Rachel Hausmann-Schall, artist residency and adult program manager
One of my biggest regrets in life is that I did not take a printmaking class in college. During those years, I was focused on learning all I could about painting, sculpture, and contemporary art; printmaking wasn’t one of my top interests. As a working artist, my creativity and curiosity is fueled daily by my work at the Woodson Art Museum through exposure to different artists, exhibitions, and artistic mediums. I began to develop a new-found love for printmaking since my first days at the Museum, which I’ve continued to foster through the years and share with our audiences in north central Wisconsin.
In fact, one of the very first things I helped with when I joined the staff here four years ago was printing gift bags and boxes for Birds in Art artists who attended and those that could not make the festivities in 2021. I was eager to jump in and create, so carving a linocut block and printing was an easy thing to say “yes” to. Each year, artists included in the exhibition receive a gift package as a “thank you” for participating. Fellow working artist and staff member Elaina Johann ensures that these gift packages change each year, with new goodies ranging from stickers, chocolate, or cookies to garden seed-bombs or bird-friendly coffee. I was happy to collaborate with both Elaina and Shannon Pueschner, fellow working artist and printmaker, to print artist gift bags during my very first Birds in Art experience, igniting my interest in the medium.
As my trajectory at the Museum continued, former curator of education Catie Anderson facilitated a residency with Wisconsin-based printmaker S.V. (Sue) Medaris which occurred during two printmaking exhibitions at the Museum, one drawn from our permanent collection–Making the Cut, and the other, American Woodblock Prints, a traveling exhibition from the Syracuse University Art Museum. During her residency, Sue offered a wood block printmaking workshop in addition to a well-attended virtual artist talk.
In summer 2024, I organized a short residency with Madison-based artist Emily Arthur, who led a simple DIY screen printing workshop, showing participants how to screen print their own t-shirts and tote bags. It was during this residency that I witnessed the accessibility of the medium and we began brainstorming how the Museum could use printmaking to engage with the community during our busiest time of year–Birds in Art.
What better way to celebrate the fiftieth iteration of the exhibition and opening weekend festivities than with printmaking? During this year’s Birds in Art opening weekend experience, members and visitors enjoyed screen printing their own T-shirts. We called upon exhibiting Birds in Art artists to submit designs for this screen printing activity. Four different avian-inspired designs from Mark Eberhard, Thomas Hill, Monique Wales, and S.V. (Sue) Medaris were selected to become the one-of-a-kind designs utilized to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the exhibition.
The Museum is grateful to have strong connections in the community to make programs like this possible. Through a collaboration with the Wausau School District, the education department worked with the graphics department at Wausau East High School to have these one-of-a-kind designs burned onto screens so the public could utilize them during the opening weekend of Birds in Art 50!
During the Members’ preview experiences and the public opening of Birds in Art, the Glass Box Studio was filled with smiling community members pulling their own prints of these unique designs! With colleagues Andy Jacksack and Emily Wesenick from the education department in addition to many other Woodson Art Museum staff members, we were overwhelmed with the success of screen printing. S.V. (Sue) Medaris even jumped in to help out with printmaking during one of the preview experiences!
In addition to printmaking, Birds in Art artists Melissa Helene Bossenbroek and Robert Voigts worked alongside community members on Saturday afternoon, demonstrating scratchboard and collage. Over the course of a few hours, audience members created with Melissa and Robert and left with their very own Birds in Art 50 T-shirt or garment.
Don’t worry, if you missed your chance to create your own T-shirt, limited quantities are for sale at the Museum’s Visitor Services desk throughout the exhibition.
As I learn more about the medium, my love for printmaking is continuing to grow and I’m looking forward to ways the Museum can implement it during programming in the future.
