Tag Archives: Leigh Yawkey Woodon Art Museum
The World’s Adventures Delivered to Your Doorstep
Posted on November 19, 2014
Think for a moment like a 10-year-old. At a time when our minds are malleable and craving adventure, we’re confined to homework and childhood chores. Escape comes through daydreams of new experiences, places, and people. As a self-assured and animated 10-year-old, I easily envisioned that my life’s work would cleverly combine marine biology, anthropology, and becoming the next Jane Goodall.
Does Practice Make Perfect?
Posted on September 03, 2014
In grade school, we practiced cursive until our fingers were numb. Repetition was a key to success. Hard to forget the letters, words, and phrases written on lined paper designed to ensure that tall letters – you know, l, d, h, and b – were high enough and letters that dropped down – q, y, p, and j – were low enough.
Even though the merits of cursive are debated today, there’s something reassuring about repetitive actions and behaviors . . . but, does practice make perfect?
Over the next few days – for the thirty-ninth time – the Woodson Art Museum will celebrate the opening of Birds in Art and welcome artists from around the world, members and guests, and the community at large to the all-new 2014 exhibition.
Adverbs Like White Elephants
Posted on August 27, 2014
My favorite author is Ernest Hemingway. Obscure choice, right? Regardless of his popularity, I appreciate his direct, honest prose. From the expatriate culture of The Sun Also Rises, to the battle between man and marlin (and a few sharks) in The Old Man and the Sea, few people influenced literature more.
A Special Creativity
Posted on August 13, 2014
I freely admit there are no creative bones in my body. I admire creative talents in others, but I am unable to take paints, sticks, canvas, paper, or any combination and make something pleasing to the eye. Luckily, I’m OK with that.
My family, friends, colleagues, and coworkers think differently. They would argue that my ability to bake cookies is not only a talent, but also an artform. I think it's less about skill and more a labor of love. Afterall, I don’t create my own recipes.
With this blog installment, I'm sharing what I consider a minor talent . . . using Woodson Art Museum gallery walls as my "canvas" for the exhibitions I curate and install.
Ideas Create Ripples of Impact
Posted on August 06, 2014
An idea cast forth into the world can cause ripples that continue to touch many lives. My life was changed in 2009 when Helen Ramon, program officer at the Helen Bader Foundation, initiated a call to Wisconsin museums to develop programs for older adults. For me, a Woodson Art Museum educator, that "challenge" led to the opportunity to learn about an innovative program for those with dementia and their care partners called “Meet Me at MoMA” at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Ideas, methods, and best practices based on MoMA’s program subsequently were implemented at eleven Wisconsin museums. These museums formed an alliance and named their respective programs "SPARK!". Each museum tailored the program to fit the needs of its visitors and its specific environment.
Red Carpet Rollout for Marathon County Executive Committee
Posted on July 16, 2014
Under the cliché heading of either “be careful what you wish for” or “life is like a box of chocolates,” I don’t think I could have anticipated the multiple positive outcomes when Marathon County administrator Brad Karger asked if the Executive Committee could hold its monthly meeting at the Woodson Art Museum.
I didn’t have to think twice about my willingness to roll out the red carpet. To my delight, the Wednesday, July 9, meeting vastly exceeded my expectations.
The meeting agenda kicked off with an educational presentation and discussion about how the arts help build a community in which people want to live and that’s good for business. No surprise, this is a topic near and dear to my heart.
From Billions to None
Posted on July 02, 2014
It’s difficult to concentrate as I write this blog; the Woodson Art Museum’s fire alarm is bleeping nonstop. No evacuation is necessary. Some sensors are being moved, causing an alarm. I can’t help but be thankful for the technology that warns of fires and ultimately saves lives, but the sound is nerve wracking.
Too bad the passenger pigeon didn’t have a screeching alarm signaling its impending demise. Perhaps the course of history would have changed, preventing this species’ disappearance.
