Working Wisconsin now open at the Grohmann Museum
| Published: 04/11/2010 |
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Milwaukee School of Engineering presents Working Wisconsin: Selections from the Museum of Wisconsin Art, from April 16 through Aug. 20 at the Grohmann Museum, 1000 N. Broadway.
Hand-selected from the Museum of Wisconsin Art Collection, the Working Wisconsin exhibition is certain to evoke memories of Wisconsin's working heritage. Farming, fishing, services and industry are all depicted in this collection of Wisconsin art by Wisconsin artists. Featured are paintings, prints and drawings by such local legends as Richard Lorenz, Robert von Neumann, Gerrit Sinclair, John Steuart Curry and John Wilde.
An opening gallery talk was presented by James Kieselburg, assistant director of the Grohmann Museum as part of Gallery Night and Day. In his gallery talk, Kieselburg presented the exhibit's broad spectrum of Wisconsin artists and the art history that was created over more than 100 years (1884-1998). He addressed the single unifying element to all of the works: the depiction of human industry, toil and achievement, and discuss questions such as: Why did these artists gravitate to depictions of workers and working scenes? What compelled them to create these works? What, if anything, can be found in their shared social and cultural experience that led to the creation of working scenes, the celebration of labor, and the artist's advocacy on behalf of the working man and woman?
The Grohmann Museum is home to the Man at Work collection, which comprises more than 800 paintings and sculptures dating from 1580 to the present. They reflect a variety of artistic styles and subjects that document the evolution of organized work: from farming and mining to trades such as glassblowing and seaweed gathering. The Grohmann Museum welcomes visitors to three floors of galleries where a core collection is displayed as well as themed exhibitions. The museum is located at MSOE, an independent university with about 2,600 students. MSOE offers 17 bachelor's degrees and nine master's degrees in the engineering, engineering technology, architectural engineering and building construction, computer, business, nursing and health-related fields.