Featured image: Trout Museum of Art. Courtesy of TMA.
Appleton, Wisconsin – The Trout Museum of Art (TMA)
A Creative Place: Art Northeastern Wisconsin from 1940 to Present
January 24, 2025, and runs through May 18, 2025.
The exhibition, curated by Annemarie Sawkins, will be the last exhibition in the Trout Museum’s current space at 111 College Avenue before its new building is completed. The Trout has occupied the original Brettschneider’s Furniture Co Building (later Reigel Building) since 2002. At that time, the Museum was called the Appleton Art Center (AAC). A major donation by the late Dr. Monroe Trout and Sandra Lemke Trout in 2010 led to the renaming of the center in their honor.
This history and more will be showcased in the exhibition which takes its name, point of departure, and inspiration from the recent publication A Creative Place: The History of Wisconsin Art. By focusing on northeastern Wisconsin, this exhibition and its catalogue takes a closer look at the creatives in the region and the art they have produced since 1940. This show—the first major historical retrospective of the area—celebrates over 85 years of art and history. Visitors will experience the changes in styles, techniques, and themes in this broad-reaching exhibition.
This critical art survey will feature more than 120 works—starting with early art pioneers Jessie Kalmbach Chase (1879–1970), Agnes Florence Wainwright (1905–1990)—the first full-time art curator at the Neville Public Museum, Green Bay—and Madeline Tripp Tourtelot (1915–2002), the filmmaker and philanthropist, who founded the Ephraim Art School in 1943 and Peninsula School of Art in 1965. It traverses subsequent decades culminating in brand new works of art commissioned as artist interventions for the exhibition. The artists who have accepted this challenge are Don Krumpos & Erin LaBonte, Leif Larson, Andrew Linskens, and Elyse-Krista Mische.
A new work will also be created at the opening—January 24, 2025—when instant film photographer Joy Laczny of Appleton, an “Artist to Watch 2024,” produces an installation piece from a series of Polaroids documenting the occasion. As guests at the opening will become part of Laczny’s work of art, dress recommendations for this “last hurrah” before the Trout’s move include “artful” creations, art-inspired styles, and vintage and contemporary fashion. Be ready to be photographed and memorialized in the Museum’s collection.
This exhibition will also be accompanied by a 116 page full-color publication with an essay by its curator.
The exhibition runs through May 18, 2025.
Featured Artists
Abel, Theresa
Andersson, Cristian
Austin, Philip Leslie
Bauer, Dennis
Beaudoin, IsAbel
Bellavance, Leslie
Bentley, Lester W.
Blietz, Craig
Bryan-Hanson, Shan
Cagle, James
Carreaux du Nord
Guyette, Ned
Chase, Jessie Kalmbach
Cohn, Abe
Conrad, Tony
Damkoehler, David
Damkoehler, Toni
Dell, Jerry
Deetz, Kristy
Dickinson, Franne
Dietrich, Margaret Rappe
Dietrich, Thomas
Doerr, Michael A.
Donhauser, Paul
Emmons, Carol
Fraser, Austin
Grabner, Michelle
Graham, David
Gresko, Carol
Groshek, Matthew
Hackbarth, Sandra Jo
Haneman, Thomas J.
Hardy, Francis H.
Heuer, Curt
Ingwersen, James J.
Ingwersen, Phyllis
Juárez, Frank
Kindt, Joann
Kox, Norbert
Krumpos, Don •
LaBonte, Erin •
Laczny, Joy
Larson, Leif •
Linskens, Andrew •
Lipman, Beth
Look, Dona
Lyons, Charlie
Martinez, Wenceslao
Mau, Marjorie
Medina, Neo •
Meilahn, Michael
Mercier, Maureen
Miller, Gerhard C.F.
Mische, Elyse-Krista •
Monegar, Clarence Boyce
Mothes, Lee
Murphy, Meg Lionel
Nance, Romero
Olson, Christian
Panske, Gail D.
Peterson, Charles L.
Popelka, Jeremy
Prevetti, William
Proper, Betty M.
Quinlan, Albert
Ricci, Lori Jae
Rose, Suzanne
Rotter, Rudy
Salas, Rafael
Schwartz, Lester
Sealy, Sr., Philip J.
Semivan, Lauren
Shackelford, Sandra
Shimon & Lindemann, J. & J.
Style, Christine Taylor, Donald P.
Thrall, Arthur
Thrall, Win
Trenchard, Stephanie
Tully, Cassy
Vavruska, Frank
Vienot, Beth
Wainwright, Agnes
Warpinski, Terri
Winzenz, Karon Hagemeister