Past Exhibitions

September 12 – November 29, 2015

Long venerated for embodying freedom, grace, and beauty in flight, birds continually provide creative inspiration to exceed limits of earthbound human existence. As we aspire to sing, soar, and preen like them adorned in brilliant attire, avian art inspires in endless ways. When talented artists from throughout the world strive to be among those chosen for the internationally renowned Birds in Art exhibition, the resulting depictions are breathtaking. The 40th annual Birds in Art exhibition celebrates avian marvels through fresh interpretations in original paintings, sculptures, and graphics created within the last three years. A fully illustrated catalogue accompanies Birds in Art and will be available in September.

June 6 – August 30, 2015
Photographs of nocturnal journeys through worldwide botanical gardens, captured by Linda Rutenberg and Roger Leeon using only moonlight and flashlights for illumination, reveal a flourishing, seldom-seen nightlife. The couple’s nighttime photographs, taken at North American botanical gardens, offer fresh perspectives of nature glimpsed while the world slumbers. The Garden at Night has been organized by Linda Rutenberg and is circulated through GuestCurator Traveling Exhibitions.

June 6 – August 30, 2015
A collaboration between Philadelphia’s Center for Art in Wood and Bartram’s Garden resulted in unusual and inspired artworks. John Bartram, America’s first botanist, shipped to British clients wooden boxes he filled with seeds, dried plant, and natural history curiosities that transformed the European landscape with colorful specimens from New World gardens. These eighteenth-century seed sales supported his Philadelphia botanic garden and three generations of research. The featured artists “remixed” Bartram’s history, materials, and legacy, using wood salvaged from trees felled by a 2010 storm at Philadelphia’s Bartram’s Garden.

Through July 2015
 
These artworks are a sampling from a collection of more than 350 paintings commissioned for a stamp series highlighting endangered species from around the world to promote awareness and stave off extinction. The entire collection was a gift to the Woodson Art Museum.

Through July 2015

What lessons can be learned from the demise of the passenger pigeon? Project Passenger Pigeon, a nationwide educational initiative marking the 100th anniversary of the species’ extinction, inspired the Woodson exhibition Legacy Lost & Saved: Extinct and Endangered Birds of North America. Comprising works from the collection and loans, including two Owen Gromme passenger pigeon paintings and sculpture by Todd McGrain, Legacy Lost & Saved features other artists’ portrayals of species such as the great auk and ivory-billed woodpecker. Related programs consider how a brighter future can be shaped by the past.

Through July 2015

Owen J. Gromme’s lifelong commitment to the restoration of the Horicon Marsh – a vast wetland just west of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, where he grew up – began in the 1920s. Among the largest freshwater cattail marshes in the nation, Horicon sustains an abundance of wildlife and attracts thousands of migratory ducks and geese annually. Artworks depicting waterfowl by Gromme and others, including Frank Benson, Don Henson, Jim Morgan, Sherrie York, and Andrea Rich, comprise The Great Marsh.

February 28 – May 31, 2015

This spring, an exciting guitar exhibition comprises dozens of iconic stringed instruments – enlivened by a performance series, hands-on Sound Lab, luthier’s studio, guitar collectors’ stories, and more.

As the guitar’s ancestors evolved over centuries from the earliest ouds and lutes, guitar makers experimented with shapes, materials, and accessories, seeking the perfect blend of beauty and sound. A relentless redesign push, seeking a fresh aesthetic and sound, continues to fuel creative synergy and musical innovation. Consider the cultural significance of the guitar. Just as American guitar designers of the 1960s departed radically from the iconic hourglass shape, street-corner guitarists led the protest movement that challenged the status quo. Medieval to Metal, a touring exhibition of the National Guitar Museum, comprises design illustrations, guitars, and photographs of performers, bringing sound to life.

Online, public voting Saturday, February 28 – Sunday, March 8

Opening reception Thursday, March 26, 5-7 pm

Exhibition on view Thursday, March 26 through Sunday, May 31

Wausau-area high school students participated in a six-month photography project, including workshops and conducting their own photo shoots to explore the question “what makes Wausau a great place to live?”