Meeting in the Middle

Most days I am perfectly content to work with and speak only to objects. This might sound like I have gone around the bend but each object in our collection is exceptional and it is my job to interpret that story when designing exhibitions. While working alone has its benefits, even the best of us need inspiration at times and the annual meeting of the Association of Midwest Museums held October 21-24 in Kansas City provided just the lift I needed.

Usually, Midwest museum professionals from seven states comprise the meeting, but this year the 10 state Mountain-Plains Association joined our group in Kansas City—therefore, meeting in the middle.

The four days were filled with informational sessions on museum-related topics including fundraising, developing children’s programs, and ensuring visitor-safe facilities. Other events filling the days included inspirational keynote speakers, an exposition hall with cutting-edge museum technology and supplies, and evening events highlighting local museum collections with the added enticement of sampling local cuisine during the visit.

Along with listening comes the need to participate, which I did, by teaming with two colleagues to form a panel that discussed the crucial need for museum registrars to understand and interpret the language commonly used when recording the condition of objects. This meeting of the minds is important for both the long-term care of the object as well as ensuring its safe return to its lender. More than 75 colleagues joined in the discussion, brainstorming ideas to improve communication.

This week I am back in the office with a renewed vigor and a dose of reality. I move forward using more concise language when writing condition reports, consult a longer list of colleagues to contact when in need of assistance, and feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude for both my colleagues at the Woodson and the greater museum community who are ready and willing at any time to share ideas, lend a hand, or meet me somewhere in the middle.

One Fine Day in New York City

While I love living in Wausau, I never turn down an opportunity to head East, even if the schedule allows for only a one-day visit to New York City.

Earlier this month, Woodson Art Museum curator of collections Jane Weinke and I left Wausau on a Thursday morning for a quick, three-day trip. We made the most of it, to be sure. We left Central Wisconsin Airport on the 5:10 a.m. flight and were at baggage claim at La Guardia Airport at 10:20 a.m., actually ahead of schedule.

The balance of Thursday and Friday were spent working on Long Island, and with our primary objectives completed by 3:00 p.m. on Friday afternoon, it was time to head to Manhattan. We met art gallery friends and colleagues for dinner, sampling French-Vietnamese cuisine at a charming – and delicious – restaurant called Le Colonial, located on 57th Street between Lexington and Third Avenues.

We had a long list of things we wanted to do on Saturday, which by necessity had to be reduced to the must-accomplish versus nice-to-accomplish because a 6:00 p.m. La Guardia departure meant that we had to be conscious of time.

Saturday was glorious . . . a picture-perfect, Indian-summer day in New York City. The sky was bright blue without a cloud and the temperature was mild, thus creating the perfect ambience for strolling upper Madison Avenue and visiting our favorite art galleries.

Visits to MME Fine Art (on 79th Street near the corner at Park Avenue), Arader Galleries (on Madison Avenue between 78th and 79th Streets), and James Graham & Sons Gallery (on 67th Street between Madison and Park Avenues) filled the day, with time out for lunch, of course.

Serafina Restaurant, on Madison Avenue just a couple of doors north of Arader Galleries toward the corner of 79th Street, is a haven for area art gallery visitors and neighborhood folks. Located on the second floor with an additional “garden” dining room on the third, the restaurant is known for its northern Italian cuisine and especially its pizza, baked in a cherrywood-fired oven.

In what seemed like the blink of an eye, it was time to head to the airport. On-time evening flights brought us back to Central Wisconsin just before midnight. All in all, a very productive trip.

Museum Lady

It is Tuesday morning and I am still in such a great mood from my wonderful experience yesterday. On Monday afternoon I had the delight of working with Lincoln Elementary kindergarten students who are part of the Wausau 21st Century after-school program. As an educator at the Woodson Art Museum, I develop many outreach programs. The one I took to Lincoln is called Animal Illustrators. We start the first class with introductions. If they don’t remember my name “Mrs. Hintz”, I am fondly referred to as the “museum lady.” During introductions I ask them if they have visited the Woodson Art Museum. This class responded with a large percentage of museum-goers; my heart grew three sizes in that moment.

Next we read picture books and then discuss how the illustrator created the artwork for the books. Steve Jenkins was the first illustrator we discussed this session. All the books we read had to do with animals and every illustration depicted an animal. One illustration of a hippo generated a conversation – without any help from me – about Heavyweight, a hippo sculpture by Burt Brent in the Museum’s garden. This group would have talked about the museum and how much they love it for the rest of the class, but we had to focus on our program so I pulled the conversation back to Steve Jenkins. Using a variety of papers, he cuts shapes and collages them together to form his illustrations. The hands-on part of the program follows, with the children creating their favorite animal using the paper-collage method ala Steve Jenkins.

Just like Steve Jenkins, we started by picking out our paper and discussing special effects you can create with paper. We learned how to use a crimper, sometimes working in pairs; one to squeeze the handle while the other turns the knob to send the paper through. Then we learned that tearing paper leaves a fuzzy edge and cutting paper makes a clean, sharp edge. We crumpled paper bags and used water-based markers on coffee filters, spraying them with water for a painted effect. When all of the ways paper could be manipulated were tried, youngsters then decided what animals to create.

The crimped paper and the coffee filter water combo were big hits; every animal created had a bit of crimped paper on it. Some found the watercolor flowing through coffee filters to be more fascinating than anything else. They were encouraged to use all the filters they colored in their collages. One boy, Elijah, created an ocean for his shark using his many coffee filters. Draeven crimped paper and then quickly cut out a wolf shape. This really impressed me because he used a scissors so effectively. Draeven is only five years old and he didn’t need to first sketch his animal; snip, snip and he had a nicely shaped wolf. Draeven then crimped blue paper for the background and crimped brown paper for the rocks and trees. He was the first child to create an environment for his animal. (See illustration)

Today I wonder if Draeven remembers from his earlier Museum visits the sculpture Harvest Moon by Chapel of two running wolfs that is positioned near Heavyweight?

What really rounded out the visit was when Draeven finished his project and then asked if we would be leaving for the Museum soon.

The Changing Exhibition Cycle

When you visit the Woodson Art Museum to take in the artwork on view, chances are you don’t give much thought as to what goes on behind the scenes to make it all happen. As curator of exhibitions, much of my time – and that of my colleagues – is broken into nine-week cycles that revolve around the average length of our changing exhibitions.

Like the ocean tide, our exhibitions have ebb and flow that includes arranging for shipping artworks, receiving crates, condition reporting objects as we unpack them, and more. With exhibitions that include sculpture, display cases are selected and painted or, if needed, new pedestals are built. Title and text panels are designed and printed and artwork labels are also prepared.

During an installation week, the outgoing exhibition is taken down and either placed in the temporary exhibition vault or packed and crated for immediate shipping. The incoming exhibition is carted into the galleries and laid out. Meanwhile, members of our installation team paint the movable walls with a color selected weeks prior. After the exhibition is installed, gallery lighting is fine tuned, labels are placed next to artworks, display cases cleaned, frames and Plexiglas are wiped down, and we’re ready to open to the public.

On Monday morning following the week-long installation of each exhibition, Museum educators train the docent corps, providing them with insights about the artworks on display and offering suggestions for structuring tours for school groups and adults.

With the opening of each exhibition, staff turns its attention to the many complementary programs that the Museum offers. Staff members are assigned programs to oversee; responsibilities include introducing the presenter and making sure room setup instructions are taken care of.

As an exhibition winds down, plans are already in place for the next exhibition and its programs. Thus, the cycle begins anew. In the process, staff are introduced to a host of new topics and have opportunities to meet interesting artists and program presenters. We’re never at a loss for something to do.

Bird: An International Language

We often talk about “Bird” being an international language because people in every country on every continent have some knowledge of birds.

At the Woodson Art Museum, we are privileged to have knowledge of both birds and the artists who paint and sculpt them, including many from well beyond America’s borders.

Growing up on a dairy farm in St. Croix County, I never could have imagined the many friendships I someday would make with artists from around the world.

I remember in 1982 watching Lars Jonsson – a Swede who stands about 6’10” tall – literally unfold himself as he emerged from a tiny plane at Central Wisconsin Airport. He was a bachelor then, but soon he brought his wife Ragnhild and then eventually photos of his four children, and one year his mother came to Wausau with him. Ragnhild’s even done her laundry at my house.

When Dutch artists Ulco Glimmerveen and Ewoud de Groot – and many other artists over the years – first came to the Woodson, they could hardly contain their glee at spotting chipmunks on the Museum’s grounds and on a rock wall across 12th Street. They descended like paparazzi on the little critters, almost causing a traffic jam. When director Kathy Foley took a group of travelers to the Netherlands last year, Ewoud took them birding on the island of Texel and treated them to apple cake and cream at a harbor spot he frequented with his grandfather as a young boy. The circle of friendship grew a little larger.

Two people I know really stand out – and that takes some doing considering all the interesting artists who have journeyed to Wausau since my first Birds in Art opening weekend in 1978. Haruki Koizumi and his wife, Junko, bring a little bit of Japan with them every time they visit, six visits total since 1997.

When they were here in 2007, I learned that Haruki likes to make spaghetti so I proposed that IF his artwork was accepted into Birds in Art in 2008 and IF they traveled to Wausau again, I would invite them to my house for Marcia’s doctored-up Kraft Tangy Italian Spaghetti.

Both IFs happened and I made good on my promise. While the Koizumi’s English keeps getting better and better, my husband and I were reminded anew that laughter is also an international language. We only used my paperback Japanese/English dictionary once and Junko’s electronic translator once.

Good friends made thanks to birds – and chipmunks!