Ruth Marshall was one of Dam, Stuhltrager’s first artists. After seven years of exhibits, museum shows, grants, commissions, fairs and projects – Marshall keeps audiences asking for more and the gallery very, very busy.

After traveling to and from museums, Ruth Marshall’s “Snow Leopard”, “Black Jaguar” and “Golden Jaguar” have all returned for a brief sojourn to Dam, Stuhltrager to be exhibited together for the first time. These textiles – each an exact pelt of an individual large cat residing at the Bronx Zoo – were the spark that ignited Marshall’s current “The Tiger Pelt Project”.

For the “Tiger Pelt Project”, Marshall will travel to Eastern Russia to study endangered tigers living on a highly restricted reserve known as “Sikhote-Alin Zapovednik”. Approx 95% of Siberian Tigers in existence live on this reserve, a restricted site only accessible to the world’s most renown tiger scientists.

Marshall’s journey to Russia to knit the last of the Siberian Tigers raises conservation awareness as well as directly addresses the market’s taste for animal skins. After debuting and selling works of the “Big Cat” series, Marshall set a higher commercial value for faux pelt created by an artist than a poached skin fetches on the black market. This implies the possibility of a paradigm shift in the incentive for wildlife trade (which is the third largest illegal trade in the world). “Tiger Pelt Project” signifies supporting the culture of the society, in this case art, is more sustainable, viable and lucrative than short term gains of illegal wildlife trade.

Special Thanks: WCS/ Wildlife Conservation Society/ Bronx Zoo who administers the Siberian Tiger project who officially granted their support to the project. Dale Miquelle and Dr John Goodrich, preeminent authorities on tigers who run the reserve, have committed their expertise and research.