The Dungeness River Nature Center begins its monthly film series with “Stuffed: A Documentary on the Art of Taxidermy.” The feature-length film screens at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 14, in the River Center’s Rainshadow Hall, 1943 West Hendrickson Road.

Admission is $10, paid in advance at dungenessrivercenter.org.

“Stuffed” is about the surprising and unique world of taxidermy through the eyes of artists — primarily sculptors — who must also be scientists, organizers said.

The artists are fanatic about nature, and they love animals and see life where others only see death, organizers said. The film reveals the importance of preserving nature, using taxidermy as its unlikely vehicle and the taxidermist as its wild driver.

The film will be followed by a panel discussion with River Center founder Annette Hanson, Director and Park Manager Powell Jones, and taxidermist Elizabeth Barrett with West End Taxidermy in Port Angeles.

Barrett recently refreshed the cougar’s snarl for the River Center’s new exhibit room.

The River Center’s collection of more than 200 mounted birds and mammals began with a Sequim science teacher’s despair as he listened on Monday mornings to students brag about the birds they shot over the weekend, organizers said. He taught taxidermy to give students a closer look at birds’ plumage and body structure.

The collection has been used at the River Center for more than 20 years to teach children and adults drawing, anatomy, identification, and appreciation.

The film series will run most months through April 2024 as a collaboration between the Dungeness River Nature Center and the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribal Library. Films will include both documentaries and narrative films. A schedule will be posted at a later date at www.dungenessrivercenter.org.