Ray Colby, a retired commercial photographer living in Minneapolis, MN, has donated a selection of his wildlife photographs, printed on canvas, to be sold in an online auction to benefit the Charles H. MacNider Art Museum in Mason City, IA. 

The auction starts September 15 at 6 pm and ends September 29 at 6 pm. The online auction website is: https://www.32auctions.com/colbyatmac

The donated photographs were featured in Colby’s solo exhibition, Ray Colby: Nature Photographer, that was on display in the Museum’s Kinney-Lindstrom Gallery from April 10 – June 17, 2026.  The exhibition had a three-pronged focus: often-overlooked insects and arachnids that populate Midwest backyards and gardens, large birds of urban Minneapolis, and a stop on the migration route of Sandhill Cranes near the Crex Meadows Wildlife Area in Wisconsin.

The photographs were created specifically for the exhibition and were never accessioned into the Museum’s permanent collection.  All proceeds of the sales will go into the Museum’s temporary exhibition fund which provides funds for traveling shows to come to the Museum.  Colby feels that the sale of his artwork is a way he can give back to the Museum and the arts in North Iowa.