In traditional Taiwanese culture, the rooster is a symbol of good luck, and for the next month and a half the Watkins Community Museum of History will be a very lucky place.

Dozens of people gathered at the museum Friday evening to celebrate the opening of “Art of the Zodiac: Celebrating the Year of the Rooster,” an exhibit featuring an eclectic mix of 73 rooster-oriented works by Taiwanese craftsmen.

The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York has organized an Art of the Zodiac exhibit for the past ten years, but this is the first time a display has made it to the Midwest. The event’s organizers said Lawrence proved an attractive destination because of Kansas University.

“We hope it’s not only an art exhibition, but it’s also educational,” said Jo-chin Wang, director general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Kansas City, Mo.

John Kennedy, an assistant professor in KU’s political science department, said the collection reflected Taiwan’s cultural diversity. A rooster sculpture made out of motorcycle parts, he said, expressed the identity of the industrial area at the south of the island, from which the sculpture came.

“I think its fascinating,” he said. “It’s something that is very modern, but it uses a very traditional form.”

The celebration also afforded several economically interested parties a chance to demonstrate the strong relationship between Kansas and Taiwan.

Kansas Lt. Gov. John Moore addressed the reception and called for a continuation of historically strong Kansas-Taiwan trade.

Last year, Moore traveled to Taiwan to open a Kansas-Taiwan office intended to strengthen economic and cultural trade between the two regions.

“They are good business people; they are a people of integrity,” Moore said. “Their products are of value, and they have a strong economy, so our products are available to them.”

Wang said she hoped future exhibits would also visit eastern Kansas. The rooster exhibit will stay at the Watkins Museum until April 30.