In My Spare Moments: The Art of Harold Schmitz - Wisconsin Veteran's Museum Highlight
Angela Johnson, WRAP Director, and myself (Abi Case, student assistant to WRAP Director) had the opportunity to take a tour through the newest temporary exhibit at the Wisconsin Veterans Museum. It is titled “In My Spare Moments: The Art of Harold Schmitz” and curated by Yvette Pino, whom gave us the tour.
Yvette Pino spent the last three years researching and planning this exhibit. Along with working at the Veterans Museum, Yvette is apart of the Veteran Art Movement, “a decentralized network of veterans and service members committed to making art and using creative practices to transform themselves and a society grappling with endless war, militarism and dehumanization.” She is a practicing print and painting artist, whose most recent work involves the examination Native American imagery themes while trying to reinterpret them through Illuminated Manuscript appropriation. Yvette constructs her artistic pieces from “experiences in Iraq as a deployed soldier and overlap with symbols of her [my] Catholic upbringing in New Mexico”. Here is a link to her personal website: http://yvettempino.com/ and the Veteran Art Movement’s page: https://www.veteran-art-movement.net/
Harold Schmitz was a World War II veteran from Milwaukee. He attended the Layton School of Art (now the Milwaukee Institute of Design and Art) from 1934-1937 to study advertisement design. After graduation, he was employed by the Hammersmith-Kortmeyer Company, an engraving and printing agency. Because of his experience with printmaking, he was hand selected as a topographical draftsmen in the South Pacific, specifically New Caledonia. He started his service in November of 1942, and began to paint the landscape of Noumea Harbor with colored pencils and graphite. In his words, these were the most practical mediums. As time passes, his fascination with the surroundings subsidizes and many of his drawings emulate Hollywood magazine illustration styles. Harold Schmitz’s art reflects a different side of conflict, one that oscillates between personal art production and mandated service. In his spare moments, he was able to shine light on his life on service.
We touched on the Wisconsin Idea while on our tour. Yvette said “Wisconsin artists and veterans are able to go to that experience, which is global conflict, document it, bring it back and communicate it to the community.” Through the implementation of the G. I. Bill, veterans are able to go back to school and become instructors, teachers, professors. Yvette emphasizes the “impetus to serve” that returning veterans feel for their community. They have encountered a breadth of life many haven’t, and search for a way to process their experience through service to the community. Yvette mentions specifically the Veteran Print Project, which pairs veterans with printmakers to exchange a dialogue that will result in an edition of prints made based off of the conversation. They have collaborated with Combat Paper which takes material from uniforms, breaks it down, and processes it to paper for use.
Link to their website: http://veteranprintproject.com/
“In My Spare Moments: The Art of Harold Schmitz” will be open until summer of 2020. The Wisconsin Veterans Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday 9:00 am to 4:30 pm, and Sunday (April-September) 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm. The address is 30 W. Mifflin St., Madison, WI 53703. Their phone is 608-267-1799.
Again, thanks to Yvette Pino and Karen Burch for the awesome tour and information! Make sure to check it out.
Yvette Pino spent the last three years researching and planning this exhibit. Along with working at the Veterans Museum, Yvette is apart of the Veteran Art Movement, “a decentralized network of veterans and service members committed to making art and using creative practices to transform themselves and a society grappling with endless war, militarism and dehumanization.” She is a practicing print and painting artist, whose most recent work involves the examination Native American imagery themes while trying to reinterpret them through Illuminated Manuscript appropriation. Yvette constructs her artistic pieces from “experiences in Iraq as a deployed soldier and overlap with symbols of her [my] Catholic upbringing in New Mexico”. Here is a link to her personal website: http://yvettempino.com/ and the Veteran Art Movement’s page: https://www.veteran-art-movement.net/
Harold Schmitz was a World War II veteran from Milwaukee. He attended the Layton School of Art (now the Milwaukee Institute of Design and Art) from 1934-1937 to study advertisement design. After graduation, he was employed by the Hammersmith-Kortmeyer Company, an engraving and printing agency. Because of his experience with printmaking, he was hand selected as a topographical draftsmen in the South Pacific, specifically New Caledonia. He started his service in November of 1942, and began to paint the landscape of Noumea Harbor with colored pencils and graphite. In his words, these were the most practical mediums. As time passes, his fascination with the surroundings subsidizes and many of his drawings emulate Hollywood magazine illustration styles. Harold Schmitz’s art reflects a different side of conflict, one that oscillates between personal art production and mandated service. In his spare moments, he was able to shine light on his life on service.
We touched on the Wisconsin Idea while on our tour. Yvette said “Wisconsin artists and veterans are able to go to that experience, which is global conflict, document it, bring it back and communicate it to the community.” Through the implementation of the G. I. Bill, veterans are able to go back to school and become instructors, teachers, professors. Yvette emphasizes the “impetus to serve” that returning veterans feel for their community. They have encountered a breadth of life many haven’t, and search for a way to process their experience through service to the community. Yvette mentions specifically the Veteran Print Project, which pairs veterans with printmakers to exchange a dialogue that will result in an edition of prints made based off of the conversation. They have collaborated with Combat Paper which takes material from uniforms, breaks it down, and processes it to paper for use.
Link to their website: http://veteranprintproject.com/
“In My Spare Moments: The Art of Harold Schmitz” will be open until summer of 2020. The Wisconsin Veterans Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday 9:00 am to 4:30 pm, and Sunday (April-September) 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm. The address is 30 W. Mifflin St., Madison, WI 53703. Their phone is 608-267-1799.
Again, thanks to Yvette Pino and Karen Burch for the awesome tour and information! Make sure to check it out.
Looking for art classes this summer?
WRAP operates under UW-Madison's Division of Continuing Studies, which also offers a plethora of opportunities to be creative! Listed below are some of the art classes being held this summer:
- Drawing Fundamentals: Classical Approach: 6 weeks, Tuesdays, June 25-July 30, 7:15 pm to 9:45 pm, $165
- Drawing on Nature: Vignettes in Scientific Illustration: 5 weeks, Tuesdays, June 4-July 2, 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm, $155
- Painting with Acrylics: What I Wish I Knew at the Beginning: 8 weeks, Thursdays, June 13-August 1, 9:00 am to 12:00 pm, $210
- Papermaking: A Transformative Art Process: 6 weeks, Sundays, May 19-June 23, 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm, $195
- And not to mention... WRAP Regional Workshops! $30, check out our website for more specific information
- Drawing Fundamentals: Classical Approach: 6 weeks, Tuesdays, June 25-July 30, 7:15 pm to 9:45 pm, $165
- Drawing on Nature: Vignettes in Scientific Illustration: 5 weeks, Tuesdays, June 4-July 2, 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm, $155
- Painting with Acrylics: What I Wish I Knew at the Beginning: 8 weeks, Thursdays, June 13-August 1, 9:00 am to 12:00 pm, $210
- Papermaking: A Transformative Art Process: 6 weeks, Sundays, May 19-June 23, 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm, $195
- And not to mention... WRAP Regional Workshops! $30, check out our website for more specific information
Upcoming WRAPs!
| Richland Center Online entry and payment due: May 28, 2019 Make check payable to: RAAC (Richland Area Arts Council) Artwork due date: Saturday, June 1, 2019, 10am - 12noon (2 piece limit) Workshop date: Saturday, June 29, 2019, 10am – 2pm Workshop location: Schmitt Woodland Hills Retirement Center, 1400 W Seminary St., Richland Center, WI 53581 Coordinator: Nanci Buchanan, E4914 Timberline Rd., Spring Green, WI 53588 608-588-2780 nancibuchanan@frontier.com |  Brit Borcher, Untitled (Green), Acrylic on Canvas |
 Lou Cunico, Nourishing Your Spirit, Oil on Canvas | Rhinelander Online entry and payment due: May 15, 2019 Make check payable to: Nicolet College Artwork due date: Monday, May 20, 2019, 12 noon – 4pm Workshop date: Saturday, June 29, 2019, 9:30am – 3pm Workshop location: Nicolet College Art Gallery in the Northwoods Center, Nicolet College via Highway G, 5364 College Dr (watch for signs), Rhinelander, WI 54501 Coordinator: Melinda Childs, Director, Nicolet College Art Gallery, PO Box 518, Rhinelander, WI 54501 (715) 365-4556 artgallery@nicoletcollege.edu |
Contact us!
Reach the team by email at wrap@dcs.wisc.edu or by phone at (608) 262-4911!
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