The seven cast-concrete figures in Rose B. Simpson’s Counterculture are witnesses—reminders that the natural world is continuously watching humanity. Despite their over ten foot height, the feminine-bodied forms show grace in their vigilance and space taking, carrying necklaces made of ceramic beads instead of taking up weapons. Simpson’s sculptures are traveling to different sites across the country, […]

In the summer of 2022, the Arts Center invited Wisconsin-based artists and Arts Center members to submit proposals for work in any medium that makes tangible the feelings of wonder, curiosity, and exploration awakened by the collection of artist-built environments on the first floor of the Art Preserve. This exhibition includes five responses to the […]

As a storyteller, Patricia Piccinini gathers information from scientific research and current events to envision genetically and physically adapted organisms. These creatures, predominantly constructed with fiberglass, silicone, and hair, are geared for survival against human impact and rapidly changing environmental conditions. The creatures’ reconfigured bodies and new survival mechanisms hint at possibilities of new earth-dwelling […]

In her 2021 essay “A Family Reunion Near the End of the World,” botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer contemplates our kinship with nature and proposes a road map for deepening our care and respect for all living things. “Being a relative,” she writes, “is more than shared blood from a common past. Real kinship arises when […]

Kea Tawana (c. 1935–2016) is known for creating the Ark, an 86-foot-long, three-story ship she built in Newark, New Jersey, starting in 1982, with the intention of making it her home. For decades prior, she had collected salvaged wood, glass shards, and other materials from abandoned buildings in the city’s Central Ward. Incorporating those materials, […]