Check out Living Willow Dreams in the sculpture garden now and throughout the months ahead to watch its seasonal changes.

What do art museum directors do when they are away from the office for a few days? They visit art museums, of course. With the 2018 Birds in Art catalogue at the printer and with The World According to Federico Uribe drawing huge numbers of visitors daily, the timing was just right for a mid-summer long weekend.

The World According to Federico Uribe is a colorful, creative exhibition into which more than 12,000 Woodson Art Museum visitors, thus far, have happily escaped to this summer. Two summer programs have made me especially aware of the infectious and inspiring quality of Uribe’s artwork – Summer Art Sessions and a visit with first-year students from the Medical College of Wisconsin’s Central Wisconsin campus.

This summer’s exhibition, The World According to Federico Uribe, is generating jaw-dropping amazement and over-the-moon excitement from visitors who keep coming back for more.

As promised in my June 20 Woodson Wanderings blog post, here’s a sneak peek at another upcoming exhibition from the Woodson Art Museum’s inspiring collection.

As I consider the Fourth of July, images of fireworks, sunshine, barbecued chicken, buttery cobs of corn, and strawberries fill my thoughts – with a soundtrack of laughter and children’s delight-filled shrieks.

This week visiting artist and landscape architect Bonnie Gale and her assistant, Jonna Evans, began working on a willow sculpture in the Woodson Art Museum’s Margaret Woodson Fischer Sculpture Garden. The seven-foot-tall domed structure uses ten-foot-long willow rods harvested in New York and transported to Wausau.

The Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum’s collection is amazing. With more than 14,000 works available for exhibitions, the combinations and themes are endless. A frequent question, “do you have a favorite?” still takes me aback. I’ll admit some works appeal to me more than others, but mostly I find something intriguing in each artwork.

Visit the Art Museum this summer to see The World According to Federico Uribe, and I invite you to further explore the immersive galleries and creative spirit of the artist by viewing the exhibition’s audio tour app videos. I hope you enjoy experiencing Federico Uribe’s artwork, both in the galleries and online, where beautiful summer getaways await you, too.

The World According to Federico Uribe, this summer’s immersive installation of colorful, assembled-object sculptures, offers appealing options that beckon like a shimmering spot to swim. This summer, bring friends and family often to the Woodson Art Museum – always admission free – to plunge in, creating deep reservoirs of new memories, overflowing with joy.