Prepping for student art projects doesn’t usually require bushels and boxes of potatoes. This week’s artist residency, though, is shaping up to be extraordinary.
Artist Tom Hill’s residency, “Produced in Produce & Worked with Wire,” November 5-10, focuses on wire sculpture, incorporating root vegetables into the mix.
Who knew that potatoes, coupled with a bit of creativity, could pack such a punch of personality? Tom Hill, as it turns out, knows quite well that adding a bit of twisted wire can transform a spud from a dud into a memorable character filled with flair.
This Spud’s for You
Posted on November 06, 2019
Flexibility & Seasonal Changes
Posted on October 30, 2019When planning for the Woodson Art Museum’s members travel adventure to Denver, which wraps up today, we knew weather could be a factor. Did we fully appreciate the potential for temperature extremes or precipitation?
Hats off to the good-natured attitudes of my fellow travelers and to our docents and artist-hosts throughout our Denver stay. It’s been an exceptional trip, yielding lasting friendships and memories of amazing Colorado sun and blue skies as well as a taste of winter to come.
Extending & Expanding Hospitality
Posted on October 23, 2019I see parallels between hosting guests and website redesign. When, prepping for company – whether a houseguest or Woodson Art Museum website visitor – we try to visualize ourselves in their roles, making them feel welcome, anticipating needs, ensuring it’s safe and easy to navigate, and sprinkling bits of delight along the way.
In the months since a major redesign of the Woodson Art Museum website, we’ve made tweaks, as needed, and pointed out a few upgrades incrementally, in separate blog posts and social media highlights. Now, I’m taking the opportunity to offer a “whole-house” website renovation tour, highlighting amenities of which we’re particularly proud.
Just the Beginning
Posted on October 16, 2019Fifteen 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.
Birds & Words: A Fun Family Quest
Posted on October 09, 2019Literature and art are natural companions; children’s illustrated literature is an early introduction to both.
Kevin Henkes’ Birds is a favorite book to share – with babies through second-grade students – while leading Woodson Art Museum programs during Birds in Art 2019, on view through December 1.
Birds and “Big Ideas”
Posted on October 02, 2019Each year, as Birds in Art inevitably sneaks up on me, I consider ways to share and interpret the avian-themed artwork with Museum docents, visiting students, and program participants. The annual process of looking for serendipitous themes or popular subjects in Birds in Art begins in May, when fellow curator of education Lisa Hoffman and I view small, printed images of exhibition artworks spread out on the library table by administrative manager Shari Schroeder.
The Perfect Situation
Posted on September 25, 2019The 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.
There Will Be Coffee
Posted on September 18, 2019At the Woodson Art Museum, we love coffee. We love hot coffee, iced coffee, espresso, decaf, cold brew, and all types of mochas, lattes, and everything in between.
Unexpected Visitors Moo-ve Us All
Posted on September 11, 2019Well, I can’t resist. In my staff role, I continually encourage all to visit the Woodson Art Museum often to discover what surprises await in the galleries and sculpture garden. Those who were here on a recent Friday afternoon, August 30, witnessed a few bonuses.
Cows munching hostas near the Twelfth Street entrance.
I kid you not.
572 Weeks Ago . . .
Posted on September 04, 2019. . . we launched “Woodson Wanderings,” the Woodson Art Museum’s blog, with an invitation and a promise.
We invited readers to join us on a mixed voice – institutional and personal – weekly journey as we explored all things Woodson Art Museum, from exhibitions and artworks to behind-the-scenes goings-on and local and farther-afield travels, along with stories of our daily lives.
The 2008 debut of the Museum’s blog teed up the 33rd edition of Birds in Art, our flagship exhibition. 2019 marks the exhibition’s 44th anniversary, and over the next few days we’ll welcome more than seventy artists from around the world to celebrate the opening of this year’s exhibition on Saturday, September 7. Be an early bird on Saturday morning – the Museum opens at 9:00. Get a jumpstart on Wausau’s Artrageous Weekend, be among the first to check out the new exhibition.
