This March was full of travel and art-related events for me–and that’s how I like it! Fellow museum educator Emily Wesenick and I traveled to Louisville, Kentucky for the National Art Education Association Conference at the end of March. In addition to attending sessions on volunteer engagement, community partnerships, and museum education-focused topics, we were sure to check out local museums, art spaces, and of course–whiskey row! We didn’t miss a photo opportunity in front of the world’s largest baseball bat, either. This exact-scale replica of Babe Ruth’s 34-inch Louisville Slugger towers 120 feet into the sky and weights 68,000 pounds. Imagine hitting a grand slam with that thing!
Emily and I visiting KMAC Contemporary Art Museum in Kentucky
World’s largest Louisville Slugger
One of the conference highlights was attending a session about a local artist named Marvin Finn. Marvin was a folk artist that came from a large family and not much else. Marvin first became interested in creating objects by watching his father whittle. He learned how to carve at a young age and made toys for his siblings in childhood. Later, after moving to Kentucky after World War II, he started a family and continued the tradition of making toys for his own children. He was known for his whimsical and inventive forms, including many wooden birds, adorned with layers of painted patterns. After years of making, Finn’s work became the subject of a large-scale public art project in Louisville in 2000. His sculptures were recreated out of steel and permanently installed at Waterfront Park in downtown Louisville. During my conference session, art educators from all over the country were inspired by his work and created their own cardboard bird. The session was led by a long-time educator whose students worked with Marvin in the 1990s and 2000s before his death in 2007.
Marvin Finn’s bird sculptures at the KMAC Contemporary Art Museum
Keynote Speaker Guerrilla Girls during NAEA 2025
Later in the conference, Emily and I attended a presentation from NAEA’s 2025 Keynote Speaker Guerrilla Girls. I was quite excited about this session, because of the great impact their work has had on art world since the 1980s. Last summer, the Woodson Art Museum exhibited a Guerrilla Girls poster as part of Women Reframe American Landscape; and it was exciting to see that artwork highlighted during their NAEA presentation on stage in front of over 3,000 people. Later that day, I presented about low-cost materials with fellow museum educator Xoe Fiss, who works at the Milwaukee Art Museum. We discussed how to use familiar materials in new ways, which was a hot-button topic for the nearly 200 educators that attended our session! Emily and I celebrated during the conference in Kentucky fashion over a couple of whiskey-inspired cocktails, which were delicious.
Create Wisconsin Day in Madison, our friends Tiffany and Natalie from the Center for Visual Arts were also in attendance
Following the NAEA conference, I went to Madison for Create Wisconsin Day to gather with community partners and arts champions from across the state to advocate for additional funding for the arts in the state budget, something Wisconsin desperately needs, as we sit at number 49 out of 50 in the nation of per capita spending on the arts. It was exciting to see many leaders in the arts community come together over a cause that benefits all of us.
With the full March calendar coming to an end, it might be time to let these experiences sink in over a glass of Kentucky bourbon before preparing for busy upcoming summer months of programming at the Museum.
