The Madison office will focus on the three following initiatives working towards a creative and focused 79th year of WRAP.
1. Build capacity for more participants to attend WRAP workshops and state day/s, spread awareness of this rich and historic program and work to diversify participants.
Here are a few ways we are doing this:
Like us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/WisconsinRegionalArts/) and share arts news you find interesting. Your word of mouth is our most productive outreach!
2. Support regional coordinators with small changes to website to navigate how the toolkit can be best utilized.
3. Work to make the WRAP permanent collection more visible
Did you know we have a fantastic permanent collection that was started by John Steuart Curry almost 80 years ago? Many of the pieces are currently on view in the Continuing Studies building on campus. We are looking to:
1. Build capacity for more participants to attend WRAP workshops and state day/s, spread awareness of this rich and historic program and work to diversify participants.
Here are a few ways we are doing this:
- Continue with our quarterly newsletter, Facebook page, and blog
- Grow new WRAP programs (3 new potential WRAP regional sites in the works for 2020)
- Looking to foster relationships in areas of the state that do not currently have WRAP’s and make connections with local art clubs and organizations
- Ongoing outreach to UW system schools for students to learn about WRAP
- Ongoing outreach to branch libraries to promote regional workshops specific to their regions
- Partner with the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences Arts and Letters who put out the quarterly Wisconsin People and Ideas magazine – a box of complimentary magazines will be sent to each regional site before each workshop to be passed out to participants. The magazine shares articles and stories that embody the Wisconsin Idea around our state including articles on mid-career artists and photo journal essays
- Partner with Arts Wisconsin to have visibility and a table at the annual Arts Day event in Madison
- Conversation with the Chazen about having docent led tours during state day that highlight the work of John Steuart Curry and Aaron Bohrod in their permanent collection
Like us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/WisconsinRegionalArts/) and share arts news you find interesting. Your word of mouth is our most productive outreach!
2. Support regional coordinators with small changes to website to navigate how the toolkit can be best utilized.
- I have been scheduling phone and some in person conversations with coordinators to find out from their standpoint what is going well, what can be improved and suggestions for how that might be accomplished
- Small changes coming in the next few months to the website to the coordinator toolkit - make it more intuitive and user friendly. Perhaps a short video/s that live in the toolkit and condensing some of the PDF’s
3. Work to make the WRAP permanent collection more visible
Did you know we have a fantastic permanent collection that was started by John Steuart Curry almost 80 years ago? Many of the pieces are currently on view in the Continuing Studies building on campus. We are looking to:
- Formally organize the space that permanent collection (not currently on view) lives in
- Researching possible venues in which to showcase the work
- Requested a Service Learning in Art student from UW-Madison to work with us this semester to help move initiative #3 along
Becky Brockman-Schneider, Spring Chorus Pond, Soft Pastel
Fundraising for Our Future
| The Wisconsin Regional Art Program (WRAP) has been a tradition of artistry, community and personal growth for 79 years, touching the lives of many Wisconsin artists. This was apparent when the WRAP and Wisconsin Regional Artist Association (WRAA) community celebrated the 2018 Art Exhibition and State Day Conference at the Pyle Center in Madison in September. Our hope is that these events remind you that it is the generosity, volunteerism and loyalty of Wisconsin artists who create “art for the sake of art” that have kept this program going for almost 80 years. The WRAP office sent out a digital year-end ask for donations. I kindly ask you to consider both WRAP and WRAA in your giving plans to insure the future of this important program and help us to move into the next 80 years. |  Mark Yanny, Souvenir Man, Digital Photography Printed on Metallic Pearl Paper |
Permanent Collection Feature - Elizabeth Faulkner Nolan
By Abigail Case
Elizabeth Faulkner Nolan, Clem’s House, Oil on Board, WRAP Permanent Collection
Elizabeth Faulkner Nolan’s father referred to her as his favorite “hired man”. She enjoyed the everyday tasks of farm life such as stacking oats and feeding the animals. The family farm was located in eastern Wisconsin, and the importance of rural values carried through her art. The motif of plant’s cyclical movement is exhibited in many of her pieces as the plants reach toward the shining light to live.
Rural farm folk and ideas ignited her relationship to Wisconsin land and her wish to portray it in bright, sweeping colors. Her great-grandfather farmed as well as her maternal grandfather, but he entertained himself with drawings after the long days of labor. Her father showed her his collection of Old-World castle drawings to pass time on long winter nights. Given her interest in the arts, she tried to enlist in the vocational school in Waukesha, but the classes pertaining to arts were not open to her. She compromised and took a secretarial business class instead. Soon enough, Elizabeth felt this was the incorrect path for her and packed up heading west, leaving Wisconsin with her sister and $13.00. She returned rather quick, finding inspiration in her father’s passing, and submitted artwork to the first Rural Art Exhibit in 1940.
The years following 1940 encompassed Elizabeth’s art career, as she was accepted to the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan, studying under Saarinen and Carl Milles. Her ultimate inspiration through her years in school was John Steuart Curry. He praised her work for its imaginative design and striking color values. The piece titled, Clem’s House, features the dynamic movement and shadowing Nolan executed so perfectly. Emotions pour from the piece, and the viewer sympathizes with the impactful relationship Nolan had with her farm heritage. Trees sprout about and ducks waddle around to demonstrate the everlasting livelihood of rural Wisconsin life.
Rural farm folk and ideas ignited her relationship to Wisconsin land and her wish to portray it in bright, sweeping colors. Her great-grandfather farmed as well as her maternal grandfather, but he entertained himself with drawings after the long days of labor. Her father showed her his collection of Old-World castle drawings to pass time on long winter nights. Given her interest in the arts, she tried to enlist in the vocational school in Waukesha, but the classes pertaining to arts were not open to her. She compromised and took a secretarial business class instead. Soon enough, Elizabeth felt this was the incorrect path for her and packed up heading west, leaving Wisconsin with her sister and $13.00. She returned rather quick, finding inspiration in her father’s passing, and submitted artwork to the first Rural Art Exhibit in 1940.
The years following 1940 encompassed Elizabeth’s art career, as she was accepted to the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan, studying under Saarinen and Carl Milles. Her ultimate inspiration through her years in school was John Steuart Curry. He praised her work for its imaginative design and striking color values. The piece titled, Clem’s House, features the dynamic movement and shadowing Nolan executed so perfectly. Emotions pour from the piece, and the viewer sympathizes with the impactful relationship Nolan had with her farm heritage. Trees sprout about and ducks waddle around to demonstrate the everlasting livelihood of rural Wisconsin life.
Director Spotlight - Angela Johnson
| Many of you have been in contact with our new director, Angela Johnson and may even know her from outside of WRAP. When she isn’t dilligently working, making WRAP workshops happen and connecting with regional coordinators, she is a practicing artist and instructor! She most recently collaborated with UW-Madison genetics professor, Ahna Skop, to complete Genetic Reflections. The crossover installation engages viewers, making science accessible and encourages them to support science. Angela and Dr. Skop’s piece permanently lives in the UW-Madison Genetics/Biotech Auditorium. Her website is linked below, where you can check out her photography from Ireland or solo shows, like Translation and Inherent Legacy. We are so grateful to have Angela on the team and look forward to seeing her creativity bloom within WRAP! | |
Reminder of Upcoming WRAPs
 Tammy Bozer, Winter Solstice, Watercolor | Madison Online entry and payment due: January 28, 2019 Make check payable to: Vina Yang Artwork due date: Saturday, February 23, 2019, 9 am – 12 noon, Room 111, Pyle Center (2 piece limit) Workshop date: Saturday, April 6, 2019, 10 am – 3 pm Workshop location: Pyle Center, 702 Langdon St, Madison, WI 53706 Coordinators: Vina Yang, 3423 Ice Age Lane, Verona, WI 53593, (608) 798-1005, vyang@aol.com, or C.K. Chang, ckhakka7601@yahoo.com, or Tracy Wiklund, tracywikso@gmail.com |
| Beloit Online entry and payment due: March 25, 2019 Make check payable to: Beloit Art Center Artwork due date: Friday, March 29, 2019, 10 am - 5 pm and Saturday, March 30, 2019, 10 am – 3 pm. Earlier dates may be accommodated, call to arrange (limit 2 pieces) Workshop date: Saturday, April 13, 2019, 9 am – 1 pm Reception: Friday, April 5, 2019, 5 pm – 8 pm Workshop location: Beloit Art Center, 520 East Grand Ave., Beloit, WI 53511 Coordinator: Jerry Sveum, 2234 Pow Wow Trail, Beloit, WI 53511, (608) 362-5906 OR (608) 751-5458, sveums@charter.net Note – Beloit Art Center is not handicap accessible (this change is pending funding) |  Sylvia Linton, Under Her Wings, Watercolor |
Interested in Becoming a Regional Coordinator?
Regional Coordinator responsibilities:
WRAP Central provides a Coordinator Toolkit online, sends email updates and checklists 12, 6, and 2 weeks in advance of your workshop, creates and sends posters and award cards, and does email outreach to libraries local to your WRAP. If you are interested in becoming a WRAP Regional Coordinator, please email wrap@dcs.wisc.edu or angela.johnson@wisc.edu.
- Manage communications between WRAP Central (in Madison) and their Regional WRAP
- Interact with participating artists and help them through the WRAP process
- Find an artist to act as Workshop Facilitator, and find a Juror
- Coordinate the WRAP (choosing entry deadline, art drop-off time and location, exhibition and workshop dates)
- Spread the word locally (word of mouth, emails, distribute posters provided by WRAP Central)
- Report stats back to WRAP Central after your workshop
WRAP Central provides a Coordinator Toolkit online, sends email updates and checklists 12, 6, and 2 weeks in advance of your workshop, creates and sends posters and award cards, and does email outreach to libraries local to your WRAP. If you are interested in becoming a WRAP Regional Coordinator, please email wrap@dcs.wisc.edu or angela.johnson@wisc.edu.
Contact us!
Reach the team by email at wrap@dcs.wisc.edu or by phone at (608) 262-4911
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