Half a Decade (Well Almost)

In a couple days we'll welcome the New Year, closing the chapter on the 00s.

Time to reflect, be thankful, and make resolutions for the upcoming year. 2010 marks my fifth year at the Woodson Art Museum (actually I started in August of 2005 - but for the sake of this article, let's round to 2005).

You might chuckle at five years, "Ah, still a newbie," but it's the longest time I've worked in one place. Some of my colleagues have decades on me; I'm serious when I say decades.

I'm proud of these past five years. I'm even more proud to say I work at the Woodson Art Museum. A Museum with talented professionals (who've shared their time and expertise with me throughout the years), an awesome group of volunteers, an amazing collection, changing exhibitions, and educational programming, a beautiful physical space, and a continued commitment to free admission.

I'm excited to see what 2010 brings! Could it get any better?!

Happy New Year!

Cookie Time

It’s the time of year when I become a slave to tradition.

The Wagner family had many Christmas rituals: cutting a Christmas tree, sledding at Thom Field, visiting relatives near and far, and the dreaded Christmas baking.

If ever there was a time when my sister, brother, and I could “go missing,” it was when our Mom started mixing and baking Christmas cookies.

Of course, we all loved to eat them.

Mom was consumed by the need to have enough cookies, even though we were still eating some varieties until the 4th of July! In Mom’s kitchen, baking continued over consecutive days (7 or more) followed by a one-day icing marathon and decorating hundreds of cutout cookies.

Mom made large or double batches of several varieties to give as gifts to her baking-challenged friends.

In an ironic twist of tradition, I’ve continued Mom’s baking frenzy. My husband, Dennis, thinks it’s more like manic behavior.

What should be a labor of love becomes a race to bake as many delectable treats as I can choosing from dozens of recipes I collected over the year. During all this madness I think I’m having a great time, but apparently Dennis doesn’t understand my flip comments. For instance. . . six hours of baking and only four varieties are ready, UGH! Or perhaps he misinterprets the anguished cries when I discover a missing ingredient that requires yet another trip to the grocery store!

Regardless of perceived or real stress, I’m always pleased and proud to take my home-baked selections to holiday gatherings. A beautiful red Christmas platter–a gift from Marcia Theel–perfectly complements the goodies and is now part of the Weinke cookie tradition.

Dennis gives this recipe two “thumbs up.”

Cream Cheese Cutout Cookies Recipe

1 cup butter softened

1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon almond extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 375°F.

In a large bowl, beat butter and cream cheese until well combined, Add sugar; beat until fluffy. Add egg, vanilla, and almond extract; beat well. In small bowl, combine flour and baking powder. Add dry ingredients to cream cheese mixture; beat until well mixed. Divide dough in half. Wrap each portion in plastic wrap; refrigerate about 1 1/2 hours. Roll out dough, half at a time, to 1/8" thickness on lightly floured surface. Cut out with cookie cutters. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool completely. Frost cookies. Makes about 7 dozen cookies.

Versatility

We like to keep Woodson Art Museum visitors on their toes. What do I mean by this statement?

When you visit an art museum, you generally know what to expect . . . artworks on gallery walls. And you’ll certainly find that when you visit the Woodson. You’ll also find a whole lot more.

Since mid-November our galleries have served as a live broadcast studio, dynamic classroom, and a replica studio setting for “Norman Rockwell.”

It’s amazing how flexible and creative you can be when program ideas abound and partners are willing to think outside the box.

On November 19, Wausau’s Wisconsin Public Radio Bureau set up its studio in the Museum’s main gallery so that community members could participate in the live broadcast of Glen Moberg’s Route 51.

With the gallery/broadcast studio filled to capacity, Glen welcomed photojournalist Kevin Rivoli, the inspiration behind and curator of the Museum’s current exhibition, In Search of Norman Rockwell’s America.

A superb interviewer, Glen posed insightful questions to Kevin and audience members did, too. If you missed the broadcast, click on this link to download the program from the Wisconsin Public Radio archive.

School groups regularly visit the Museum, and enthusiastic docents lead interactive Experiences that encourage student participation and engagement. You never know how or when something seen or heard will trigger an aha moment.

As Norman Rockwell, character actor Sam Harper took up residence in the galleries earlier this month and connected with hundreds of visitors in ways we couldn’t have imagined. An unabashed raconteur, Mr. Rockwell with pipe in hand provided back stories to many of the artworks on view and also eagerly answered questions and posed for photos.

These examples are just a few ways that the Museum demonstrates its versatility.

Visitors also can enrich their own experiences by utilizing in-gallery tools and their imaginations. Activity Guides, audio tours, extended label materials, Art Park interactives, and videos are among the regularly available tools that can be accessed to make magical moments happen at the Woodson Art Museum.

Treasuring Memories

Have you ever witnessed a moment when someone couldn’t express their grief through words, but could create an artwork in memory of a loved one lost? I’ve had the privilege of witnessing such a moment.

Three years ago Amy Kitsembel from Aspirus Comfort Care and Hospice Services contacted me to collaborate on programming for children, teens, and families coping with the death of a loved one. The goal was to create programs where individuals or families could express their grief through art.

We now offer “Treasuring Memories” twice a year. In the summer, surrounded by the serenity of the Museum’s gardens, the group creates stepping-stones; indoors in the winter, the project is a personalized candleholder. In both cases we ask participants to bring a photo or small mementos of their loved one to incorporate into their artwork.

We share memories, stories, laughter, and tears. Aspirus Comfort Care grief counselors join the group to help facilitate conversations about loved ones who have died and listen to the needs of those left behind. As a museum educator, I coordinate the art experience and the Woodson Art Museum provides the neutral setting.

Each program ends with the reading of a beautiful book, The Next Place by Warren Hanson. My favorite passage from this book reads, “I will cherish all the friendship I was fortunate to find, 
all the love and all the laughter in the place I leave behind. All these good things will go with me. 
They will make my spirit glow. 
And that light will shine forever in the next place that I go.”

These past two years, I met many people who lost someone and I treasure the memories they shared. I will always remember a father who brought his three children to create stepping-stones in memory of their mother. They all worked quietly at a table together, few words were spoken, a family so close that words were not needed. A touch of a hand and a look of love shining from the saddest eyes is all that passed amongst them.

When the stepping-stones were finished, this family left them at the table to dry and took a walk together through the Woodson’s gardens and galleries. After they walked away, I looked at the stepping-stones, each with a message to or about their mother. The youngest child used small found objects to create a beautiful frame around the word Mama and shaped a heart beneath her name.

Everyone at some point in life will be touched by the loss of a loved one. Sharing our memories and letting others know what we have lost helps us hold them in our hearts. Expressing those thoughts through art creates a lasting tribute and allows us to grieve, express, and share a part of ourselves.

Mr. Rockwell Comes to Wausau

Norman Rockwell, in the form of Indianapolis-based character actor Sam Harper, is in the middle of a week-long Woodson Art Museum residency. Harper’s resemblance to Rockwell is uncanny. As Mr. Rockwell, Sam not only has the demeanor of the great American artist, but also has mastered his idiosyncrasies.

Thus far, Mr. Rockwell has met with area school groups and Museum visitors, entertaining them while sharing insights into the artist’s art and life.

In addition to daily presentations and interactions with visitors in the galleries through Friday, Mr. Rockwell offers an evening program on Thursday, December 3, 6 – 8 pm. With visuals, props, and audio, he’ll share background information about Rockwell, beginning with his early years as a timid illustrator through his career as a confident chronicler of American life. In addition, Wisconsin Public Radio’s Glen Moberg will interview Mr. Rockwell, probing deeper into the artist’s illustrious life. A reception follows; $5.00 at the door.

Mr. Rockwell also will be in the galleries on Saturday, December 5, 1 – 4 pm, and on Sunday, December 6, he’ll be among the special guests entertaining participants at the Museum’s Holiday Mingle & Jingle, 1 – 3 pm.

Stop by this week to say hi to Mr. Rockwell!

P.S. In Search of Norman Rockwell’s America remains on view through Sunday, January 24, 2010. Don’t miss this superb exhibition.