The Wrentit Emblem and GuyCoheleach

It seems like the Wrentit, the emblem of Pasadena Audubon, has always been there. However this was not the case for our first 66 years. While the idea the Wrentit newsletter was first thought of at the PAS Board Meeting of May 19, 1953, the Wrentit symbol first came into being in 1970. In that year Elizabeth Manning, PAS President 1968-71, was spending part of the winter in New York City at Audubon House, the headquarters of the National Audubon Society. The editor of Audubon Magazine at that time was Les Line. Elizabeth asked him if he had suggestions for a masthead for our newsletter. After due consideration, Les contacted Guy Coheleach, an aspiring wildlife artist, and asked him to make a sketch of a Wrentit. He did so for about $25. At the March PAS Board meeting following this it was decided to also use this emblem for our news releases and stationery.

Today Guy Coheleach is a renowned wildlife artist whose works have appeared in 32 museums and even in the White House. Visiting heads of state have received his American Eagle print. He has received the Society of Animal Artists Award of excellence an unprecedented eight times. He has been the subject of two films: “Guy Coheleach and the Bald Eagle” and “Quest: An Artist and his Prey”. Articles about him have appeared in Reader’s Digest, the Saturday Evening Post as well as various wildlife and art magazine. Several books of his works have been published.

Guy has been a generous supporter of conservation causes and established an endowment at the University of Tennessee for the School of Wildlife Management. At his many print and book signings a portion of the proceeds goes to conservation causes.

It goes without saying that the original Wrentit drawing made especially for us would be valued at far more than that original $25. Where is it now? It is thought to have gone up in smoke along the rest of the PAS archives in the Eaton Canyon fire of 1993.