February 1, 2021 at 8:46 a.m.
ArtStart's Free For Wall features mélange of artistry
Virtual reception to be held Feb. 4
ArtStart's Free For Wall features mélange of artistry
By Stephanie Kuski-
Ashley McLaughlin, ArtStart's program and operations director, noted the gallery received only a quarter of their typical number of Free For Wall submissions this year. Approximately 30 local artists submitted a variety of work, from collage and acrylic to colored pencil, watercolor, oil, pastel and much more.
While the Free For Wall exhibition is only available for in-person viewing by appointment through Feb. 6, Nate Sheppard of Nate Sheppard Media once again created a virtual tour for gallery goers to enjoy long after the art leaves the gallery. That virtual tour, in addition to previous exhibitions from 2020, is available for the public to enjoy free of charge on ArtStart's media platforms.
ArtStart will also host a virtual reception spotlighting Free For Wall artists and their work at 6 p.m. on Feb. 4 via Zoom. The virtual tour will be incorporated into the reception and artists will have an opportunity to talk about their art.
The virtual event is free and open to the public with a maximum capacity of 100 viewers, but a recording will also be available after the event. Visit artstartrhinelander.org for the Zoom link.
McLaughlin noted the virtual format of the gallery tour and artist reception will likely be an ongoing theme for the foreseeable future.
"We're approaching things differently and we are planning for virtual programming right from the get-go," she said. "It's much easier for us to plan that way because... it's simpler to execute."
This year's Free For Wall community art exhibition features both professional and emerging artists showcasing a medley of creative styles. Many artists have participated in past Free For Wall exhibitions and several names are recognizable as professional artists in the area.
Local artists Deb Lund and Lisa Krueger both featured idyllic Northwoods nature scenes, while Diane Dodge, owner of Diane's Frame Shoppe, submitted another unique mirror that features a frame handcrafted with a vivid assortment of colors, textures, patterns and add-ons.
Two artists submitted their work virtually. Sheppard, a local media artist, submitted a short film and photography showcasing the beauty of the Northwoods, while Louise Leifheit Schotz displayed a digital submission of her fiber art.
Norma Dycus Pennycuff, local artist, arts instructor and president of the Manito Art League, submitted artwork to Free For Wall for the first time this year. Originally from Tennessee and a current resident of Eagle River, Pennycuff used cyanotype to fashion three intricately designed prints of her own photography that hangs off a tobacco stick.
"Cyanotype is blueprint. The old-school blueprints people make - like architectural blueprints - those are cyanotypes," Pennycuff explained. "You basically coat paper or fabric in this mixture of these two chemicals and then you expose it to light. In my case, I'm actually creating my own digital negatives in Photoshop and then printing it off on transparency film and putting it on top of the fabric and exposing it to light."
"It's a multi-step process, but it makes such beautiful results," she added. "I love the blue and white contrast... To me, it almost gives it a dreamy state. I really like how they turn out."
But for Pennycuff, the process of creating this particular piece helped her through a time of mourning and pays tribute to her family.
"The piece was actually created because my grandmother passed away this summer in Tennessee, and we couldn't really have a funeral," Pennycuff explained. "I think COVID really disrupted all our funeral and mourning traditions... So the piece I made was me thinking through that."
When she was growing up in rural Tennessee, Pennycuff's family grew tobacco. She visited her family's farm after her grandmother passed this summer to take photos of the now-vacant space. The tobacco stick in her piece actually came from her family's tobacco farm and the prints on display are those photographs taken by Pennycuff. When she returned to her home studio, she used cyanotype to print those photos onto the fabric.
While Pennycuff submitted artwork for the first time this year, ArtStart volunteer JoAnne Lund has been submitting work for Free For Wall since the annual event began several years ago. As a naturalist and plant ecologist by trade and hobby photographer, Lund combined her interests to create a lively collage featuring native insects, butterflies and flowers fashioned onto a recycled mirror.
All of the photographs in her piece were taken by Lund herself on nature walks in the Northwoods. She can also identify each and every native species featured in the piece - from fritillaries to red admirals, to thimbleweed and blue vervain, echinacea and purple fringed orchids. Those images were then cut out and, using Mod Podge, glued onto the surface of a mirror she purchased at a local thrift store.
Another local artist with a knack for using found materials is Wolfgang Ryan, who works with ArtStart as an artist teacher after recently relocating back to his hometown of Rhinelander. This was also Ryan's first Free For Wall submission, which he said was inspired by last year's trials and tribulations precipitated by COVID-19.
"Everything that we've experienced as a community and as a nation this past year inspired me to give it a go," he said. "Just thinking about all of the misfortune and death we've all experienced as a nation - as a world really - through this pandemic in the last year."
"There's a little bit of the 'carpe diem' suggestion: that life is short and you should seize the day," he added. "But some of the elements in the piece are about celebrating life - the color and the variety and all the good stuff."
Ryan's eclectic design features a hodgepodge of miscellaneous, found items. His work represents bricolage or art that is created from a diverse range of items close at hand. His piece, titled "All Our Yesterdays," incorporates a seemingly random arrangement of toys, characters and figurines, most of which from pop culture, that serve as stand-ins for a number of different ideas simultaneously.
A bust of Carl Sagan is situated next to a talking Bob Hope ornament that shares space with Thanos, a Marvel supervillain. His display even lights up with a blacklight lamp that causes like colors to fluoresce. This random grouping of found items is situated on top of a motorized tie rack, equipped with an impressive range of patterned ties.
Ryan's artwork is stuffed to the brim with an assortment of items, which challenges gallery goers to stop and really contemplate the message at hand.
The array of artistry on display is certainly impressive. Local artist Sarah S. Thompson submitted an acrylic painting of an owl in flight. She noted that building community and providing exposure for local artists is an important part of Free For Wall.
"The more we come together as a community and support each other as artists, the more that we can make the Northwoods not only an art destination, but an artist haven: a place where everyone feels comfortable and welcome here to create their own inspiration," Thompson said. "For me, that's what Free For Wall is all about."
This way, the virtual tours and reception allow Northwoods artists to connect with one another despite any distance at hand. Several artists noted the virtual components provide the resources to support one another during this time and is a means of capturing their work in a digital, long-term format.
The next in line on ArtStart's exhibition schedule is the School District of Rhinelander K-12 art exhibition, which will consist of student work representing a variety of media. The galleries will be open for in-person viewing by appointment only Feb. 11 - Feb. 27 and a virtual reception will be hosted on Feb. 18 via Zoom. Call (715) 362-4328 and visit artstartrhinelander.org for more information.
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