes. Cameron Art Museum is a non-profit fully reliant on the generosity of its donors. For more information visit the museum's website.
