Rachel Hausmann-Schall, artist residency and adult program manager
One of my favorite things to ask people is “What is a transformative or memorable art experience you’ve had?” I love talking about art. I love looking at art. I love learning about art. I also love hearing from others what types of art they are most drawn to, or what sticks out in their memory as being a “transformative art experience.” Maybe it was seeing Van Gogh’s Starry Night at the Museum of Modern Art for the first time (the painting is smaller than you might think, right?), or visiting Mark Rothko’s chapel in Houston, or Frida Kahlo’s Casa Azul in Mexico.
My husband, Jake, and I visiting the Museum of Modern Art in 2014 and attempting to take a selfie in front of Van Gogh’s Starry Night.
Mark Rothko’s Chapel in Houston, Texas.
For me, I generally cite one of two transformative art experiences. My first was during an internship at the Milwaukee Art Museum in 2013 with the exhibition 30 Americans from the Rubell Family Foundation collection. As described, “this exhibition is a dynamic exploration of contemporary American art. Paintings, sculptures, installations, photographs, video, and more made by African American artists since 1970 raise questions of what it means to be a contemporary artist and an African American today.”
Walking through this exhibition several times throughout my internship, I was struck by the range of subject matter, materials, and simply the presence of these artworks in a gallery space. There were several pieces that explored difficult topics like slavery, lynchings, and Jim Crow laws. Many objects felt confrontational and frankly, scary. At that time, conversations about the exhibition picked up in the Milwaukee community, which is one of the country’s most segregated cities–an even more impactful reason it was brought to Milwaukee. It was one of the first times I had been moved to these types of emotions from a collection of artworks; and I knew that was exactly what the artists wanted to communicate.
I am grateful that I get to hear answers to my favorite question from all types of people; Museum visitors, artists, staff, and community members. Sometimes I don’t even have to ask the question directly, because the answer can be discovered through conversation. During a studio visit leading up to her exhibition Double Exposure: Community Portraits currently on view at the Woodson Art Museum, Pao Houa Her met with curator of exhibitions Shannon Pueschner and I to discuss her work. Pao offered that one of the most important moments for her as an artist was seeing Wing Young Huie’s series of photographs taken in Frogtown at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. She describes, “He [Wing Young Huie] was telling a story that felt really familiar to me. I lived those stories. His work made me see that it was something I could do. The importance of seeing someone who looks like you… thinking, “he looks like me.” This catapulted me to a place where I felt comfortable and felt that this was a possibility and could be a reality.”
Pao Houa Her, Julie with Mai Youa in the mirrors, 2006-2009, archival pigment print
For Pao, the experience of seeing a Hmong individual in a photograph hanging on the wall at an art museum signaled that her experience as an immigrant from Laos was important, and that she could also use photography to tell her story.
It’s been quite rewarding to spend time in the galleries at the Woodson Art Museum and participate in conversations about Pao Houa Her’s work. The gallery is filled with comments about family, identity, and home. We are inviting the entire Wausau community to experience Pao’s photographs, and to participate in the exhibition themselves in an interactive installation in the gallery. There will be plenty of opportunities to engage with these photographs and with Pao during her upcoming residency in July.
Double Exposure: Community Portraits on view at the Woodson Art Museum through August 24, 2025
I hope you get the chance to explore Double Exposure: Community Portraits and reflect on the transformative art experiences you’ve had in your lifetime. When you land on an answer, let me know because I would love to hear about it.
