Small Gestures Lead to Big Impacts
Posted on January 06, 2021
As we turned the calendar page to 2021, “hope” for the year ahead is a shared theme.
Heartfelt evidence came to the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum staff via the U.S. Postal Service in the latter days of December from an Aspirus Wausau Hospital nurse.
For the past seven months, in lieu of hands-on art-making activities, Museum staff have lovingly and creatively designed and produced Art Kits to complement artworks on view and encourage busy hands and artistic pursuits.
Pivoting Traditions
Posted on December 30, 2020
Collaborating as a team at the Woodson Art Museum is much like building a gingerbread house with my family. Colleagues work together, sharing stories of the past while working toward the future.
Transported by Light
Posted on December 23, 2020
It was the light and atmosphere. I knew it. I’d experienced it. I missed it.
Know me for longer than two minutes and you’ll quickly learn that I once lived along the front range of the Rocky Mountains. The three years I spent in Colorado were some of the best of my life. Many Midwesterners flocked there at the time. My theory on the mass transplantation was that Wisconsinites appreciate the four seasons but prefer Colorado’s milder version of each.
Sharing Gratitude
Posted on December 16, 2020
From My Space to Yours, an exhibition featuring studio photographs provided by sixty-two Birds in Art 2020 artists, can be viewed online. Included along with the photographs are artists’ words of gratitude about their work spaces, surroundings, and opportunities to pursue work they love.
Elementary . . .
Posted on December 09, 2020
Who doesn’t love a good mystery?
Change Is Good
Posted on December 02, 2020
As the calendar page turns to December, in a typical year I would be preparing for an annual Christmas cookie-baking weekend. A few friends and family would come together for three days to bake dozens of cookies which, ultimately, we give away. It’s my favorite holiday tradition.
This year, thinking positively that change is good, holiday baking will be different. There will be delicious cookies, yet just not as many as in the past. Instead of thirty different varieties of holiday treats, I’ll prepare just a few. I’m thinking of challenging myself with more difficult recipes that might fail, versus the tried and true.
Treasures Redefined
Posted on November 25, 2020
For a daily mini-escape, I stream and watch past episodes of Antiques Roadshow – the U.K. version. In its forty-one seasons, the British show’s format is the same as the U.S. version. People bring objects, seeking an expert’s appraisal, a discussion of provenance or history of ownership, and estimated auction value. Participants vary, from treasure hunters trawling secondhand stores for the once-in-a-lifetime find to individuals inheriting an antique of which they know little or those with cherished memories.
It Takes More Than a Village
Posted on November 18, 2020
To receive a Distinguished Career Award is so much more than the tangible gift I will cherish. The recognition caps my deep love for the work I have been privileged to do for almost forty years.
My gratitude to the Woodson Art Museum “village” and to the community of Midwest museums is boundless.
Which Room Would You Choose?
Posted on November 11, 2020
The Woodson Art Museum has a new addition to its campus perched along North 12th Street. You might think it’s a birdhouse; it’s not, yet it does have roosts and portals to peek through and discover surprises inside. Although not a library, it does contain books ready for you to read or ideas to inspire a new creation. It’s the Stop-by Studio, filled with free Art Kits and books for all to keep or share.
Extending Birds in Art Possibilities
Posted on November 04, 2020
Aware of the popularity and importance of Birds in Art, the Museum made the decision to reschedule the winter exhibitions, The Global Language of Headwear: Cultural Identity, Rites of Passage & Spirituality and the concurrent Stormy Kromer: Evolution of a Classic, and extend Birds in Art into late February 2021. This potentially allows additional time for visitors to experience the 45th edition of Birds in Art, provided the pandemic allows a timely reopening.
