Leopold Center Art Discovery Day

About Art Day

Aldo Leopold is most famous for his work A Sand County Almanac, based upon his experiences returning a degraded Sauk County farm back to health.  His "Good Oak" essay begins : “There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes from the furnace”. While Leopold could not have foreseen the extent to which our nation’s demographic shift might impact cultural values and individual health, he certainly understood that separation from the natural world impaired a person’s ability to think critically about his or her connection to land and reliance upon natural resources.

Art has the unique ability to combat this loss of connection and facilitate a stronger connection between people and the land by the very nature of the process. Artists intimately connect with the techniques and the materials they use throughout the creation of their work, fostering deep understanding and respect. Meanwhile the artwork itself changes its audience’s perspective by slowing people down and challenging the way one views the world by creating an emotional connection. Ultimately art can serve as the lost link between the “spiritual danger” of not owning a farm and the land ethic. 

With Leopold’s philosophy guiding the way, the Aldo Leopold Foundation set out to build its headquarters just a mile away from where the now famous Leopold Shack stands. Within the project, architects and engineers worked to create a sustainable building incorporating alternative technologies, design features that cut down on energy consumption, and use of local materials. This definition of “local” includes not only local materials but local craftspeople as well. A number of local artisans were enlisted as an integral component of the sustainable design.

Each artisan who has been involved with the Leopold Center and the Aldo Leopold Foundation has a unique connection to the Leopold legacy, land ethic, and their unique story to tell. In 2008, ALF sponsored the first Leopold Center Art Discovery Day to showcase the work of these talented artists. It was so successful that we've decided to make it an annual event, bringing in new regional artists each year whose work reflects Leopold's idea of a land ethic.

2011 Artists:

Alan Anderson (furniture and wood carving): Alan’s art is primarily woodwork. He began with carving, but his craft has evolved to include furniture and, more recently, bent wood objects. His work is compatible with arts and crafts design, modern Scandinavian design, and is influenced by traditional Swedish folk art. Visit his website to learn more.

 

Jim Backus (photography): Jim’s interest in photography has spanned more than forty years.  About six years ago, he turned his hobby to a professional career.  His photo collections include Baja, Mexico; the Rocky Mountains; the Northwest Territory and British Columbia, Canada; and Wisconsin and the Lake Superior area.  Jim has recently published a number of coffee table books and is currently working on a book about the Wisconsin prairies.  Visit his website to learn more.

Alan Bennett (wood carving):  Biologist and woodcarver Alan Bennett grew up on his grandfather’s farm along the Horicon Marsh in southeastern Wisconsin. Field biology and wildlife art make perfect companions and Alan’s experiences as a wildlife biologist fuel his imagination and ability to create realistic carvings of birds.


Homer Daehn (wood carving): A woodcarver and sculptor who started his career as a wooden boat builder and cabinet maker, Homer later developed an interest in woodcarving and began to study and carve with a passion that continues today. He recently moved from his downtown Baraboo studio to a new workshop located at Neuman and Clingman's Roads, Baraboo.

 

Thomas Ferrella (painting): Thomas is a painter, photographer, and sculptor from Madison.  The work he will be exhibiting at Art Day features paintings of a number of the endangered species of Wisconsin.  By painting the individual animals, he hopes to draw attention to the magnitude of the problem and invite the viewer to consider and confront this loss.    Visit his website to learn more.

Taylor Franklin (painting and beaded jewelry): Taylor is a painter, drawer, and beaded jewelry artist inspired by nature.  She expresses her passion for the natural world in her work, primarily through landscape paintings inspired by the beautiful Midwest, and intricately beaded Native American-style jewelry. She holds a B.A. in Fine Art from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, and an M.A. in Art Education from UW-Madison. Visit her online shop to learn more.

Kristin Gjerdset (painting):  Krisitin is an associate professor of art at Wisconsin Luther College. Her drawings and paintings focus on trees, especially those trees with unique forms and features. She also highlights less-appreciated common creatures that inhabit the landscape, Revealing how each life has a role on this planet no matter how small or seemingly insignificant. Visit her website to learn more.

Bettina Madini (painting): Bettina was born in Berlin, Germany. In 1992, she moved to Luxemburg and pursued a career in the corporate world in one of the most important financial centers of Europe. In 1998, Bettina started her art education in Luxemburg at the Ecole d’Art Contemporain. She has been living and working as an artist in the Midwest since 2004. Bettina’s paintings can be found in corporate and private collections in Europe and in the United States. Visit her website to learn more.

Ann McDermott and UW-Baraboo/Sauk County Art Students: (fable): Ann has lived for 30 years in rural Arizona, with Sonoran Desert surroundings and neighbors that include ever so much more than the merely human.  Her fables are efforts to transfer wonder and awe in ways that affect readers at the level of spirit, soul, and heart--as well as head.  In the spirit of collaboration, ART111: 2D Design students students held an in-class read-aloud of Ann McDermott’s fable, “The End of Silence.” Each student created a work that visually echoes imagery from the narrative. Student works vary in form, and include textiles, collage, charcoal, ink and watercolor.

Todd Persche (watercolor painting): Todd has an undergraduate art degree from the UW-Madison and a MFA from Northern Illinois University. He was a staff artist at Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History for three years before moving to the Baraboo area in 1992 to begin a full-time career as a watercolor painter and environmental cartoonist.  His work is inspired by the natural landscapes of the area. Visit his website to learn more.

Elizabeth Pilon (painting): Elizabeth is interested in many forms of artistic expression.  She has returned to art later in life after spending many years away.  She is currently working on a series of paintings based on the paintings of John James Audubon and particularly exploring the birds that have become extinct.  She is interested in the idea of art as documentation of these species for future generations. 

Nancy Rafal (chair caning and rushing): Nancy recanes chairs using traditional strand cane seats.  She also rerushes chairs using fibre rush.  Her work relies on natural materials—the natural rush material is related to cattail leaves and cane is related to bamboo, but differs in that it has a solid center core.  Nancy has been caning since 2001, when she learned the craft at The Clearing in Ellison Bay.  She is currently on the board of The Seat Weavers’ Guild.  She has taught caning and rushing to others since 2004. Contact her for more information

Sharon Reilly (painting): Sharon has been working as a wildlife biologist for 28 years, helping to restore populations of endangered species and protecting the habitats upon which they depend.  In 1991 she began studying the art of Sumi-e, a Japanese style of painting that uses only handmade ink and water.  Today she uses ink along with watercolors and natural fiber papers to capture the beauty of nature.  In addition to painting she is an avid nature photographer and is exploring a new technique of photography called digiscoping.

Kim Russell (graphic drawings): Kim's acrylic and ink drawings depict the natural history of birds. The drawings also reflect her interest in ancient, indigenous cultures. Her hand-painted bird ornaments are offered in national wIldlife refuge gift shops. Kim and her husband Rob live in a log home in the wooded, rolling-hilled countryside of Sauk County where they dedicate countless hours to the protection of wildlife.  Visit her website to learn more.

Linda and Robert Scarth (photography): Linda and Robert began photographing together early in their marriage.  They find that photography is a portable art form that they can do together while exploring special habitats and their inhabitants.  Their photography features native species in their environments, especially the small members of the ecosystem who live largely unnoticed but are both beautiful and essential for a healthy world. Visit their website to learn more.

Thomas “Bud” Skupniewitz (pottery and sculpture): Bud was born in the hills of Baraboo, and is a third generation painting contractor and tradesman. He is recognized as a master and expert of faux finishes, murals and glazing, and conducts seminars and teaches throughout the United States. He is also an accomplished woodworker, photographer, potter, and sculptor, largely self-taught. His bronze works fit somewhere between the modernist and expressionist schools, earthy and sometimes primitive, yet with great fluidity and elegance. Visit his website to learn more.

Dwayne Sperber (furniture): A commission furniture maker and urban and community wood advocate for years, his distinguishing furniture designs are created using urban wood exclusively - wood from trees lost to storms, natural mortality, disease, pests, etc. The mission of his advocacy work is to demonstrate the environmental benefits of managing urban trees for their entire life cycle - from seed to sawdust.  "By recycling local trees, we not only sustain the environment, but also afford our trees a second life filled with history, emotion, and celebration."  Visit his website to learn more.

 

Past Art Day Celebrations

Art Day is in its fourth annual year. Each fall it draws a growing crowd of community members to the Leopold Center for a day of viewing and discussing art and inspiration with a wide range of talented artists and artisans from across the Midwest. We are honored to have hosted the following artists for past celebrations at the center.

2010 Artists:

Alan Anderson (furniture maker)

Alan Bennett (wood carver)

Homer Daehn (wood carver)

Janet Flynn (watercolor painter)

Kristin Gjerdset (painting and drawing)

Chris Keenan (jewelry maker)

Sheree Kehoe (painter)

Renee Knight (glass artist)

Ann McDermott (fable writer)

Jill Metcoff (photographer)

Johnny Micheel (painter)

David Ogren (furniture maker)

Todd Persche (watercolor painter)

Rebecca Power (photographer)

Sharon Reilly (painter)

Kim Russell (mixed-media bird artist)

Nancy Schmid (quilter)

Dwayne Sperber (furniture maker)

Mary Williams and Mimi Wuest (mixed media)

2009 Artists:

Alan Anderson (furniture maker)

Homer Daehn (wood carver)

Janet Flynn (watercolor painter)

Kristin Gjerdset (painting and drawing)

Karen Ann Hoffman (Iroquois beadwork)

Renee Knight (glass artist)

Kevin Moll (metal sculpture)

David Ogren (furniture maker)

Todd Persche (watercolor painter)

Katie Schofield (recycled materials art)

Dwayne Sperber (furniture maker)

Slideshow of Art Day 2009 photos:

2008 Artists:

Alan Anderson (furniture maker)

Homer Daehn (wood carver)

Julia Gilmore (land artist)

Steve Hackbarth (blacksmith)

Renee Knight (glass artist)

Jill Metcoff (photographer)

David Ogren (furniture maker)

Todd Persche (water color artist)

Nolen Wallenfang (wood worker)