Taxidermy Classes Now Offered at SIC
Southeastern Illinois College is announcing an addition to its outdoor educational programs that already include archery courses and outdoor recreation. Taxidermy will now be offered at SIC beginning in January.
The taxidermy course will cover all aspects of mounting and is designed to allow students to develop all of the skills necessary to mount big game heads. Course objectives include specimen handling and care, measurements, skinning and fleshing, base-making design and composition, form selection and preparation, form alteration, mounting, finishing, airbrush coloration and displaying.
The class will run on Tuesday nights beginning Jan. 8 through May 7, 5:30-9:20 p.m. Participants are encouraged to bring their own game head to mount. If they don’t have one to bring, one will be provided. However, if one is provided then they will not be able to keep it at the end of class. Participants will complete at least one mount during the 16 weeks.
Instructing the class is a professional who has owned a successful taxidermy business for 34 years. Tony English and his wife Sandy own English’s Taxidermy in Paducah.
“I chose to teach this class because I want to share my knowledge of taxidermy with others,” said English. “Taxidermy is all about preserving a memory, and my favorite thing is seeing the excitement in the eyes of the person when picking up their mount.”
The class is designed for the hobby taxidermist to ensure professional training to produce professional work. English encourages those interested to come to the class and learn a career, or as he says, “Learn a new skill, and you could become your own boss.”
If this course proves popular, SIC has plans to offer additional classes on state and federal taxidermy regulations, full body mounts, bird mounts, fish mounts, and habitats and bases. Participants could take just the classes they are interested in or take the full range of courses to earn a taxidermy certificate.
The certificate at the end of the completed full program would train a student to become a professional taxidermist with the goal of either starting his or her own business or to be employed as a full or part-time professional. Anyone who would like help starting their own business can get free assistance with business plan writing, promotion and funding information from the Illinois Small Business Development Center on SIC’s campus.
Participants will finish the class with not only their first mount, but also the knowledge to create more mounts along with their own taxidermy toolkit. Tuition is $318 plus $72 in fees and about $325 for the taxidermy toolkit. Participants aged 65 and older will enjoy free tuition for the class.
To register for the taxidermy class, call (618) 252-5400, ext. 4120. For more information about the class, email alli.armstrong@sic.edu, call ext. 2104, or visit www.sic.edu/taxidermy.
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