Author: Jane Weinke, curator of collections/registrar
Celebrating Student Art
Posted on February 19, 2020
It seems like it was yesterday when I visited the Woodson Art Museum to interview for a summer position as a gardener. It was April 12, 1979, and part of the interview included a Museum tour. One stop was an unfinished room in the lower level filled with colorful artwork and a staff member placing the works in groups. These artworks, it was quickly explained, comprised the Student Art Exhibition, an annual recognition and display of the creative classroom work of area students; the exhibition had just concluded. Cool.
One short year later, I was part of the team organizing and installing the exhibition. To ensure the exhibition’s viability, we’ve made major changes and minor tweaks over the past forty-three years but the goal remains to honor the region’s talented art teachers and students.
A New Decade
Posted on January 08, 2020
Turning the calendar to January always lifts my spirits. It’s not only a new year, but also a new decade. While I look forward to what’s ahead, sharing our 2019 collection accomplishments seems most appropriate for this week’s Woodson Wanderings blog post.
Baking it Forward
Posted on November 27, 2019
The holidays are fast approaching. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, just twenty-seven days until Christmas.
I’ve always loved this time of year, especially the traditions and family gatherings. My definition of family has evolved over the years to encompass many close friends with whom we celebrate.
Baking was among my family’s annual traditions and it’s something I’ve continued. I use several of my grandmother’s and mother’s recipes and have added my family’s favorites as well as newly discovered taste treats.
Just the Beginning
Posted on October 16, 2019
Fifteen years ago, at a long-range planning meeting, I set a goal to offer access to selections from the permanent collection on the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum’s website. Funny thing about goals; they can be elusive.
I’m happy to share this link that provides access to more than 700 artworks from the Woodson Art Museum’s collection. As promised, this is just the beginning. I’m now working on adding a few hundred works soon. Look out team, we’ve just begun.
Enjoy.
The Perfect Situation
Posted on September 25, 2019
The Perfect Situation is the title of a graphite drawing by Sue deLearie Adair that’s among recent acquisitions by the Woodson Art Museum and also encompasses the opening earlier this month of the 2019 Birds in Art exhibition.
After months of work, hundreds of emails and phone calls, numerous Google searches, the production of a 134-page catalogue, artworks arriving from a dozen countries, and ultimately the installation in the galleries of 127 beautiful paintings, graphics, and sculptures, the Museum shares the exhibition with the public.
Botanical Beauties
Posted on June 19, 2019
For years I’ve referred to myself as a real estate hog. What does that mean for a curator? Well, anytime I see a wall in the Woodson Art Museum sans artwork I look to enhance it with selections from the collection.
Cherished Challenges
Posted on May 01, 2019
I often share my excitement about featuring the Woodson Art Museum’s paintings, sculptures, works on paper, and decorative arts in exhibitions. Because the care of those treasured artworks is vital, I consider the continuing research and education to ensure I’m using the latest techniques and proper conservation supplies equally fascinating and challenging.
The Cutting Edge
Posted on March 20, 2019
Choosing artworks from the Woodson Art Museum’s permanent collection to amplify the themes of Cut Up/Cut Out, the current temporary exhibition, was thoroughly enjoyable. Sometimes making a connection between temporary exhibition themes and Museum collection artwork is difficult. In this instance, to complement Cut Up/Cut Out, I looked to the collection’s extensive holdings of woodcuts and linocuts and the processes used to make those prints.
Spring Fever
Posted on February 13, 2019
Many of us hoped that on February 2 the weather-predicting groundhog wouldn’t see its shadow – a purported omen that spring is six weeks away. I, too, hoped for a speedy change of season.
‘Tis the Season
Posted on December 12, 2018
I’m uncertain how many years my friend Pat and I have baked Christmas cookies together, but it’s many. Although we share a love of baking, lately we’ve discovered it’s less about the process and more about making time and sharing. As we care for family, spend hours at work, and tend households, time for friendship seems fleeting. Our baking weekend is planned months in advance and is eagerly anticipated. More so, now, because Pat’s daughter, daughter-in-law, and families join in the fun. Yes, two grandchildren are part of the festivities.
It gets hectic, we burn cookies, we are distracted, but it’s fun. The laughter at the successes and failures is equal. We take time – time to share, to love, to cry, and mostly to be together.
So, as in past Christmastime blogs, I share a recipe.
