Written by Amy Beck
School calendars or chilly temperatures don’t need to define or confine springtime excursions to one spring-break week. Make the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum your go-to spot for frequent and extended breaks throughout the spring season. By scheduling multiple micro-vacations, you can be a tourist in your own hometown and invite friends and family to Wausau for weekend getaways.
Cut Up/Cut Out, on view through June 2, 2019, features intricately cut paper and other unexpected materials — from vintage road maps and leaves to a car tire and a saw blade — offering plenty to pique curiosity and spark contagious creativity.
The spirit of Slow Art Day — a worldwide art appreciation effort designed to encourage taking time to view and reflect upon artwork — was celebrated on April 6 but can be applied anytime. You can learn more about selected artworks on view by checking out the audio tour and picking up an Activity Guide, too.
As you stroll through the galleries, the idea is to choose just a few artworks, looking closely and lingering longer with each. Seek and gravitate toward artwork that:
- Captures your interest, prompting you to look closer to find out why
- Surprises you or shifts your thinking in new, unexpected ways
- Makes you smile
Trust your instincts and let delight be your guide. With a nod to organizing consultant Marie Kondo’s living-space advice, choose artwork that SPARKS JOY!
Here’s a sampling . . .
Cal Lane uses her experience as a welder to transform an oil barrel and steel ammunition boxes into lacy marvels.
Karen Margolis incorporates maps, symbolizing destinations and arteries of the human circulatory system, and then uses a soldering iron to burn holes that are designed to convey ideas about creating new routes and connections.
During the 2019 Wisconsin Governor’s Conference on Tourism, March 17–19, State Tourism Secretary designee Sara Meaney extended an invitation for all to embrace a “curiosity challenge” by traveling to experience something new. Meet that challenge through getaways to the Woodson Art Museum for multiple, cut-above visits . . .
- Be a tour guide for friends and family visiting Wausau.
- Prioritize weekend family outings.
- Schedule some date nights during Night Out @ the Woodson on the first Thursday of each month.
- Treat yourself to solo lunch-hour visits.
Offering always-free admission, the Woodson Art Museum is the perfect place to visit — soon and often — for rejuvenating breaks sure to foster new connections with art and with others, this spring and beyond!
For details, check the museum’s events calendar at https://www.lywam.org. Email the museum at info@lywam.org, call 715-845-7010, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Acknowledgments
Cut Up/Cut Out was organized by Carrie Lederer, curator of exhibitions, Bedford Gallery, Lesher Center for the Arts, Walnut Creek, California, and will remain on view at the Woodson Art Museum through June 2.
UMR is the presenting sponsor of Cut Up/Cut Out. The Bell Family Charitable Foundation and WoodTrust Bank provided educational support. Additional educational support comes from Bonnie Kraft.
Exhibitions and programs are supported by a grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts. Marketing is supported by City of Wausau Room Tax funds.
The Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum serves the Northcentral Wisconsin region through its commitment to always-free admission and a myriad of services offered for area schools, agencies, and all those who call Marathon County home.
Amy Beck
Marketing & Communications Manager | Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum
A former journalist, Amy has considered it a privilege to champion the Woodson Art Museum since 2010. Drawn by the natural, outdoor beauty of Wisconsin, Amy and her family moved to Wausau in 2007. After living in southwest Florida, upstate New York, and Iowa, Amy; her husband, Michael; two sons; and a daughter fell in love with Wisconsin during a family vacation and continue their quest to explore this state’s biking and hiking trails. Email Amy Beck.
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