When driving along Highway 32, the Lake Michigan scenic route, there could be time well spent at several “art havens" when one reaches Kenosha. The city's harbor views enchant and offer a plethora of antiques, cafés and coffee shops to accompany an intriguing afternoon of art.
At the Kenosha Public Museum, "The 37th National Transparent Watercolor Society Exhibition” (TWCA) presented their membership for more than 28 awards from the juried show in the West Gallery. Juror Robin Berry from Minnesota and Paul Jackson from Missouri also exhibited for this competition that stipulates only transparent water mediums may be used, which excludes gouache and any white paint.
One of the highest honors was awarded to Marlin Rotach for her Pride of the Prairie, a large scale floral painted in vivid shades of purples and greens, the blooms extending to the perimeters of the paper. Another award winner, Denny Bond's still life titled If Life Gives You Lemons arranged the bright citrus fruit and a vintage juicer in the shadows, yet luminous from the yellow hues.
Two awards were named for iconic watercolor artists. The John Singer Sergeant Award presented John Salminen’s Morning in Paris with this honor for an image that illuminates a busy street from the city of light. The James McNeil Whistler Award went to Melanie Lacki for her image Gauguin in My Studio, an inventive still life from her studio table infused with this painter’s muse, a figure from his painting seen in a reflection. More than 50 artworks represent the variety in application, subject and technique with sparkling clarity when using only transparent watercolor in this exhibition that closes August 4.
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In the museum’s Touhey Gallery, the Society of Animal Artists (SAA) presents their “Art and The Animal: The 52nd Annual Members Exhibition” through June 30. Artist from all around the world focus on the animal kingdom through primarily realistic, although imaginative, animal portraits.
Tiffany Miller’s Life at the Bottom, used cut, layered and painted paper to create a small scale sculptural image of a tiny “frog” inhabiting the lake floor foliage to win “The Newcomer Award,” in her first exhibition.
An Award of Excellence graced Carel P. Brest von Kempen’s A Keranges Forest Floor. Lizards and various plants twined in sinuous patterns were rendered in meticulous detail to illustrate a colorful bird’s eye perspective of little seen forest life.
A watercolor by Kelly Lea Singleton garnered another Award of Excellence for The Southern Ground Hornbill. Painted in exquisite shades of watery blues, accented with dark, fine lines to delineate the feathers, an image where the viewer marvels at every eyelash that could be distinguished on this bird's head.
Sixty to seventy five artworks, including multiple bronze sculptures, envision creatures from every species. This exclusive SAA exhibition will clearly resonate with animal aficionados, whether they might be fond for the domestic or wild, land bound or water loving, so they appreciate their personal favorite while discovering a new species from an artist’s perspective.
Outside the Kenosha Public Museum, enjoy ten to twelve large-scale sculptures lining the walkway towards the Lake Michigan shoreline. This sculptural exhibition rotates annually, changing each summer. Inside, the museum provides numerous art classes and natural history/history programs for a variety of ages. Other upcoming art exhibitions waiting to open this summer include the “Wisconsin Visual Artists Exhibition,” “America’s Parks Through the Beauty of Art” and “Exquisite Miniature Painting by Wes and Rachelle Siegrist." And visit the museum gift shop, filled with exotic fair trade goods from around the globe in every price range, of interest to adults or children. (5500 First Avenue, Kenosha, open Sunday-Monday, 12:00-5:00 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday, 9:00 a.m. -5:00 p.m., and this year Thursdays in the summer until 8:00 p.m.)
Other places along the way in downtown Kenosha:
Lemon Street Gallery & Art Space, Inc, an artist’s collective featuring accessible, original art in all price ranges created by their juried artists with special exhibition receptions on Second Saturdays, 6:00-9:00 p.m. (4601 Sheridan Road, 262.,605.4745, lemonstreetgallery.com)
Artwalks opens a door to small treasures in this venue with an art gallery upstairs and an art supply store downstairs, which also offers classes and framing. This month the gallery features the innovative, recycled sculptures of David Holmes, a retired University of Wisconsin Parkside professor and beginning on June13, paintings in “Retrospective: Carol Jo Gayliardi.” Exhibits rotate with eight to ten shows a year, with receptions hosted by the gallery on Second Saturdays, 6:00-9:00 p.m. (5002 7th Avenue, 262.952.5941, artworkskenosha.com)
