For some fifty years before the Museum opened in 1981, Wendell Gilley carved in his home garage-workshop, a few blocks away. There, Gilley developed a hobby into a profession and earned a reputation as one of the best bird carvers in America. He sold carvings, from miniature songbirds to life-size birds of prey to collectors from near and far and all walks of life. At the same time, Gilley’s wife, Addie, built a collection of over 100 of her husband’s carvings. Gilley estimated that he carved over 10,000 birds, hundreds of species.