
October 29, 2026 7-11pm
Doors 7pm/Show 8pm
Tickets $25 pre-sale/$30 general admission

October 29, 2026 7-11pm
Doors 7pm/Show 8pm
Tickets $25 pre-sale/$30 general admission

In the 1800s, taxidermy was displayed at world expos to engage the public in wonder and curiosity. Wunderkammer carries this tradition forward, but with a focus on modern values of sustainability, inclusivity, and imagination.
Join us as the nations most innovative taxidermy artists fill you with awe and wonder as they present their most creative creatures in a showcase that awards the beautiful and bizarre. A cabinet of curiosities come to life!
Celebrate the art and science of taxidermy with your hosts for the night Justin Fornal, the Science Channel star and Explorer’s Club culinary ambassador notorious for his wild game dinners, and Divya Anantharaman, NYC’s premiere taxidermist, world traveling educator, and star of the Emmy winning documentary "Rearranging Skin". We have an all star judging panel, including Kate Clark and George Dante!
Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/wunderkammernyc/
Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/wunderkammernyc/
ARTISTS-Interested in showing your work? CLICK HERE for our rules and submission!
Discounted PRE-SALE tickets are LIMITED and may sell out well ahead of the show!
After presale tickets are sold out, general price tickets will be available online and at the door (if we don't sell out ahead of time!) If tickets are sold out, our venue makes the call based on no shows day of-a possibility is not a guarantee.
Please check our Instagram posts, stories, and highlights for ticket sale info. Day of show ticket info is best seen at The Bell House website.
ONLY presale ticket holders are entered in a raffle to win taxidermy and other prizes from Morbid Anatomy, Gotham Taxidermy, Bazaar Baltimore, and much more!
Guests are encouraged to dress for the occasion!
All ticketed guests receive a gift at the door, sponsored by Bazaar Baltimore
In addition to taxidermy, the evenings festivities will include-
Curious cocktails!
Wildlife Conservation!
Special appearance by Taxidermy Auction!
Ritual Sideshow Performance by The No Ring Circus!
Beautiful and Bizarre Drag!
Taxidermy resources for those inspired to learn taxidermy on their own!
This event is mixed seating and standing. The Bell House NYC is wheelchair accessible. If you require additional accommodations, reserved seating, or anything else, please contact the venue directly, or you can contact us at nyc.wunderkammer@gmail.com
Wunderkammer Logo design by Erika Harada
The Bell House is located at
149 7th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11215
October 29, 2026 7-11pm
Doors 7pm/Show 8pm
Tickets $25 pre-sale/$30 general admission
This event is mixed seating and standing. The Bell House NYC is wheelchair accessible. If you require additional accommodations, reserved seating, or anything else, please contact the venue directly, or you can contact us at nyc.wunderkammer@gmail.com
Artists! Are you interested in showing off your wildest works and winning fabulous prizes? We are looking forward to a spectacular evening full of curious delights. Though this is a showcase and competition, we are not here to judge your style of taxidermy-we are here to celebrate your artistic execution and creative vision, and hope to showcase a diverse range of talent. Please read the rules and form carefully, and make your submissions. This show is open to everyone from anywhere, regardless of experience!
In order to create an unforgettable audience experience, our showcase will be curated to a limited number of participants. Please submit your entries using our ENTRY FORM
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Though this is a showcase and competition, we are not here to judge your style of taxidermy-we are here to celebrate your artistic execution and creative vision, and showcase a diverse variety of work.
DEADLINE- All entry forms must be received by 11:59pm on 10/1/2026. NO EXCEPTIONS. Acceptances will be sent by 11:59pm on 10/5/2026.
In order to create an unforgettable experience, this showcase will be curated to a limited number of participants. Anyone and everyone from anywhere is free to submit work for consideration!
PLEASE READ the rules and form carefully, and make your submissions.
CLICK HERE FOR ALL RULES AND ENTRY FORMS.
PLEASE DIRECT ALL INQUIRIES ABOUT THE SHOW TO OUR EMAIL nyc.wunderkammer@gmail.com.
This is the FASTEST way to get a reply as multiple people monitor this account, and will usually reply to you in 24-48 hours. Sponsors, hosts, etc will not reply. Respecting this boundary helps us work more efficiently!
COMPETITON SHOWCASE CATEGORIES-
Unnatural History
Do you conjure creatures that would make Linnaeus lose his mind? This category is for all of your mythical beasts! Hybrids, gaffs, and everything in between.
Anthropomorphic Animals
For those who painstakingly embroider rosettes on frilly rabbit undies, or craft the perfectly sized pints for your squirrels pub diorama, this is your category!
Bone Zone
No bones about it, your original skeletal and bone art belongs here.
Wearable Wunderkammer
Always dressed to impress, and ready to get wild. This category is for wearable works of bone and taxidermy art.
Wild Card
Do you have something that does not fit in any of the other categories? Surprise us! This can be a piece of taxidermy, performance art, or anything else!
AWARDS-Awards will be given for the most outstanding piece in each category, ALL categories are eligible for Best in Show, First Runner up, Second Runner up. These awards are a reflection of our panelists opinions on how works have interpreted the themes, and are not a judgement on the validity of your work. We are not here to judge your style of taxidermy-we are here to celebrate your artistic execution and creative vision!
NOTES ON JUDGING-Artists put their entire heart, mind, soul, and body into their work, facing many challenges while creating. Making and sharing work is a very vulnerable process, especially on a stage! We do everything in our power to ensure the judging process is as equitable and unbiased as possible. We are not here to judge your style of taxidermy-we are here to celebrate your artistic execution and creative vision, and showcase a diverse variety of work. Please note-
-Judging is led with positivity, we assume good intention from all involved. Judges see artist pieces on stage at that moment, at face value. They have a list of artist names is show order to take notes that will be used in deliberations.
-Judges are selected for their expertise-from traditional taxidermists, independent artists, wildlife educators, cultural figures, and others with various backgrounds and perspectives regarding animals and art.
-New judges may be added or rotated each year to help keep new perspectives coming in. New perspectives mean new opportunities!
-Hosts, performers, artists, and other sensitive parties are not present during judge’s deliberations. The interactions between these parties are all on stage, so we all hear the winners at the same time-this creates an exciting and authentic experience!
-Hosts, organizers, and sponsors put 100% trust into the judges expertise in selecting winners. Sponsors may finance awards with monetary or tangible contributions, but agree that winners are solely selected by the judges.
-You can learn about our judges though our posts tagging them on our social media. You may respectfully contact our judges, though each judge can set the boundaries they deem necessary and appropriate regarding contact.
-Judges will be dismissed for inappropriate behavior and harassment, including racism, sexism, transphobia, homophobia, or other discrimination or harassment
-No matter your award, it should be noted that anyone who takes part in our show has done something truly exceptional!
AWARDS-Awards will be given for the most outstanding piece in each category, ALL categories are eligible for Best in Show, First Runner up, Second Runner up. These awards are a reflection of our panelists opinions on how works have interpreted the themes, and are not a judgement on the validity of your work. We are not here to judge your style of taxidermy-we are here to celebrate your artistic execution and creative vision! Winning is nice, but community and artistic growth is even nicer!
PERKS & PRIZES
All participating artists receive free entry for one, a drink ticket, and a door gift in thanks for their participation.
Awards will be given for the most outstanding piece in each category, ALL categories are eligible for Best in Show, First Runner up, Second Runner up. These awards are a reflection of our panelists opinions on how works have interpreted the themes, and are not a judgement on the validity of your work!
Best of Category-winners receive $50 cash courtesy of Gotham Taxidermy and $50 from Taxidermy Auction!
Best of Show-winner receives $400 cash courtesy of Gotham Taxidermy and to spend at Taxidermy Auction.
1st runner up -winner receives $300 cash courtesy of Gotham Taxidermy and $200 to spend at Taxidermy Auction.
3rd place-winner receives $200 cash courtesy of Gotham Taxidermy and $150 to spend at Taxidermy Auction,
Audience Favorite Award - Selected by the audience via written ballot. Wins $50 from Gotham Taxidermy and $100 to spend at Taxidermy Auction!

A unique combination of science and style, Divya Anantharaman is New York City's premiere taxidermist. An award winning licensed professional preserving animals with honor and compassion for clients ranging from museums, high end designers, gallerists, and collectors. Her specialties are birds, small mammals, and anatomic anomalies, with a select number of commissions open for pets. Her work seeks to combine the demonstrative aspect of scientific presentation with the symbolic, introspective nature of art, using taxidermy to engage diverse audiences with conservation. She is passionately curious about the untapped potential of this scientific art.
She left the corporate fashion industry to pursue her love of natural history as the resident taxidermist at the Morbid Anatomy Museum, and has since built a following creating taxidermy, skeletal, and entomology displays, along with jewelry and wearable art, for anyone who finds wonder in the natural world. In addition to running her own business, she works part time at the esteemed studio of George Dante, which specializes in museum taxidermy and historic conservation. Here, her passion for nature grows through helping preserve animals and exhibits for future generations.
She has recently been featured in the award winning documentary "Rearranging Skin" highlighting the changing face of taxidermy as the artform evolves with our modern world.

Justin Fornal is an international explorer and cultural detective. In June of 2018 he was listed as the '#3 most adventurous person in the world right now' by Men's Journal. He is Co-Founder of the History, Arts, & Science Action Network (HASAN) a non-profit organization that focuses on relic repatriation, historic justice, and documenting vanishing cultures.
Fornal is currently the host of UNEXPLAINED AND UNEXPLORED, an exploration series that solves mysteries using both ancient maps and cutting-edge technology. The program has been airing on the Discovery Channel and Science Channel in since 2019.
Fornal is a SATWF Lowell Thomas Award winning writer who has written extensively for National Geographic, VICE, The Explorers Journal, Parts Unknown, and Roads & Kingdoms. In 2016 he tracked down the lost skull of African American enslaved rebellion leader Nat Turner and repatriated it to the Turner descendants. The relic had been missing since 1831.
Fornal is an extreme open water swimmer and is currently attempting the GREAT ARCTIC SWIM This will be the first attempt to perform a continuous swim from Canada to Greenland across the Nares Strait. He will be wearing a specially designed open-cell neoprene wetsuit for the task.

Kate Clark is a sculptor who lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. Her hybrid sculptures synthesize the human face and the body of wild animals. Her fusion of human and animal creates a fiction that suggest that our humanity is fully realized when we acknowledge not only our current programming but also our natural instincts. Kate had her first solo exhibit at Claire Oliver Gallery in New York in 2008. Since then she has been exhibited in solo museum exhibitions at the Mobile Museum of Art, The Newcomb Art Museum and the Hilliard Museum and in group museum exhibitions at the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, The Islip Art Museum, and The Bellevue Arts Museum, MOFA: Florida State University, Cranbrook Art Museum, Frist Center for the Visual Arts, The Winnepeg Art Gallery, the Glenbow Museum, the Musée de la Halle Saint Pierre, Paris, The Art Gallery at Cleveland State University, the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art, the Nevada Museum of Art, the David Winton Bell Gallery at Brown University, the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, the Biggs Museum of American Art, the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, and the J. Paul Getty Museum. Her work is collected internationally and is in public collections such as the JP Morgan Chase Art Collection, the 21c Collection, the David Roberts Art Foundation in London, the Cranbrook Museum, and the C-Collection in Switzerland. Clark’s sculptures have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, New York Magazine, Art21:Blog, The Village Voice, PAPERmag, The Atlantic, Hyperallergic, NYArts, Huffington Post, Hi Fructose, the BBC World News Brazil, Hey! Magazine, Time Out, ID Paris, Cool Hunting, Wallpaper, Creators Project/VICE, Sculpture Review and many other publications. Kate’s work is the cover image for Art ltd. magazine, November/December 2014. Kate was filmed by National Geographic in her studio over a 2 month period for a short documentary about her work.

Avery Coffey (she/they) is a media personality and film reviewer known for their horror podcast and community events. Her passion for community inspires her to find representation within the macabre. A lover of Halloween and all things gay, they have a deep admiration for subversive art.
https://www.instagram.com/urhorrorpodcast/?hl=en
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-unbound-rewound-horror-pod-106088144/

George Dante has more than 36 years of experience as a taxidermist, sculptor,
model maker, illustrator and fine artist. He has been a field naturalist his entire
life and formed Wildlife Preservations while in high school. George continued to
develop his company while obtaining a Bachelor of Arts from the School of Visual
Arts in New York and today the company is a world-class provider of natural
history exhibit services. Their work has been recognized in media outlets such as
the New York Times, New York Post, Chicago Sun Times, National Geographic
Magazine, Popular Mechanics, Good Morning America, Martha Stewart Living,
NPR, Scientific American, Atlas Obscura, Popular Science, Treasures of New
York, National Geographic Explorer, and more.
Recently George and his team have also become recognized as leaders in the
restoration and conservation of older taxidermy and museum dioramas. His work
continues to advance the way collections are restored by bridging the gap
between classical taxidermy and fine art conservation.
In addition to being the recipient of numerous awards, George is also served
many years an NTA certified judge and instructor with several publications in his
field. His clients include some of the most prestigious institutions and
organizations in the world, such as the American Museum of Natural History, The
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Harvard University, The Field
Museum, National Geographic, Oxford University, US Fish & Wildlife Service,
and more.

SamSam Graves is an artist, bird educator, and monitor who collaborates with many different organizations such as Local Nature Lab, NYC Plover Project, NYC Bird Alliance, and so many others. They use taxidermy as a tool for conservation to bring awareness to all the amazing creatures we share our space with.
https://www.instagram.com/samsamgraves/

Robert Marbury is a multi-disciplinary artist working in fabric, photography, and fur. He is a co-founder of the Minnesota Association of Rogue Taxidermists and lectures internationally about alternative taxidermy. He has developed his Urban Beast Project since 2000 in order to investigate the ferine nature of animals and their interaction with humans in the urban environment. Robert has played a drape in John Waters' Crybaby, been held up by pirates in Indonesia, and served as the Public Arts Chair on the Minneapolis Arts Commission. He was a regular judge at the annual Carnivorous Night's Taxidermy Contest. His work has received support from the Aljira Contemporary Art Center in Newark, NJ; the CAFKA Public Art Forum in Ontario, Canada; the Minnesota State Arts Board; and the NEA Artist Initiative Grant. In 2007, Robert was included as one of the “stray dogs of contemporary art” in Charley 05, edited by Maurizio Cattelan, Massimiliano Gioni, and Ali Subotnick. Robert earned his B.A. from Connecticut College and a Post-Bac from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. He currently lives and works in Baltimore, MD. Taxidermy Art: A Rogue's Guide to the Work, the Culture, and How to Do It Yourself is Robert's first book.