RAM treats insects as art

A vignette from Jennifer Angus' exhibit

Three women artists with an affinity for insects have taken over the Racine Art Museum. They have filled two of the museum's big galleries with thousands of moths, bumblebees, beetles and especially cockroaches -- an installation of three related shows designed to humanize these creatures and restore our sense of awe.

There are dollhouses decorated with beeswax and insect parts, fine drawings and visual puns, and five-foot wide photographs of giant cockroaches in unusual poses. Cockroaches in costume; cockroaches being executed; cockroaches taking over our homes.

And yet ... to use a term from Bruce Pepich, museum director, there's no "ick" factor. "The artists have the wonderment of a child. For adults, they reawaken a sense of awe."

Earlier this month we posted, in the Kiosk, a story about these three interlocking exhibitions by Catherine Chalmers (cockroaches), Jennifer Angus (insect patterns) and JoAnna Poehlmann (insectopedia). Tuesday we got a sneak peak, touring the installation with Poehlmann, Pepich and RAM's new curator of exhibitions, Lena Vigna. It was eye-opening, both visually and intellectually.

But first, a disclaimer from Vigna: "No cockroaches were harmed in the making of this exhibition." That made me feel a lot better than a couple of other things she said: "The average candy bar has eight insect legs in it." And, "cockroaches can live a week without their head."

Those two last statements may help explain Pepich's observation about "the discomfort we have of sharing our homes with these insects." But as he passed one of Chalmer's wall-sized photographs he also noted that cockroaches "are much less threatening in pink."

Chalmers' installation is in three parts, featuring video and large photographs of costumed cockroach "imposters," (above), cockroach "executions," (left), and giant-appearing cockroaches inhabiting our homes (actually small dollhouses that Chalmers creates, which makes the cockroaches seem much, much bigger. The story behind Vigna's "none were harmed" disclaimer is that the roaches are chilled, embellished, posed for their closeups, and then thawed out of hibernation. Any adornment then falls off and the cockroaches are, we are assured, none the worse for wear. But whether you want to put one of Chalmers' large photos in your dining room may be another story. (In my case, no need to ask the wife; I already know the answer.)

Poehlmann explained the background of some of her artwork; for example, a miniature book with four beetles created after John Lennon was killed -- hence its title: Homage to the Beatles. She likes "appropriating " other artwork, and adding bugs, visual and verbal puns that play on the original painting. "Taking things out of their original context," is how Pepich described it.

"People give me things," Poehlmann said, pointing to a small sewing box she adorned with insects. "I keep looking for more boxes like that. I just got in the mail a box of 12 bumblebees... I was thrilled."

Lena Vigna in front of a tiny portion of Angus' patterns

Angus' patterns of insect life used the most bugs -- thousands of them mounted artistically on walls around illustrations from a Victorian children's alphabet book, and more in beeswax dioramas staged around dollhouses, like a bug funeral, bugs kissing a cow, scenes from fairy tales. The exhibit took the artist and four workmen almost a week to install. Vigna assured us that Angus "reuses" the insects as many times as she can. And Pepich noted, "A lot of these insects are not Midwestern bugs -- or we'd be doing an installation of mosquitoes, and houseflies."

Here are some quotes from the artists:

Catherine Chalmers: "Insects are a window into the unimaginable... One of the things I discovered when reading up on the American cockroach is that they are no longer found in the wild. They have existed for hundreds of millions of years, have survived several mass extinctions, yet we have succeeded in chaging how they live. Our homes are now their natural habitat. They are, in a sense, our alter-egos, the shadows that clandestinely follow in our wake.... Our hatred of the roach has perhaps grown in proportion to the boundaries we have erected between ourselves and the natural world."

Jennifer Angus: "I never liked insects; after all I grew up in Canada where most things seem to be black or brown and bite or sting. I have a revulsion for earwigs in particular... and I think junebugs are the stupidest insect I have ever seen because of the way they get stuck on their backs and buzz around trying to right themselves."

JoAnna Poehlmann (above): "My reaction to the world of insects is simply awe at the endless variety and limitless subject matter of creation and the desire to reflect what is witnessed."

RAM has scheduled many events around this All The Buzz exhibition, including kids' days, bug days, opportunities to meet with the artists, summer camp and the like. The full list is here.

Tick-tock, tick-tock, it's almost timefor Downtown's art project, Hour Town

Artist Sherri Shaver, right, turns over her two clocks to Terry Leopold;
Dragonfly design at right is called Time is flying

Racine's summer-long Happy Hour began Tuesday morning, as artists from all over the city brought their clock creations Downtown, in preparation for the Downtown Racine Corporation's Hour Town public art display.

By noon more than 20 of the large clocks were on hand, and the clock was ticking: the deadline is 5 p.m. today. The 60 clocks will be displayed Saturday night on the lawn of  "Club Wingspread" at a cocktail party for artists and sponsors. Then they will be distributed Downtown for public display beginning Monday.

Puns were much in evidence among the early arrivals. Plaques with names such as Time is flying, Sands of time, It's always time for tea, Big Time, Timepieces, Time flies and Time to sow were affixed to each clock's base. We'll leave it up to you to guess which name fit which clock: for example, one of a large fish trying to select his lunch or one with farm equipment marking the hours.

Terry Leopold, DRC’s special events coordinator, checked in the clocks as they arrived, listened appreciatively to artists' explanations of their designs, and noted that Racine's public art project -- now in its ninth year -- has gone on longer than any other city's.

Time flies when you're having fun, eh?

Richard Harris and Craig Aude mount Time to Sow on its base

Here's a closeup of Time to Sow, by Jayne and Grace Siler

Natasha Miller brings in Marilyn, by her son Mike Miller, 16, of St. Cat's

Time for Change?, left, recreates artist Shepard Fairey's Barack Obama portrait 

-- made out of painted pennies. Its artist Jeff Levonian, won 1st prize

when fish were the subject of DRC's contest a few years ago.
Center, Sun, Moon and Stars, by Mary Lou Dettmer;
at right, Sun and Moon by Lloyd Swager

Artwork in many guises at Lakefront Art Fair

Jay Wennersten's amusing and artistic paintings got the once-over

The summer art festival season opened Saturday, with more than 100 artists and craftspeople displaying and selling their work at the Lakefront Art Fair at Festival Hall. The 29th annual event is a major fund-raiser for the Racine Montessori School.

Artworks on display ranged from hot-fired glass, to watercolors, photography, pottery -- and some other  items that caught our eye, pictured here.

Colorful three-headed creature caught the eye of Lauren Gaither, 6

Friedl Koeberlein's $30 bird feeder attracted this couple

William Waite's wood puzzles were both challenging and artistic

Richard Morrison's hand-made metal flowers were a hot item

Paul Imholte entertained kids and adults with his hammered dulcimer

Mom examines her kids' painted faces:
Jasmin Jones, 3, and Ryan Lockridge, 6

Nothing's better than a huge ice cream cone!

West Racine features art of many different sorts

Don Vander Leest discusses his landscapes with West Racine Art Walk visitors

Art is where you find it. Saturday it was in West Racine, in some unusual places.

Various artists were ensconced in some of the retail stores -- The Red Bell, Nelson's Variety, Commitments, for example. But there also was artistry of a different sort at Larsen Bakery, Gethsemane Lutheran Church and the storefront that used to be Riley's Sweet Shop. All you had to do was join the shoppers wandering from store to store during the West Racine Art Walk to find it.

Here's some of what we saw (and none of it involved the news (or non-news) about the potential gas station / restaurant that may (or may not) locate at the corner of Washington and West Blvd.              

 Copy Cat music was graced by two artists: painter Don Vander Leest displayed prints and paintings inside, and guitarist Daniel Robinson played outside, entertaining shoppers walking by.Vander Leest said he's been painting  since he was in the third grade. As for selling: "The exchange of money just keeps me in paint and paper," he said with a smile. "The greatest satisfaction is when people find something that graces their house. That's what I love."

In The Red Bell, a store full of children's toys and crafts,  sat artist and teacher Nancy Justus, a former painter now working a new medium: fibre art. She was sitting in the entryway, sewing a large fabric piece, one she said would take her at least three weeks to complete. "I've been accused of being hyper-active. It's so satisfying when it's done," she laughed. She stopped long enough to display the piece to three-year-old Anna Johnson and her mother, right.

In Johnson's Home Furnishings store, well-known landscape and lighthouse painter Jean Thielen displayed a wall of photos, and talked to a steady stream of fans. But in the moments between visitors, she sat quietly sketching the beginnings of a new painting -- a commissioned portrait of a young boy adopted from Russia. Photos of the boy and his brother are behind Thielen.

Nelson's Variety Store had something different as well: Harold Solberg held forth at the lathe, turning small bowls and explaining his work methods to fascinated onlookers. One interesting tip: When he turns the inside of a bowl, Solberg's lathe rotates in reverse, so he gets a better look at what his turning chisels are accomplishing.

Larsen Bakery had an unadvertised special. Oh, there was a visiting artist in the store -- a jewelry maker alongside the display cases with tasty treats -- but I was more interested in what I glimpsed through their window, in the back room behind the bakery showroom. Working quietly and alone decorating a variety of beautiful cakes, was a young woman wearing a Muslim head scarf. She turned out to be Beth Sharid, 30, who grew up in Kuwait and Iraq, living through invasions by both Saddam Hussein and American troops.

She comes from a family big enough by current standards for an American TV show: eight brothers and four sisters. "Enough kids to take care of me in my old age," her father said. Beth came to Racine 10 years ago (following a brother who came to the U.S. to study engineering in 1995.) Her artistry crosses borders as well: She started drawing as a little girl, and later became a professional seamstress. At Larsen's for 18 months, she makes pastries and desserts -- and decorates special cakes.

And now for something else unexpected: In the former Riley's Sweet Shop -- now an Hispanic storefront church -- is a large scale model of Jerusalem during the time of Jesus. The model will be there for awhile, so be sure to stop in.

And finally, art of yet another different sort, found deliciously in the kitchen of Gethsemane Lutheran Church, where the annual aebleskiver breakfast was under way. Wearing their Danish flag aprons, women of the church turned out hundreds of the spherical, apple slice pancakes -- and had trouble keeping up with the demand. Here, Trudy Rozzoni pokes the latest batch, telling them to hurry. Once the breakfast crowd was sated, the cooks moved on to meatballs for lunch.

Art can be so satisfying!

Rite of Spring: Artists invite us into their studios

Jerry Belland's work caught this visitor's eye

The annual rite of Spring opened the doors of artists' studios at the Racine Business Center -- giving artists a chance to show off their newest work and art lovers a reason to think about redecorating. Dale's Upstairs Gallery and Gallerie G were also open.

More than a dozen artists were on hand Saturday to talk about their work, meet old friends and -- hopefully -- sell a piece or two to finance their future efforts. Here's a sampling of what we saw as we traipsed from studio to studio, talking to the artists as we wandered.

 Maureen Fritchen displayed large abstract murals, and found-object assemblages. 

The one on the table used stuff found at Habitat's Re-Store

 A dot here, a dot there... and Daniel Fortney's paintings came to life

 Marjorie Meyer offered her individually designed purses

From Racine to New Orleans and back: Roberta Williams returned to her roots

after Hurricane Katrina, displaying pendants, jewelry and collages

made in her new studio here.

 Sally Miller works on a digital creation, blending images from multiple photos

The brass pitcher and red platter on his worktable are finding their way into a painting

-- as Greg Helding sketches his next move. You can see the finished painting

at next year's show, he says, "if it hasn't sold before then!"

Five more county barns get quilted

The first half of a barn quilt goes up

Under the bluest of skies Sunday, Racine County's Quilts on Barns project took a colorful leap forward.

Five more barns were hung with "quilts," bringing the total now completed to eight -- more than half of this year's projected total.

The 100-year-old red barns -- some of them still home to livestock -- received makeovers Sunday in a five-hour marathon made possible by the loan of an hydraulic lift by JM Electrical and teamwork by Jim Limburg and Jan Rowland from Johnson and Son Roofing, assisted by Al Barry and a crew pulled together by Kathi Wilson's project.

Kathi Wilson gives ownership certificate to Mike Straszewski
for Square in a Square, painted by Cops 'n Kids;
sponsored by Giving withJoy!

The first barn to receive a quilt Sunday morning belongs to Mike and Julie Straszewski. Located at 5915 Seven Mile Road, it is exactly 100 years old this year, and was originally a dairy barn, with 20 stanchions, serving a 250-acre farm. It soaked up 80 gallons of red paint just a year ago, but the 8-ft. by 8-ft. Square on Square "quilt" it received Sunday brightened it considerably.

Photographer Nicholas Ravnikar documents Churndash,
painted by the Lighthouse Quilt Guild;
sponsored by Klema Feeds

The second barn, built in the 1920s and only a mile and a half down the road, belongs to Roger and Sue Hays, at 8140 Foley Road. Horses still reside there, oblivious to the Churndash quilt visible from the road.

5-year-old Annie Comeau looks on as Dad Steve
stands under Corn and Beans, painted by the
Racine Arts Council; sponsored by Rustoleum

Sunday's third barn is another working barn, housing eight horses belonging to Sue Jensen, located at 6123 Highway 38 in Franksville. It received a Corn and Beans quilt, although there was nothing corns or beans-ish about the quilt's red, blue and black colors. "Most quilters who do it, use yellow and green," Wilson said, "but we preferred other colors."

Kathi Wilson and Jim Rowland take high view of Black-Eyed Susan,
painted by Monument Square Art Fair Board;
sponsored by Johnson and Son Roofing

The fourth barn hung on Sunday was the most difficult, because of the decision to place the quilt at its highest point, near the top of what essentially is a three-story building. The barn, belonging to Sara Neubauer and her family (which includes son Jeff and his wife, Judge Lisa), is located at 5553 Short Road. It, too, is a working horse barn, with six currently in residence, according to Erin Hopkins, farm manager. "It's a beautiful farm, and it would be a shame not to have horses here," she says. Well, now it's more beautiful, boasting a Black-Eyed Susan quilt facing the highway; the quilt covering what used to be the upper hayloft's door.

Depending on how one looks at the facts, this was either the oldest barn hung with a quilt Sunday, or the youngest. The barn was originally built in 1862 -- but it burned down to the foundation in 1991, and was meticulously rebuilt to the same specifications on the same site. So take your pick: it's either 146 years old or 17 years young.

Jim Limburg attaches Mariner's Compass,
painted by the Prairie School;
sponsored by Lighthouse Quilt Guild

The last barn Sunday was of indeterminate age. Owner Jerry Wishau admitted to being in his 70s, and knows his barn was built before he was born. Beyond that -- who knows? Call it 100, more or less. Now used just for storage, it received a colorful Mariner's Compass quilt, appropriate to the barn's location at 4164 Lighthouse Drive, right across the street from Lake Michigan -- probably the easternmost barn in Racine County.

Wishau was the first barn owner approached by Wilson and Levine -- "on a grey, grey February day," Levine recalls. "He said he always wanted to do something to dress up his barn. And now, here it is."

Each of the barn owners received a certificate of ownership of the "quilt," signed by Lorna Henning of the Racine Arts Council and Bill McReynolds, Racine County Executive. The presentations were made by Wilson and Lavine.

Six of the next seven quilts are painted, and will go up as crew and equipment are available.

Earlier barn quiltings are HERE and HERE.

Scrambled Egg wins Sphere Madness' top prize

First Place winner, Scrambled Egg, by Renee Staeck

The winners of the Downtown Racine Corporation's Sphere Madness public art event have been announced.

First prize, with a $3,000 prize, went to artist Renee Staeck for Scrambled Egg. It was sponsored by Landmark Title of Racine and Henry & Wanda's.

Second prize, winning $2,000, went to Tammy Easton, for Hemispherium (below, left). It was sponsored by Dr. Michael Westmann.

Third prize, $1,000, was awarded to Mason Swager, for Do You See What I See? (below, right). Wachovia Securities was the sponsor.

Honorable mentions were awarded to: A Starry Night by Sherri Shaver, sponsored by Monfort’s Fine Art Gallery; Owl of the Crowmosome Layer by Bill Reid, sponsored by Gene Johnson; Good Vibrations by Doug and David Soller, sponsored by Johnson Outdoors; Toulouse-Laugoose Egg by Robert W. Andersen, sponsored by Jane Hutterly and Louie Seabolt; and Wandering Eye by Rick Beyer and Fred Dacquisto, sponsored by Ruud Lighting.

The judges were Leslie Perrino and Colleen Pemberton. Leslie Perrino is a full-time artist who teaches art classes at the Evanston Art Center in Evanston, Illinois, and workshops at Wustum Art Museum in Racine and the Peninsula School of Art in Fish Creek. Working in metals and jewelry, she exhibits nationally and internationally and is involved with many local and national metal and enameling organizations.

Colleen Pemberton is an Associate of the Hollander Gallery and Assistant Director of the David Barnett Gallery. She is an accredited member of the American Society of Appraisers; a member of the Racine Art Museum Accessions Committee; St. John’s on the Lake Arts Board; Mequon Architecture Board; Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design Art Holdings Committee and the Milwaukee Art Museum Print Forum Board.

“The spheres were very well executed,” said Perrino. “It was a difficult decision.”

“Scrambled Egg isn’t just a sphere,” said Pemberton. “It is very artistic. The artist utilized both organic and inorganic materials. We liked the way she could look at a round sphere and transform into an egg-shaped form.” Renee is a repeat winner: in 2002, she took first place with “Trojan Dog” and in 2000 she created a bird entitled “One in a Thousand.” A graduate of the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, Renee moved back to Racine last April.

“Hemispherium is not only beautiful and creative, it’s also functional,” said the judges. They remarked on the shape that was cut into the sphere and also the creative use of mosaics. Artist Tammy Easton also created a dog, otter, bear, birdbath and lighthouse in past events.

Mason Swager is a talented 15-year-old who created optical patterning lines on his sphere to create Do You See What I See? According to the judges they saw his creation online and were amazed at how clearly defined it was both in person and in images. “He was able to make this piece work without adding any appendages,” said Perrino.

The 74 spheres will be on display in Downtown Racine through Labor Day and then will be auctioned on Saturday, Sept. 6, at Memorial Hall. Doors open at 3 p.m. with the voice auction at 4 p.m. and a silent auction after that. Admission is $3 and open to the public.

Proceeds from the auction will benefit Downtown Racine.

More of the spheres are pictured HERE and HERE.

Wine tasting fundraiser at Spectrum Gallery

It's August and almost time for Spectrum School of the Arts and Gallery's second Wine Tasting Fundraiser and Silent Auction.

The event will take place on Aug. 21, from 6 - 9 p.m.: a wine tasting, silent auction bidding on art donations from gallery members, and camaraderie. The Gallery is located on Lake Michigan at the DeKoven Center, 600 21st St.

Pre-event tickets are $15, which includes all the wine tasting, the silent auction, and an open gallery of three rooms of various arts that will be open for enjoyment and purchase. There will be snacks and bottled water.

Check out www.SpectrumSchoolandGallery.org

Sandcastles (and lighthouse, elephant, etc.)

Team Squand, with their 1st Place Lighthouse

Perfect weather, perfect sand, crowds of onlookers. The Racine Arts Council's Sandcastles Festival went off without a hitch today, with almost a dozen teams competing to turn sand and water into mud... and then into sculpture.

First place was worth $300; Second won $200, Third received $100 and Fourth $50. Fourth went to Schultz Engineering's Sundial.

Then the tide comes in, and washes away all the hard work at Samuel Myers Park. Ah, there's always next time.

Second place: Super Sand Gods' circus scene with elephant

Third Place: Fungers Bunch built a castle

It all starts this way...

Maybe we can build one next year, Daddy?

Quilts on Barns (cont.)

Racine County's Quilts on Barns project continues, with another barn quilt installed, and more ready to hang. Above is the Bear Paw hung on the barn of Sherri Shaver at 12305 Braun Rd. It was painted by the First Friday Quilt club.

Black-Eyed Susan painted by Potpourri Garden Club will go up on Sara Neubauer's barn, 5553 Short Rd., probably on Aug. 24 when five are scheduled to be hung. Johnson & Son Roofing and JM Electrical are donating time and a lift to put them up.

Above are Pot Pourri club members who participated in the quilt painting. From left are Susan Ermert, Sue Hammel, Carol Uebe, Joyce Waldoch and Sharon Andersen.

Here's our story and photos of the first two barn quilts hung, on July 25.

A view from the top

There was a lot going on Sunday, under the bluest of blue skies, so we took the high road for some photographs. Above, the Starving Artists Fair, as seen from a balcony high up East Park Towers.

The picture below, of sailboats on Lake Michigan, was taken from the same balcony. Look closely at the enlarged picture, and you can count 10 sailboats.

At bottom are two shots from the Friends of the Wind Point Lighthouse open house. First, the view from the top, looking north. And below, a vertigo-inducing photo of folks enjoying the view they had to climb 140 steps to see.

The lighthouse, built in 1880, is still functioning, warning boaters of a limestone reef that juts out a mile into Lake Michigan.

The 140 iron stairs, in a latticework design allowing visitors to see through to the ground floor 112 feet below ("Try not to look down!") , twist up a staircase with just a narrow handrail on one side. Visitors have to climb through two narrow hatchways to get to the top.

The observatory walkway is surprisingly narrow -- only about 3 feet wide -- and many visitors stay flat against the side of the lighthouse. Before the climb to the top, a volunteer dressed in costume as a 19th-century lighthouse keeper gave a short history of the lighthouse, describing how the light was fueled by mineral oil until 1923 when it was converted to electricity. The Coast Guard operated the lighthouse until 1964, when it was turned over to the Village of Wind Point.