Good Design, Gardens, and Great Company
Posted on August 10, 2016
A trusty loading-dock cart served as a makeshift coffee bar for volunteers who helped themselves to coffee, tea, and breakfast treats before boarding a motor coach bus headed for a visit to the Fox Valley yesterday.
“Vacation”
Posted on August 03, 2016
Much like when I’m waiting for that fish to nibble on the hook, reviewing the Birds in Art catalogue is a time to savor the birds around me.
Finding Favorites
Posted on July 27, 2016
What is Project Postcard? Birds in Art artists are asked to consider donating postcard-sized artworks which then are sold to members and guests during the Friday evening exhibition preview to raise funds for Woodson Art Museum acquisitions.
Last year 156 postcards were available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Anonymity is part of the fun; purchasers must make their selections quickly – you have one minute to make a choice – without knowing who created the artworks, and artists are asked to help keep the secret.
Postcard from Idabel
Posted on July 20, 2016
It might not be easy to get to Oklahoma when you call Wisconsin “home,” but my visit this week to Idabel – in the lower, southeast corner of the Sooner State – was worth the effort. My destination was the Museum of the Red River, where the Woodson Art Museum-organized 2015 Birds in Art exhibition is currently on view
Art Park: A Grandparent’s Go-To Spot
Posted on July 13, 2016
As a new grandparent, I’d forgotten – since our parenting days so long ago – how nice it is to have places to take a toddler. Art Park, the Woodson Art Museum’s interactive family gallery, is designed and built by the Museum’s educators and facilities staff to offer ever-changing intergenerational, art– and nature–based activities for drop-in fun.
Inviting Use
Posted on July 06, 2016
Signs encourage visitors of all ages to delve into the hands-on activities that enliven themes from this summer's chair exhibition, The Art of Seating: 200 Years of American Design, that focuses on purposeful art — objects like chairs that function well, with style. What do you suggest as an inviting invitation?
The Art of Transformation
Posted on June 29, 2016
I spent time last week watching artists-in-residence Donna Dodson and Andy Moerlein, known as The Myth Makers, climb thirty-foot-tall scaffolding like a jungle gym, artfully weaving towering saplings into the biomorphic forms of a sandhill crane pair for their sculpture, The Dance.
Settle in for Inspiration
Posted on June 22, 2016
How will sublime design inspire you? Just two weeks into this summer’s exhibition, The Art of Seating: 200 Years of American Design, stories are surfacing about the varied ways design inspires visitors. From prompting life-altering career choices to recalling and making poignant memories, art is powerful.
A Colorful Process
Posted on June 15, 2016
The sentiment “it takes a village to raise a child” is a bit shopworn, but the premise is sound. At the Woodson Art Museum, it takes the entire staff to manage the various aspects of Birds in Art. We tackle this yearly challenge for many weeks each summer.
Baby-Rockin’ Chair
Posted on June 08, 2016
A pregnancy announcement in my family initiates the transfer of the Baby-Rockin’ Chair. It’s a simple wicker rocker built with a short seat and legs that readily embrace the weary female frame seeking solace and solitude or stealing precious time to cuddle and adore. The wide chair arms comfortably support the occupant’s arm cradling a sleeping baby’s head. The rockers provide a gentle sway with the faint squeaking of wicker marking a cadence.
