Category Archives: Blog

A smiling woman and three children are near a rooftop fountain with water-filled bowl and sculpture of frogs and lily pad

Rooftop Perspective

Posted on August 31, 2022
Watch video in this week's blog for birds-eye views of the Rooftop Sculpture Garden and alfresco options, currently and throughout this fall.
A cruise ship is on calm, smooth water with tree-covered mountains in the background and a blue sky with a strip of white clouds above.

A “Birds in Art” Prequel: Southeast Alaska’s Northern Inside Passage

Posted on August 24, 2022
I’m recently back from an extraordinary experience . . . seven days aboard the Lindblad/National Geographic Venture, traveling from Juneau to Sitka, exploring small harbors and open straits, stunning mammoth glaciers, uninhabited islands, rocky shorelines, lush rain forests and muskegs, and streams filled with spawning salmon.
Birds in Art 2022 Catalogue Cover artwork by Barbara Banthien of a bird, a dark-eyed junco, perched on a sweetgum tree branch

Generation IV: Horizontal Catalogue

Posted on August 17, 2022
Each year, as soon as the Birds in Art jurors select artworks, work on the catalogue begins. Before the catalogue is printed, bound, and delivered to the Woodson Art Museum, the text goes through multiple edits, the images are color proofed to match the artworks in the gallery, and the design is scrutinized for accuracy. All 126 pages come together in three short months by our nimble team at the Museum.
A woman leans over a young child as they hold an iPad and look at the screen that shows a daisy-like flower with blue petals that seems to sprout from glass tree-stump sculptures in a museum gallery.

Cultivating Creativity All Summer

Posted on August 10, 2022
This summer, Woodson Art Museum galleries highlight a bountiful harvest. Throughout two exhibitions, visitors point out favorites and marvel at detailed, realistic depictions and figments of artistic imaginings, too. No matter how your garden grows, nourish your creativity with visits soon and often while botanical art remains on view through Sunday, August 28.
three side by side drawings inspired by Ginny Ruffner: Reforestation of the Imagination

Nurturing Creative Possibilities

Posted on August 03, 2022
The Ginny Ruffner: Reforestation of the Imagination exhibition opens up a world of creative opportunity for students, leading to questions like “Can I combine a cantaloupe and a watermelon?” or “What about a strawberry and a cactus . . . a pineapple and zucchini?”
Younger Summer Art Session participants smile and pose behind mat board

Summer Art Session Success

Posted on July 27, 2022
Mid-July marked the return of the Woodson Art Museum’s popular Summer Art Sessions for young artists ages five through eight and nine through twelve. Abundant Future’s cultivated plant subjects and artist Ginny Ruffner’s imagined botanical landscape served as inspiration for half-day sessions of art making in the Museum’s classroom studio and sculpture garden. The younger “Micro-Greens” worked in two-dimensions while older participants focused on three-dimensional projects.
This image shows the Woodson Art Museum's original building with the Museum's main entrance to the left of that

“Face Lift” Keeps Museum Fit

Posted on July 20, 2022
Working in a place that used to be someone’s home can be a fun and challenging experience
A picture of a bird with two cutting mats, brown paper, and a sign that says

The Joy of Subtle Essentials

Posted on July 13, 2022
Recently, curator of exhibitions Shannon Pueschner and I had the opportunity to go to the Center for Collections Care at Beloit College. While there, we took a four-day intensive course on matting. Peek at all the processes below to see just how big an impact such a "small" feature can make!
A view from the rooftop shows the Museum sculpture garden's green grass, plantings, sculpture, and brick pathways.

Art in the Open Air

Posted on July 06, 2022
Sure to lift and refresh spirits like a cool glass of water on a hot summer day, visit to drink in open-air art experiences and many other options at the Museum soon and often.
People converse during lunch, seated at tables in a rooftop sculpture garden on a sunny day with blue sky and trees in the background.

Three Cheers for Woodson Art Museum Docents

Posted on June 29, 2022
On Monday – a gloriously beautiful, low-humidity summer day – docents and staff gathered for a Noon-time celebration on the Museum’s Rooftop Sculpture Garden. We enjoyed one another’s company and staff expressed gratitude for docents’ commitment of time and their enthusiasm for the Woodson Art Museum.