Hilda Demuth-Lutze

media release: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts, which celebrates its 20th birthday in 2024, is pleased to announce the year’s lineup of artists in residence selected for the Scherbarth Residency Program: historical fiction author Hilda Demuth-Lutze, playwright Nina Kissinger, and watercolor artist Janet Vetter. The Scherbarth Residency is competitively awarded to artists and makers in the visual, performing, and literary arts who seek to share their work in a public forum and contribute stewardship hours to the Shake Rag Alley campus while working on a project. Shake Rag Alley provides lodging, studio space, and opportunities to connect with Shake Rag Alley’s creative community. 

This year’s cohort begins their residence in late February and early March as they work on their projects, explore the creative ecosystem of Mineral Point and the rural Driftless Area of southwestern Wisconsin, and share their work with one another and the public. Through the generosity of the late Jim Scherbarth who endowed the program, artists and makers will have access to the time and space needed to work and create, as well as to the nurturing environment of Mineral Point and the chance to interact with its network of resident artists. While living on the unique campus of historic and reproduction buildings, Scherbarth residents contribute in meaningful ways to the mission of Shake Rag Alley. Meanwhile, members of the public benefit from the special access they have to the artists through public events, with opportunities to interact and to gain inspiration from the artists’ experience and process. This year’s residents will offer a fascinating diversity of community programming in conjunction with their residencies, which include:

Hilda Demuth-Lutze | Sunday, Feb. 25: Join Hilda Demuth-Lutze at 4 p.m. at Republic of Letters Books (151 High Street, Mineral Point) for a reading and craft talk about her book in progress Dreams of Stone and Glass. Hilda Demuth-Lutze is a Midwestern author of historical fiction. Her novel Kingdom of the Birds is set in 16th-century Germany during the time of Martin Luther. She and her sister Emily co-authored three books set in 19th-century Wisconsin. Plank Road Summer and Plank Road Winter take place in rural Racine County, where the Demuth sisters grew up, and Hattie’s War takes place in Milwaukee during the Civil War. At home on Hil-Mar Farm near Valparaiso, Indiana, she and her husband Mark raise sheep and sell wool products. Their extensive garden includes everlastings for floral arrangements and Japanese indigo for dyeing. Hilda and Mark are musicians and members of a contra dance band.