Spring 2020 Exhibition Cycle
While the Overture building was closed during COVID, Overture Galleries Spring 2020 exhibits remained online as digital exhibitions. Scroll down to view all four galleries in the spring 2020 cycle.
This spring marks the 50TH Anniversary of Earth Day and the UW-Madison Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies. During this “Year of the Environment,” Overture Galleries partners with the Nelson Institute in presenting exhibitions and programs exploring environmental topics. Our featured artists will challenge us with questions about the impact of human behavior on the health of our planet through their artwork that explores the experiences of inhabiting our Earth and human relations with our fellow creatures.
GALLERY I – Endgame – John Riggs & Hannah Sandvold
John Riggs and Hannah Sandvold record landscapes of the Pacific Northwest in transition. Riggs’ photographs are a call to action, linking the devastating results of clearcutting to our climate crisis. Sandvold uses traditional printmaking techniques to create layered visual journeys, mimicking the the experience of moving through natural spaces.
GALLERY II – Altered Scapes – Ginnie Cappaert & Lynne Roark
Ginnie Cappaert and Lynne Roark depict the beauty of natural landscapes, distilling them into their essential elements. Cappaert’s intimate works created with 30-40 layers of oil paint and cold wax speak to the small, but important fragments of life. Madison Photographer Lynne Roark has taken to the skies to capture Iceland’s landscapes from above. Roark’s Ghosts of Glaciers Past presents surreal combinations of ice, glacial rivers and shorelines. Shooting straight down from a single engine plane, her photography creates enticing and provocative imagery, bringing attention to the fragility of our world’s receding glaciers.
GALLERY III – Unaccountable Abodes – Erin Liljegren & Robert Jaeger
Robert Jaeger and Erin Liljegren present both Earth’s human and animal inhabitants in man-made environments. Liljegren addresses the deprivation of the environment caused by human over-population and massive consumption through mixed media and recycled materials. Jaeger photographically documents the juxtaposition of zoo visitors and the resident animals in captivity within the context of environmental degradation and extinctions.
PLAYHOUSE GALLERY – Earthly Kin
The relationships between humans and our fellow living creatures are ancient and complex. In this exhibit, artists explore the mysteries, beauty and tragedy of our shared lives.
PLAYHOUSE GALLERY – Creative Life on the Spectrum – ArtWorking Artists
JAN 10 – MAR 1
ArtWorking artists celebrate Children’s Theater of Madison’s production of Mockingbird. In Mockingbird, Caitlin, who is on the autism spectrum, uses art to process her world. This exhibition showcases visions of the world through the eyes of professional artists with disabilities from ArtWorking as well as youth from CI Pediatric Therapy Centers and Achieving Collaborative Treatment.
Winter 2019/20 Exhibition Cycle
In Galleries I, II and III, seven artists explore themes of identity, social context and creative process. This winter, we are pleased to collaborate with Children’s Theater of Madison, expanding their production of Mockingbird to include an exhibition in our Playhouse Gallery featuring professional artists from ArtWorking.
TUE, DEC 10 – SUN, MAR 1, 2020
GALLERY I – The Space Between – Rachel Durfee & Denise Presnell
Rachel Durfee and Denise Presnell use a wide range of materials and tools to produce colorful work that is both dazzling and thought-provoking. Durfee explores how we can thrive in the gap between life as it is and life as it ought to be. Presnell’s layered canvasses display a map of vigorous creativity.
GALLERY II – Human Identity Portrait Stories – Natalie Ergas, Yongchul Kwon & Jerry Jordan
Natalie Ergas, Yongchul Kwon and Jerry Jordan explore different facets of human identity. Ergas uses collage to capture the essence of individuals, focusing on female strength and stories. Kwon is a sculptor who interrogates the role of anonymity within society. Jordan’s paintings celebrate wokeness in defiance of ancient beliefs fueled by fear, hate and cruelty.
GALLERY III – Sleepwalk – Kassandra Palmer & Justin Parks
Kassandra Palmer and Justin Parks use repeated visual imagery that is both abstract and recognizable to communicate elusive aspects of the human condition. Palmer combines wood, clay, paint, paper and graphite in her humorous compositions. Parks embodies personal experiences in collage-like images of acrylic and graphite.
ROTUNDA GALLERY – Urban Bubble – Rob, Trionna, Ariez, Savannah, Dakwon, Lamar, Artemas
DEC 14, 2019 – JAN 26, 2020
Living in and on the Urban Bubble is precarious at best. Being young, gifted and black does not equate with being understood and encouraged by the systems that be. Moving through the turmoil, we, as artists, seek to define ourselves and project our realities into the future, owning our narratives and images.
The Bubbler, in collaboration with Faisal Abdu’Allah and MMSD’s Foundations Central graduation recovery program located at the Urban League of Greater Madison, presents this art exhibition by Madison youth. Over a nine-week course held in the Bubbler Room at Central Library, URBAN BUBBLE is the culmination of conversations and productions that celebrated identity, excellence and the powers within each individual.
Faculty and staff: Faisal Abdu’Allah (UW Madison), Rob Dz (Bubbler), Jesse Vieau (Bubbler), Jennifer Tomlinson (MMSD), Kevin Evanco (MMSD), Gordon Heingartner (MMSD), Alison Stauffacher (MMSD).
Participating organizations:
Fauhaus -Faisal Abdu’Allah / UW Community Arts Collaboratory / Madison Public Library / Bubbler / Dane Arts / Scooter Software / Leila & Mickey Straus Family Foundation / Epic
Playhouse Gallery – Ho-Chunk Art: Sharing our Sacred Voice through our Art
Curated by Melanie Tallmadge Sainz
FRI, NOV 1, 2019 – SUN, JAN 5, 2020
The original peoples of the Madison area are the Ho-Chunk. In English Ho-Chunk translates to People of the Sacred Voice. Despite the arduous times faced by the Ho-Chunk, their culture and creativity have endured. While there is no word for art in the Ho-Chunk language, there are words that describe beauty and goodness. These qualities will fill the space of the Playhouse Gallery. Contemporary mixed media art will be juxtaposed with traditional Ho-Chunk art forms that blend natural materials obtained through local foraging and harvest and paired with commercial art products that reflect our adaptive lifeways.
Fourteen Ho-Chunk artists from Wisconsin and beyond will provide a broad perspective of the values and traditions of their heritage. In respect of tribal elders and creative trailblazers, the art of long-time Madison residents Truman Lowe (1944 – 2019) and Harry Whitehorse (1927 – 2017) will highlight this exhibit. The contributions made by these elders have inspired countless contemporary Ho-Chunk artists to continue our legacy of preserving our culture through the arts.
Featured artists include:
Levi Blackdeer – Simone Brown – Alvena Foss – George Greendeer – Sidney Hall, Jr. – Tom Jones – Rita Kingswan – Josie Lee- Kelly Logan – Truman Lowe – Henry Payer – Christopher Sweet – Melanie Tallmadge Sainz – Harry Whitehorse
Overture Playhouse Gallery is sponsored by Norman Berven & Barbara Mittelstaedt Berven, The Arts Access Fund, a component fund of the Madison Community Foundation and by contributions to Overture Center for the Arts. Additional sponsorship for the Ho-Chunk Exhibit is provided by Ho-Chunk Gaming.
Special Rotunda Gallery Exhibit! – Keep Hope Alive – Obama: An Intimate Portrait – Pete Souza
WED, OCT 23 – SUN, DEC 8
Former Chief Official White House Photographer Pete Souza shows his stunning behind-the-scenes photographs of President Barack Obama.
During the eight years of the Obama Presidency Pete Souza took almost two million photographs of President Barack Obama. More than 300 of those images comprise his coffee-table book, “Obama: An Intimate Portrait,” which debuted as #1 on the New York Times bestseller’s list in 2017. As President Obama wrote in the foreword, “Over the course of eight years in the White House, I probably spent more time with Pete Souza than with anybody other than my family.” Souza was present not only for every meeting, but for the private and personal moments that, according to President Obama, captured “the mood, the atmosphere and the meaning of those moments.”
This exhibit coincides with the Keep Hope Alive presentation by Pete Souza on FRI, OCT 25 in Capitol Theater
Fall 2019 Exhibition Cycle
TUE, SEP 10 – SUN, DEC 1
GALLERY I – Swept Away – Aaron Laux & Katherine Steichen Rosing
Using the circle as a symbol of earth and eternity, Swept Away weaves a narrative of climate change. A rich tapestry of natural materials and impressions of ephemeral objects explore the effects of human disruptions to the equilibrium of the biosphere.
GALLERY II – Multiplicity of Being – Anwar Floyd-Pruitt & Xiaoyue Pu
Floyd-Pruitt and Pu explore themes of identity, society, and culture through portraiture. Floyd-Pruitt’s energetic mixed media self-portraits reflect on his past, present and future. Pu is a photographer whose images challenge elitism within the fashion industry and explore the multifaceted identity as Chinese through her use of the color red.
GALLERY III – Unstill Lifes – Yeonhee Cheong & Jayne Reid Jackson
Yeonhee Cheong and Jayne Reid Jackson are artists who use their technical skill to transform everyday scenes into rich metaphors. Using watercolor and pastel, Cheong grapples with her identity in botanical self-portraits. Jackson’s mezzotints and etchings are literally and figuratively reflective, speaking to the fragility of life.
Playhouse Gallery – Phoenix from the Ashes
SUN, AUG 25 – SUN, OCT 27
The Phoenix from the Ashes exhibit highlights creative projects made from Madison ash trees decimated by the emerald ash borer infestation.
Eric Adjetey Anang – Gene Delcourt – Thomas Ferrella – Ryan Frank – Aaron Granat – Roald Gunderson – Richard Judd – Aaron Laux – Tom Loeser – Paul Morrison – Andrea Oleniczak & Taylor Kurrie – William Rice – Sylvie Rosenthal – Katherine Steichen Rosing
Summer 2019 Exhibition Cycle
TUE, JUN 11 – SUN, SEP 1, 2019
Gallery I – Two Alone – Noël Ash & Victoria Maidhof
Maidhof and Ash both capture profound yet relatable moments. Through photography, Maidhof tells the story of a kinship between two individuals from different generations. Ash paints self-portraits that reveal a mother’s mental stress as she suffers through repeated conflict with a small child.
Noël Ash Website Victoria Maidhof Website
Gallery II – Soñé una Milpa – Leigh Garcia & Maria Amalia Wood
Using papermaking and printmaking techniques, Soñé una Milpa highlights the narratives of ten Latina immigrants living in the Madison community. Garcia and Wood’s collaboration creates interest in stories of immigration, thus inspiring respect for these women and their valuable life journeys.
Leigh Garcia Website Maria Amalia Wood Website
Gallery III – Not to Scale – Robert Lundberg & Jacki Whisenant
Whisenant and Lundberg illuminate subjects that are often overlooked. Whisenant inspires closer inspection of insects, presenting them at a larger-than-life scale that fades to a delicate cut-paper rendering. Lundberg documents the critical infrastructure of water systems, inviting questions about our relationship to water and the societal and cultural implications of this hidden world.
Robert Lundberg Website Jacki Whisenant Website
Gallery I, II and III sponsored by the Arts Access Fund, a component fund of the Madison Community Foundation and by contributions to Overture Center for the Arts.
Playhouse Gallery – Immigrant Journeys from South of the Border | ¡Mi travesía hasta Wisconsin!
WED, JUL 10 – SUN, AUG 18
As our nation debates when and why people from other countries should be allowed to come to the United States, this exhibition invites you to meet Ana Claudia, Fernando, Gilberto, Jennifer, Mario, Cinthia, Panfilo and Saul, eight immigrants whose journeys began in Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay and Honduras who are living in Wisconsin today.
Overture Playhouse Gallery is sponsored by Norman Berven & Barbara Mittelstaedt Berven, The Arts Access Fund, a component fund of the Madison Community Foundation and by contributions to Overture Center for the Arts.
Playhouse Gallery – Women Against Hate United By Love – J. Leigh Garcia, Rachel Griffin, Kelly Parks Snider
SAT, MAY 11, – SUN, JUL 7, 2019
We are women united against hate. We are mothers, sisters, grandmother and caretakers. We are joined together purposely to shine a light, capture attention, and push back against injustice.
A collective effort of artists and activists, “Women Against Hate United by Love” is a platform, an entry point for a female-led anti-hate campaign united against bigotry, intolerance and racism. The creative building blocks for our artwork and messaging are women’s stories—powerful, tough, revealing stories of injustice, tragedy, strength, and amazingly, hope.
Spring 2019 Exhibition Cycle
TUE, MAR 12, – SUN, JUN 2, 2019
Gallery I – Folks – Jerry Butler & Shelby Kahr
Butler and Kahr make portraits of people who have shaped their lives. Butler focuses on the resilience of the human spirit that resolves toward personal peace and happiness. Kahr uses figurative painting to explore her cultural heritage in the Midwest.
Jerry Butler Website Shelby Kahr Website
Gallery II – Into the Light – Maryam Ladoni & Kayla Story
Personal narratives resonate with universal themes in Ladoni and Story’s images. Story explores the long-lasting impacts of fatherlessness through photographs based on personal interviews. Ladoni travels back to her hometown of Iran, documenting her journey towards understanding her identity through memory.
Maryam Ladoni Website Kayla Story
Gallery III – FUTURE HISTORY NOW: A Retrospeculative – Simone and Max
Visionary fauxklore and impassioned objects combine in a fluid, fragmented chronology of our once and future now.
Gallery I, II and III sponsored by the Arts Access Fund, a component fund of the Madison Community Foundation and by contributions to Overture Center for the Arts. Additional funding for Gallery II provided by the Madison Arts Commission.
Playhouse Gallery – The Wonder of Learning
THU, JAN 24 – WED, MAY 1, 2019
The exhibtion continues in the Youth Services Room, Madison Public Library, Central Location
The Wonder of Learning exhibit from the world-renowned schools of Reggio Emilia, Italy, will inspire parents, educators and other advocates for children to better understand the powerful learning that occurs in the early childhood years. Visitors will be immersed in the world of the much-admired Reggio Emilia philosophy of early childhood education and understand how children, from birth, use many “languages,” such as art, music, play, drama and literacy, to learn about and make meaning of the world.
A series of professional development workshops and conferences will take place in Madison during the four months the exhibit is available.
For more exhibit information, please visit wonderoflearningwisconsin.org.
“The Wonder of Learning” project is presented by Preschool of the Arts with additional support from Madison Public Library, Madison Public Library Foundation, Overture Center for the Arts, Madison Children’s Museum, Wisconsin Early Childhood Association, Reach Dane Head Start, Community Coordinated Child Care, Little Explorers Preschool, UW Madison Office of Child Care and Family Resources, The Finlay Group, Summit Credit Union and CG Schmidt.
Winter 2018/2019 Exhibition Cycle
TUE, DEC 11, 2018 – SUN, MAR 3, 2019
Gallery I – What We Inherit: Remnants of Light and Space – Angelica Contreras & Ellen Reynolds Hall
Hall and Contreras are both painters who create compositions that embody a moment or feeling. Influenced by imagery from many cultures, Contreras uses paint and rich collaged patterns to create figures and the environments they reside in. Through the medium of oil paint, Hall uses the natural world to explore color, light, form, energy and emotion.
Angelica Contreras Website Ellen Reynolds Hall Website
Gallery II – Strata – Hannah Bennett & Gabrielle Cordes
Bennett and Cordes push the boundaries of the materials they use. Bennett is inspired by nature, using paper pulp, textiles, embroidery and found objects as sculptural mediums to express her ideas. Cordes creates intuitively, assembling dynamic sculptures with contrasting colors and materials.
Hannah Bennett Website Gabrielle Cordes
Gallery III – Painted Stones
Curated by Laurel Fletcher
Stone-painting has increased in popularity, driven by social media and the “Kindness Rocks” movement. Adults and children paint stones and leave them in public spaces to be discovered by strangers, with the goal of spreading friendship and a sense of community.
Visitors are invited to leave and find painted stones within Overture Center for the duration of the exhibit.
Gallery I, II and III are sponsored by the Arts Access Fund, a component fund of the Madison Community Foundation and by contributions to Overture Center for the Arts.
Playhouse Gallery – Veteran Print Project: The Transience of Narrative
SAT, NOV 3, 2018-THU, JAN 10, 2019
The Veteran Print Project matches veterans with printmakers who artistically interpret their experiences and perspectives. The exhibit seeks to encourage reconnection between veteran and civilian and to grow a more honest understanding of the shared human experience.
Additional Events:
The Veteran Print Project: Transience of Narrative and Ajax are featured programs of In Good Company, a month-long exposition of emerging veteran artists and civilian collaborations.
Overture Playhouse Gallery is sponsored by Norman Berven & Barbara Mittelstaedt Berven, The Arts Access Fund, a component fund of the Madison Community Foundation and by contributions to Overture Center for the Arts.
Fall 2018 Exhibition Cycle
TUE, SEP 11 – SUN, DEC 2
Gallery I – 10th Biennial PhotoMidwest Juried Exhibition
The 10th biennial PhotoMidwest exhibition is part of this year’s PhotoMidwest festival celebrating its 20th anniversary. Photographers from Wisconsin and 12 midwestern states exhibit in this show juried by Alex Garcia and Alfred Rasho.
PhotoMidwest Curators’ Talk
FRI, OCT 5 | Promenade Terrace
5-6 PM Curators will talk on their own work and careers
7:30 PM Curators will talk on the PhotoMidwest exhibition
Alex Garcia is a Chicago commercial photographer and photojournalist, a recipient of a Pulitzer Prize, a World Press Photo award and is currently on the board of the National Press Photographers Association.
Alfred Rasho has spent 30+ years as a teacher and filmmaker, receiving 2 Emmys, 17 Telly Awards and a Gold Award from The Chicago Film Festival for cinematography.
Gallery II – Studies in Stone, Ice and Memory – Peter Blanchard, Terri Messinides & Steven Ralser
This exhibition considers memories, both static and fluid. Ralser’s photographs show us the beauty and abstraction in ice. Messinides explores the fragility of memory through collage using natural materials. Blanchard exposes patterns in strata of stone.
Steven Ralser website Peter Blanchard website
GALLERY III – Two Selves: Explorations of Personal Experience – Jacob Newman & Ryan J. Robinson
Robinson and Newman both deal with the confusion of everyday life. Robinson’s portraits contemplate the lack of perceived reason behind existence through his rough handling of the figure on the canvas. Newman imagines current social issues in the context of the fictional worlds he creates with his drawings on paper.
Ryan J. Robinson website Jacob Newman website
Gallery I, II and III sponsored by the Arts Access Fund, a component fund of the Madison Community Foundation and by contributions to Overture Center for the Arts.
Playhouse Gallery – Sanctuary: Environmental Land Art at the Farley Center
FRI, SEP 7 – SUN, OCT 28, 2018
Hosted by the Farley Center for Peace, Justice and Sustainability, sixteen local artists use natural and organic materials to celebrate our connection with the Earth. Sanctuary is a photographic tour of art installations created on their wooded land near Verona, WI in Fall 2017.
Overture Playhouse Gallery is sponsored by Norman Berven & Barbara Mittelstaedt Berven, The Arts Access Fund, a component fund of the Madison Community Foundation, and by contributions to Overture Center for the Arts.
SUN, OCT 6, 2018
We celebrated the rich roots of Latino art in culture at the fifth annual Latino Art Fair, organized and sponsored by the Latino Chamber of Commerce of Dane County in partnership with Overture Center. Talented artists from throughout South Central Wisconsin exhibit and sell their artwork, including paintings, photography, pottery, jewelry, music and more. This year we featured the art of spoken word and an Afro-Peruvian performance by Golpe Tierra!
Special Gallery Exhibit
IMMIGRATION X / INMIGRACIÓN X
WED, SEP 12 – SUN, OCT 14, 2018
Synapses is a group of Latinx artists collaborating on projects focused on social justice to impact the community.
Members: Richie Morales l Juan de Hoyos l Andy Villanueva l Evelyn Galindo
Summer 2018 Exhibition Cycle
TUE, JUN 12 – SUN, SEP 2
Gallery I – Random | Access | Memory – Amy Bethel & Lorraine Reynolds
Bethel & Reynolds repurpose, rebuild, and reimagine materials to create 3-dimensional works that blend nature, history and technology. Bethel’s sculptures and installations explore the occasionally absurd metaphors that shape our experience of time. Through assemblage, Reynolds ponders the power of seemingly disparate objects to speak to memory and loss.
Amy Bethel Website Lorraine Reynolds Website
Gallery I sponsored by the Arts Access Fund, a component fund of the Madison Community Foundation, Webcrafters-Frautschi Foundation and by contributions to Overture Center for the Arts.
Gallery II – Captured in Time – Sharon Beckman & Sunil Gopalan
Beckman culls historical ephemera to create delicate collages that evoke memory and mystery, with women and birds recurring in her narratives. Gopalan highlights the beauty and elusive behaviors of birds around the world in his striking photographs.
Sharon Beckman Website Sunil Gopalan Website
Gallery II sponsored by the Arts Access Fund, a component fund of the Madison Community Foundation and by contributions to Overture Center for the Arts.
Gallery III – Beauty – A Social Construct – #ReclaimBeauty & Comfort Wasikhongo
This exhibition investigates beauty as a cultural construct through imagery of the body. Hauer uses photography to capture unfiltered images and challenge contemporary perceptions. Wasikhongo reveals the anatomy and strength of the human body through paintings of professional bodybuilders.
Kinda Kreative Website Comfort Wasikhongo Website
Gallery III sponsored by the Arts Access Fund, a component fund of the Madison Community Foundation and by contributions to Overture Center for the Arts.
Playhouse Gallery – Yearnings
SAT, JUN 30 – SUN, SEP 2, 2018
Four artists reflect on their personal laments, celebrations and yearnings through their artmaking. Along the way, they invite others into the process. How do we find peace in a world of violence? Forgiveness in a world of offense? Unity in a world of division and protest?
This is not an exhibition of answers or strategies, but one of journey. There are more questions along it’s paths, the clues come more in whispers and sighs rather than shouts and epithets.
Artists: Bobbette Rose, Cynthia Reynolds, Eugenia Sherman Brown, Janine Bessenecker
Overture Playhouse Gallery is sponsored by Norman Berven & Barbara Mittelstaedt Berven, The Arts Access Fund, a component fund of the Madison Community Foundation and by contributions to Overture Center for the Arts.
Playhouse Gallery – The Sixties Revisited
FRI, MAY 4 – SUN, JUN 24, 2018
The 1960s was a complex and contentious era of expanding consciousness and social upheaval that profoundly changed our nation. These 33 artists explore the era and its reverberations in our current time.
Artists: Nancy Erickson Dutmer, Michael Duffy, Richard Ely & Martin Saunders, Bruce Fritz, Ray Gloeckler, Caroline Greenwald, Karin Hanson, Lewis Koch, John Kowalczyk, Pat Kroth, Ryan Laessig, Fatima Laster, Katharina Marchant, Robert Matejcek, Andrea Musher & Kim Charles Kay, Leslee Nelson, Jill W. Pfeiffer, Pamela Phillips Olson, Beth Racette, Lybra Ray, Chris Revelle, John Riggs, ST Rivera, Katherine Rosing, Leora Saposnik, Cherie St. Cyr, Terry Talbot, Emma VanDell, Dan S. Wang, Bill Weege, Kurt Westbrook, Megan Wilson, Mary Alice Wimmer & Amanda Wood
Image credits: Robert Matejcek, Ray Gloeckler, Cherie St. Cyr, Bruce Fritz, Lybra Ray, Fatima Laster
Overture Playhouse Gallery is sponsored by Norman Berven & Barbara Mittelstaedt Berven, The Arts Access Fund, a component fund of the Madison Community Foundation, Webcrafters-Frautschi Foundation and by contributions to Overture Center for the Arts.
Spring 2018 Exhibition Cycle
TUE, MAR 13 – SUN, JUN 3
Gallery I – Water is Life
Water. It sustains us, cleanses us and quenches our thirst. In the not-too-distant past, clean water was considered an endless resource. Recent developments from the Flint water crisis to pipeline protests are raising concerns about access to and quality of water, for current and future generations.
Co-curators: Anne M. Connor & Carolyn S. Knorr
Artists: Jennifer Bucheit, Anne Connor, Tim Connor, Marcia Getto, Mary Gordon, Matt Hayner, Carolyn Knorr, Diane Kravetz, Becky McKenzie, Rebecca Power, Howard Schwartz, Lisa Seidman, Don Sylvester, Paul Thoresen, Mariah Wooster-Lehman & John Wright
Gallery I sponsored by the Arts Access Fund, a component fund of the Madison Community Foundation, Webcrafters-Frautschi Foundation and by contributions to Overture Center for the Arts.
Gallery II – Redefining Narratives – Erika Herrera, Dakota Mace & David Dexheimer
This exhibition explores cultural dualities and divides through a contemporary lens. Herrera’s ethereal black and white photographs express her duality as a Mexican American. The intricate weavings of Mace re-contextualize traditional Diné (Navajo) practices, while creating a dialogue on cultural appropriation. Dexheimer’s expressive paintings chronicle recent conflicts between police & the public.
Dakota Mace Website Erika Herrera Website
Gallery II sponsored by the Arts Access Fund, a component fund of the Madison Community Foundation and by contributions to Overture Center for the Arts.
Gallery III – Season of Shadows – Alaura Borealis and Community Participants
In this social project, Borealis interviews trans and nonbinary peers about gender and creates performances, installations and events around pressing themes. The exhibited collection of transcripts, photographs and other artifacts represents collaborating artists’ metaphors for being queer today.
Gallery III sponsored by the Arts Access Fund, a component fund of the Madison Community Foundation and by contributions to Overture Center for the Arts.
Winter 2017/18 Exhibition Cycle
TUE, DEC 12 – SUN, MAR 4, 2018
Gallery I – Études – Madison Contemporary Fiber Artists
Étude is French for a study. In music, an etude is a composition that emphasizes a certain technique. It compels a musician to focus on and become skilled in this technique. Over time, étude work provides the musician with intense technical practice—and in time, mastery—in selected areas, opening themselves up to the possibilities of full creativity with their chosen instrument.
Madison Contemporary Fiber Artists (MCFA) members created fiber art that visually expresses their use of études—studies—significant to them. Their studies are the basis for this intriguing exhibit. The artists pushed the envelope of their technical expertise and expanded the possibilities for their creative endeavors.
While the art is personal in nature, you will be engaged by the unexpected work that resulted from these études. The resulting images and themes impacted the artists’ lives while at the same time improved the fiber artists’ virtuosity in their chosen mediums.
Gallery I sponsored by the Arts Access Fund, a component fund of the Madison Community Foundation, Webcrafters-Frautschi Foundation and by contributions to Overture Center for the Arts.
Gallery II – PLACES – Gideon Abbott, Chuck Bauer & Tom Cubr
These artists reveal the tension and tranquility within our environment. Abbott depicts city scenes through a pixilated lens, hinting at tension between technology & humanity. Bauer engages the viewers with expressive compositions inspired by light, color and the builder’s craft. Cubr’s compositions suggest potential harmonies where humans and nature interact.
Media
Abbott: Acrylic paint
Bauer: Oil
Cubr: Mixed Media
Chuck Bauer Website Tom Cubr Website
Gallery II sponsored by the Arts Access Fund, a component fund of the Madison Community Foundation and by contributions to Overture Center for the Arts.
Gallery III – Prisms of Memory – Greg Gregson & Christian Strait
Through different media these artists each explore memory and interpretation.
Gregson uses gestural line and dynamic compositions to interpret everyday objects and imagery. Strait layers photographs of iconic Madison sites to visually illustrate how our minds build memories of physical space.
Media
Gregson: Oil, mixed media on canvas.
Strait: Photography
Greg Gregson Website Christian Strait Website
Gallery III sponsored by the Arts Access Fund, a component fund of the Madison Community Foundation and by contributions to Overture Center for the Arts.
Playhouse Gallery – Cool Science Images
SAT, MAR 31 – SUN, APR 29, 2018
The University of Wisconsin–Madison’s annual Cool Science Image Contest celebrates the beautiful and informative images captured by the university’s faculty, staff and students during their research. The Cool Science Images Contest features science-themed pictures created using powerful and exotic equipment — such as microscopes that can see inside living cells and satellites observing Earth from 20,000 miles away — and homemade tools as simple as a pinhole camera.
The images in this exhibit are drawn from winners chosen during the contest’s first seven years, in which hundreds of researchers submitted images of animals, minerals, vegetables, clouds and stars that reveal at scales enormous and miniscule surprising patterns and features that help us better understand the world around us.
The Cool Science Images project is Sponsored by Fitchburg-based Promega Corp., with additional support from DoIT Digital Publishing and Printing Services and the UW–Madison Arts Institute.
Playhouse Gallery – From Dinosaurs to Space Ships: A Father and Daughter Journey – Nancy and George H. Hutson
SAT, JAN 20 – SUN, MAR 18, 2018
George H. Hutson and Nancy Hutson artworks exemplify the father and daughter’s playful explorations. Mr. Hutson brings child-like exuberance to his paintings of fanciful dinosaur adventures. Ms. Hutson expands the boundaries of crochet with her tapestries of landscapes, skies and spaceships.
Playhouse Gallery is sponsored by Madison Community Foundation and by contributions to Overture Center for the Arts.
Fall 2017 Exhibition Cycle
TUE, SEP 12 – SUN, DEC 3, 2017
Gallery I – All That Remains – Elaine Daily-Birnbaum & Quenten Brown
Artist Talk: TUE, NOV 28, 2017 | Promenade Lounge, 6:30 PM
The abstract works in this exhibition playfully blend reality and dreamlike imagery to create seemingly familiar yet unexplainable forms. Daily-Birnbaum relies on personal experiences to invoke images of interest and intrigue. Brown’s structures morph modern tools and imagery into delicate, otherworldly constructions.
Gallery I sponsored by the Arts Access Fund, a component fund of the Madison Community Foundation, Webcrafters-Frautschi Foundation and by contributions to Overture Center for the Arts.
Gallery II – Unusual Perspectives – Colette Girard & Rose Kratchman
Photography captures reality, yet through unique perspectives it can also transform the ordinary into the unfamiliar. Girard’s images encourage an appreciation of the vividness in the visual world. Kratchman’s black and white photograms beautifully capture the essence of soap bubbles through new perspectives.
Colette Girard Website: colettegirardphography.com
Rose Kratchman Website: rosekratchman.com
Gallery II sponsored by the Arts Access Fund, a component fund of the Madison Community Foundation and by contributions to Overture Center for the Arts.
Gallery III – Constructs & Consumption – Robert Coberly & Richie Morales
Through painting Coberly and Morales reveal the complexity of contemporary structures, both physical and ideological. Coberly’s architectural abstractions create tapestries of industry and modern city life. Morales reveals the duality of violence and consumerism embedded in materialistic society.
Robert Coberly Website: robcoberly.com
Richie Morales Website: behance.net/richiemorales
Gallery III sponsored by the Arts Access Fund, a component fund of the Madison Community Foundation and by contributions to Overture Center for the Arts.
Playhouse Gallery – Aisthetikos Cuvare (Aesthetic Curves)
SAT, SEP 2 – SUN OCT 29, 2017
Our world is made up of curves, appearing in nature, architecture, and on the body. The artists explore the subtle ways in which curves animate the aesthetics of our daily lives. They capture their findings through an older form of photography hence the Classical title, Aisthetikos Cuvare.
Delaney Keshena
Tehan Ketema
Kendra Lange
Alex Motl
Xiaoyue Pu
Johnson Vang
Jeremiah Zuba
Playhouse Gallery is sponsored by Madison Community Foundation and by contributions to Overture Center for the Arts.
Special Gallery
SAT, SEP 15 – SUN, OCT 15, 2017
Rotunda Lobby – ¿Quiénes somos? (Who Are We?) – J. Leigh Garcia and Evelyn Galindo
This exhibition is in conjunction with the Latino Art Fair FRI, OCT 6, 5 – 9 PM. After enjoying the exhibition & fair head to Capitol Theater for a ticketed performance by La Santa Cecilia at 7:30 PM!
As a seventh-generation Texan and Mexican-American, Garcia’s ancestral connection to Texas land has led her to consider the ethical impact on her Tejano culture. Through the lense of her biracial heritage, Garcia aims to shed light on contemporary issues that current and future undocumented Latinxs face — such as harsh working conditions, the separation of families, and death while crossing the Mexico-U.S. border.
Evelyn Galindo is a Salvadoran artist living on the 89’ Meridian West, the geographic line connecting San Salvador, El Salvador and Madison, Wisconsin. Galindo migrated to Madison in the 1980’s as part of the diaspora of the most recent war and made her home in Wisconsin ever since.
One key symbol that she explores in her work is the image of the nomad or stray. This is a visual way of rethinking how people navigate space and build communities when more traditional understandings of “home” are interrupted or fall short. This consideration of “home” speaks to immigrants, but also to the many who are uprooted at different times because of many personal reasons such as homelessness, divorce, job loss or poverty.
Summer 2017 Exhibition Cycle
TUE, JUN 13 – SUN, SEP 3, 2017
Gallery I – Impressions and Expressions: Juan Dehoyos & Barry Shuchter
Impressions reflect a method for creating woodcuts, as well as the feelings evoked while viewing art. Expressions refer to a particular style of painting, as well as to reactions elicited in the viewer.
Barry Shuchter Website: shuchter.com
Gallery I sponsored by the Arts Access Fund, a component fund of the Madison Community Foundation, Webcrafters-Frautschi Foundation and by contributions to Overture Center for the Arts.
Gallery II – Constant – Caroline Knickmeier & Captured – Amber Sowards
Constant explores change as represented by the ever evolving sky. Each piece is treated as a single window pane, placed into a group to form a larger window representing the evolution of changes over time and the choices they allot us. The project began with nephology and continues with different aspects of the hydrologic cycle, representing change and interconnection of all life on the planet.
Captured is a series of images taken of youth inside the Dane County Juvenile Detention Center in Madison, Wisconsin. Captured hopes to expose the general community to what life is like for incarcerated youth, while at the same time creating a visual narrative that documents and puts a face to what racial disparity looks like in present-day Dane County. Captured is made possible by GSAFE, and is funded in part by grants from Dane Arts and the Madison Arts Commission, with additional funds from the Wisconsin Arts Board. Special thanks to Megan’s Custom Framing for donating artwork framing.
Caroline Knickmeier Website: carolineknickmeier.com
Amber Sowards Website: ambersowards.com
Gallery II sponsored by the Arts Access Fund, a component fund of the Madison Community Foundation and by contributions to Overture Center for the Arts.
Gallery III – Nominal Landscapes – Kenneth Oppriecht, Paul Yurkovich & Chris Norris
Three local photographers explore natural and constructed landscapes of Wisconsin, from the Madison isthmus to the state’s rural outskirts. Each artist has a unique style, yet their work shares a common visual preoccupation with quiet, elemental compositions.
Ken Oppriecht Website: kenoppriecht.com
Paul Yurkovich Website: paulyurkovich.com
Chris Norris Website: thechrisproject.com
Gallery III sponsored by the Arts Access Fund, a component fund of the Madison Community Foundation and by contributions to Overture Center for the Arts.
Spring 2017 Exhibition Cycle
TUE, MAR 14, 2017 – SUN, JUN 4, 2017
Gallery I – Relevant Shapes: Justin Eccles & Lauren Harlowe
Justin Eccles and Lauren Harlowe interpret the residue of everyday imagery hidden in our unconscious memory. Eccles’ mixed media works entangle illustrations and abstract shapes. Harlowe’s paintings stretch, turn and shift simple designs into complex patterns.
Justin Eccles Website: justineccles.com
Lauren Harlowe Website: laurenharlowe.com
Gallery I sponsored by the Arts Access Fund, a component fund of the Madison Community Foundation, Webcrafters-Frautschi Foundation and by contributions to Overture Center for the Arts.
Gallery II – Animalia Anne and Tim Connor & Rebecca Kautz
Anne and Tim Connor & Rebecca Kautz explore aspects of rural life through representations of domesticated animals. The Connors’ photographic series reveals the beauty and humor of farm life. Kautz’ whimsical paintings draw on regional folklore to illustrate the human condition.
Rebecca Kautz Website: rebeccakautz.com
Gallery II sponsored by the Arts Access Fund, a component fund of the Madison Community Foundation and by contributions to Overture Center for the Arts.
Gallery III – Growing Pains: Alyssa Ackerman & Human Condition/Artist Sanity: DarRen Morris
Alyssa Ackerman and DarRen Morris use portraiture to reveal the countless emotions of humanity. Ackerman utilizes nontraditional and craft materials to examine human vulnerability and isolation. As a former gang member, Morris paints from the wounds of his life in hopes of inspiring young people to better versions of themselves. Art is his sanity during incarceration.
Join guest speakers Judy Adrian and Neil Heinen with students from Edgewood College in a discussion about this exhibit, TUE APR 4, 2:30-3:00 PM.
Listen to Gilman Halstad interview DarRen Morris
Alyssa Ackerman Website: alyssaackermanart.wordpress.com
DarRen Morris Website: darrenmorrisart.com
Gallery III sponsored by the Arts Access Fund, a component fund of the Madison Community Foundation and by contributions to Overture Center for the Arts.
Playhouse Gallery – Faces of Incarceration: Changing the Narrative
JUL 13 – AUG 27, 2017
These portraits honor and humanize the people impacted by Wisconsin’s flawed criminal justice system. Artists of the Atwood Atelier and project creator Pat Dillon collaborate in these stories and portraits painted from life. Faces of Incarceration aims to contribute to current conversations about race, justice, and inequity.
Playhouse Gallery is sponsored by Madison Community Foundation and by contributions to Overture Center for the Arts.
Complete List of Previous Galleries Exhibitions Complete List of Previous Playhouse Exhibitions
Gallery hours
Monday – Thursday, 9:00 AM – 5:30 PM
Friday, 9 AM – 9 PM
Saturday, 10:30 AM – 9 PM
Sunday, 12 PM – 5 PM
For more information about these exhibits, please contact our Community and Education Program Manager, Beth Racette at bracette@overture.org / 608.258.4169
