James Watrous Gallery
Featuring exhibits by Wisconsin artists.
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Gallery Hours
Thursday - Sunday, 12-5pm, or by appointment
Free and open to the public
The James Watrous Gallery is located on Overture Center’s third floor. It is a program of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters — a place to connect with experts and explore Wisconsin thought and culture. To learn more, visit wisconsinacademy.org.
Current Exhibitions
Marna Brauner & Hai Chi Jihn: Curio and Lillian Luft: Deliberate Acts
On view January 30, 2026 – April 12, 2026
New exhibitions by Milwaukee artists Marna Brauner, Hai Chi Jihn, and Lillian Luft feature collaborative and individual object-oriented works exploring themes of cultural memory, body adornment, nostalgia, environmentalism, and vulnerability.
Lillian Luft’s Deliberate Acts is inspired by river ecology and the environmental consequences of the 19th-century pearl button industry. Her richly detailed, research-based work examines how a ravenous desire for mother-of-pearl led to the near collapse of native mussel ecoculture. Having eagerly worked with mother-of-pearl as a metalsmith and jeweler, Luft was drawn to develop a personal relationship with freshwater mussels as a volunteer conservationist. The body of work that has emerged from this experience poignantly evokes mussels’ bodies and the spaces they inhabited, inspiring empathy and giving voice to these unsung and vulnerable creatures.
For Curio, Milwaukee artists Marna Brauner and Hai Chi Jihn are collaborating to create a “cabinet of curiosities.” Obsessive collectors and highly skilled makers, Brauner and Jihn are interested in juxtaposing small, meticulously crafted pieces that speak to each other and create a unique whole. Their highly decorative, detailed work in textiles, metal, wax, and found objects references clothing history, body adornment, cultural memory, and the seductive nostalgia of old museum collections.
Join the artists and Wisconsin Academy staff on Sunday, February 1 from 3:00 – 5:00 pm for an artists’ reception at James Watrous Gallery. Free and open to the public.
Meet the Artists
Marna Brauner
Marna Brauner is Professor Emerita of Art and Design (1989-2014) at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, specializing in fibers and surface design. She received her MFA in textiles, with distinction, from California College of Arts and Crafts, and her BFA in Visual Art from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She exhibits her work nationally and internationally, including solo and group shows in India, Mexico, China, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Brauner has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Wisconsin Arts Board, and the Milwaukee Artists Foundation. Her work was featured in the books The Surface Designer's Art and Celebrating the Stitch: Contemporary Embroidery of North America, as well as Fiberarts magazine and Surface Design Journal.
Hai Chi Jihn
Hai Chi Jihn has made Milwaukee, Wisconsin her home for the past 40 years. A native of Taiwan, she earned her BA in Textile & Clothing Design in Taiwan and her MFA in Metalsmithing from UW-Milwaukee. She exhibits internationally in the US and in Taiwan, and is invested in fostering cross-cultural dialogue between Taiwanese and American metal artists. She has curated exhibitions on contemporary metal works in the US and Taiwan. Jihn's grants and awards include the Mary L. Nohl Fellowship for Individual Artists, the Mary L. Nohl Suitcase Export Fund, Alverno College's Sacagawea Award, Kohler Co.'s Arts/Industry Residency, and UW-Milwaukee's G.O.L.D. Award.
Lillian Luft
Lillian Luft is a multidisciplinary artist based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin who crafts precious objects and jewelry. Her work centers her personal history and her deep engagement with the materials and histories that impact her life. Luft leverages the inherent qualities and cultural weight of the materials she works with to make objects that subvert common expectations and encourage unexpected behaviors. Lillian graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, and she maintains a studio at Milwaukee’s House of RAD. She has completed a residency at the Baltimore Jewelry Center, and in 2022 she was the recipient of the Windgate-Lamar Fellowship Grant from the Center for Craft. In addition to her studio practice, Luft is a volunteer gallerist and mussel conservationist in Milwaukee.
Upcoming Art Events
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April 30
Thursday
Educational/Talks, Free Events, Visual Arts Spring 2026 Exhibitions Reception
Overture Galleries
Join us for a reception and artist talks celebrating the Spring 2026 Overture Galleries. Centered on storytelling, our Spring Exhibitions feature artists who translate personal narrative into book-based and ceramic sculptures, symbolic mixed-media works and more.
5:30 PM -
May 9
Saturday
Educational/Talks, Visual Arts Slow Art: Making Responsive Artist Books
Overture Galleries
Join us for a Slow Art experience beginning with a guided meditation in Wisconsin Studio, followed by a contemplative viewing of works by Gallery I artists Katherine Steichen Rosing and Sandra Schoen. The event concludes with a hands-on book-making workshop and reflection exercise led by the artists.
10:00 AM