State Day Conference is a WRAP!
Attendees at the State Day Conference 200 participants engaged and connected at the 2018 State Day Conference during exhibitions, ceremonies, demonstrations, keynote speaker presentation, and networking spaces. They are raving about the conference!
Save the date for next year:
Conference Dates 2019
State Day Conference: September 20 - 21, 2019
Location: Pyle Center, 702 Langdon St, Madison, WI 53706
Exhibition Dates
2018 Annual Art Exhibition: August 16 - September 21, 2019
Conference in 2020 will be in Wausau
Read more - continuingstudies.wisc.edu/conferences/wisconsin-regional-art-program/wrap-conference/
"Being in Madison Saturday was a happy day for me. It was very nice meeting you. Leslee Nelson's presentation was a rewarding pleasure even helping me with an idea for my (hopefully) future work. The Wisconsin Regional Art Program is a wonderful opportunity, for everyone in the state, to personally participate in the arts. I think I heard Ms. Nelson say that John Steuart Curry started the program in the 1930's as part of The Wisconsin Idea. That idea—education, thought, creativity, social and environmental relationships, are at the heart of the state of Wisconsin. What an idea! Thank you for making it real."
–Emailed by Bill Schuele, September 24, 2018
Save the date for next year:
Conference Dates 2019
State Day Conference: September 20 - 21, 2019
Location: Pyle Center, 702 Langdon St, Madison, WI 53706
Exhibition Dates
2018 Annual Art Exhibition: August 16 - September 21, 2019
Conference in 2020 will be in Wausau
Read more - continuingstudies.wisc.edu/conferences/wisconsin-regional-art-program/wrap-conference/
"Being in Madison Saturday was a happy day for me. It was very nice meeting you. Leslee Nelson's presentation was a rewarding pleasure even helping me with an idea for my (hopefully) future work. The Wisconsin Regional Art Program is a wonderful opportunity, for everyone in the state, to personally participate in the arts. I think I heard Ms. Nelson say that John Steuart Curry started the program in the 1930's as part of The Wisconsin Idea. That idea—education, thought, creativity, social and environmental relationships, are at the heart of the state of Wisconsin. What an idea! Thank you for making it real."
–Emailed by Bill Schuele, September 24, 2018
Members of the Memory Cloth Circle share their skills with participants at the 2018 State Day Conference - Over 200 State Awards given by 23 judges representing 23 regions.
- 174 artworks In this exhibition, 60 first time State Award winners.
- Eight WRAPs held in established art centers.
- Youngest WRAP: Barron hosted by new art Professor new to Wisconsin!
- Oldest WRAP: Wautoma celebrated 70 years with a presentation including Maryo Gard Ewell, community arts leader, and me.
- 174 artworks In this exhibition, 60 first time State Award winners.
- Eight WRAPs held in established art centers.
- Youngest WRAP: Barron hosted by new art Professor new to Wisconsin!
- Oldest WRAP: Wautoma celebrated 70 years with a presentation including Maryo Gard Ewell, community arts leader, and me.
Upcoming WRAP Exhibitions and Workshops
Unique Style 1, by Shirley Diedrich Choose your next opportunity to connect with artists and share your artwork in one of our regional exhibitions and workshops.
Permanent Collection Feature - Master of Nostalgic Regionalism, Lois Ireland
By Abigail Case
Morning Glory, Lois Ireland
WRAP dove into our permanent collection, located on the 7th floor of 21 N. Park Street to find a piece by celebrated artist, Lois Ireland. This piece titled “Morning Glory” was completed in 1948. Ireland was born in 1928 in Waunakee, a rural community north of Madison. She graduated in 1947 and subsequently enrolled in the art program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Two years later, she moved to New York to study at the Art Students’ League. In 1950, she returned to Wisconsin to recommence painting the American landscape in her regionalist style. She went on to marry and have two sons, which she raised in Oconomowoc.
When Ireland was a teen, John Steuart Curry was the artist-in-residence at UW. A neighbor of Lois encouraged her to set up an interview with Curry. With his guidance, she became fond of oil painting, her favorite medium. Ireland acknowledges Curry’s paintings “Line Storm” and “The Tornado” made a great impact on her painting style and livened her technique. He also led her to the newly-formed Wisconsin Regional Art Program. Her other inspirations include the likes of Grant Wood, Peter Hurd, and Thomas Benton.
Her subject matter mostly depicts nostalgic rural Wisconsin life; the land, the people, and the vast farming country around her hometown of Waunakee. Ireland’s first showing was in 1943 at the Rural Art Exhibit. In 1944, the Wisconsin Salon accepted a portrait of her mother for its annual exhibit. Since then she has exhibited in the Museum of Wisconsin Art in West Bend, the Wisconsin State Historical Society in Madison, and the Milwaukee Art Institute. Throughout her long illustrious career, Ireland has stayed true to regionalism style of remembered Wisconsin country sides.
When Ireland was a teen, John Steuart Curry was the artist-in-residence at UW. A neighbor of Lois encouraged her to set up an interview with Curry. With his guidance, she became fond of oil painting, her favorite medium. Ireland acknowledges Curry’s paintings “Line Storm” and “The Tornado” made a great impact on her painting style and livened her technique. He also led her to the newly-formed Wisconsin Regional Art Program. Her other inspirations include the likes of Grant Wood, Peter Hurd, and Thomas Benton.
Her subject matter mostly depicts nostalgic rural Wisconsin life; the land, the people, and the vast farming country around her hometown of Waunakee. Ireland’s first showing was in 1943 at the Rural Art Exhibit. In 1944, the Wisconsin Salon accepted a portrait of her mother for its annual exhibit. Since then she has exhibited in the Museum of Wisconsin Art in West Bend, the Wisconsin State Historical Society in Madison, and the Milwaukee Art Institute. Throughout her long illustrious career, Ireland has stayed true to regionalism style of remembered Wisconsin country sides.
2018-2019 Agriculture Hall Show Highlight
| | A few works from the annual exhibition were selected to be shown in Agriculture Hall for the year. Congrats to those artists! |
Farewell to Liese Pfeifer
It is a great pleasure to announce to our WRAP community, these staff changes. I am incredibly grateful for my time working with WRAP and WRAA, the relationships built, the encouraging stories I’ve heard and the beautiful art I’ve seen. I am ready to move on to my next adventure in life. I have been assured that our Division of Continuing Studies embraces the strength of WRAP. Because of that, we have hired Angela Johnson as the next Director of the Wisconsin Regional Art Program. I am confident in passing the torch to Angela and know she will continue to foster positive interactions through WRAP.
Meet our new staff!
| Madison native, Angela Johnson will be the new director of the Wisconsin Regional Arts Program starting November 19th . She earned a MA in Art Education in 2008 and an MFA with a focus in photography in 2016, both from UW-Madison. She has shown her photography nationally. She recently finished her first 40’ long public art installation funded by the National Science Foundation (in collaboration with Dr. Ahna Skop - Genetics Dept.) called “Genetic Reflections” located in the Genetics Biotechnology Center at UW-Madison. WRAP and WRAA hold a special place for Angela. She won a state award about a decade ago for one of her sculptures and was a former juror at Black River Falls. She loves immersing herself in environments that revolve around collaboration, community and outreach in the arts. Creativity and community engagement are an integral to her professional and teaching practices. She has led the SPARK! Program (cultural arts programming for adults with memory loss and their care partners) for the past 8 years at Madison Children’s Museum: the museum no one outgrows. Her education qualifications and work history demonstrate passion for the type of work that propels the mission of WRAP, the Wisconsin Idea and harnessing the power and potential of artistic explorations for the university and the boarders of the state. She will be in the office Monday-Thursday from 1-5pm for the remainder of this semester. |  |
Abigail Case, our new student assistant, joined the WRAP team in August 2018. She is in her sophomore year at UW-Madison, expecting to graduate with a double major in Anthropology and Art History, as well as a certificate in German. Her ideal line of work would be curation within an art museum, but she is overall interested in many aspects of history. Outside of school and work, her interests include old films, listening to music, joking around with her friends, and working in the Wisconsin Union galleries. Not to mention, she is a connoisseur of poutine (a French-Canadian dish consisting of french fries, cheese curds, and brown gravy) in the Madison area. She participates in the student organization run through the Chazen and the Art History Society advised by the Art History department on campus.
Beyond volunteering for student organizations, this is Abigail’s first exposure to a position within arts administration. She could not be more excited! On Tuesdays and Thursdays she works closely with Liese and Alli, assisting with public outreach, administrative tasks, communications with Regional Coordinators, social media updates, and WRAP promotion. Her main professional goal in working with WRAP is to increase awareness of the amazing artists within Wisconsin!
She had the privilege of working the State Day Conference and found the event to be very formative and powerful. Artist’s testaments to the outlet WRAP provides solidified her reason for joining the program. During lunch, she had the chance to meet some talented artists and create relationships that furthered her understanding of the creative process of making art. Overall, Abigail is eager to continue working with artists and the Wisconsin Regional Art Program to provide the same experience for others.
Beyond volunteering for student organizations, this is Abigail’s first exposure to a position within arts administration. She could not be more excited! On Tuesdays and Thursdays she works closely with Liese and Alli, assisting with public outreach, administrative tasks, communications with Regional Coordinators, social media updates, and WRAP promotion. Her main professional goal in working with WRAP is to increase awareness of the amazing artists within Wisconsin!
She had the privilege of working the State Day Conference and found the event to be very formative and powerful. Artist’s testaments to the outlet WRAP provides solidified her reason for joining the program. During lunch, she had the chance to meet some talented artists and create relationships that furthered her understanding of the creative process of making art. Overall, Abigail is eager to continue working with artists and the Wisconsin Regional Art Program to provide the same experience for others.
We have a new email!
Find us all at wrap@dcs.wisc.edu. Now we have a general mailbox that goes straight to everyone at once!
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