Rich Maciejewski

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@ 2022 by Rich Maciejewski

“Spring, Wisconsin River near Peck’s Landing.”

“Spring, Wisconsin River near Peck’s Landing.”

“Driftless River: Photographing the Lower Wisconsin” showcases Madison photographer Rich Maciejewski’s Wisconsin River landscapes. He gravitates to “places mostly left alone by people, or where people still live with some intentional connection to the natural world.” He writes that the Driftless River exhibit “documents the evocative and sometimes mysterious character of the Lower Wisconsin Riverway. It explores the river as object and symbol, a place with layers of meanings, some which recall our oldest cultural myths.” At the reception on Dec. 7, Maciejewski will speak at 6:30 p.m. Note: ALL is closed Dec. 23-Jan. 9.

media release: Arts + Literature Laboratory presents Driftless River: Photographing the Lower Wisconsin, an exhibition by Rich Maciejewski, from November 28, 2023 through March 7, 2024 (extended). The exhibition will be on display on the second floor mezzanine, next to the smALL Press Library.

A reception for this exhibition will be held Thursday, December 7 from 6:00pm to 8:00pm with an artist talk at 6:30pm.

Gallery Hours: Tuesday through Friday 10am-5pm and Saturday noon to 5pm. ALL will be closed from December 23 through January 9.

Exhibition statement:

I primarily photograph Wisconsin landscapes, usually places mostly left alone by people, or where people still live with some intentional connection to the natural world.

These photos are literal physical descriptions as well as records of the landscapes’ emotional spirit. My work also looks at how we use nature as a language to help articulate our intuitions about the sacred.

My current project, Driftless River, documents the evocative and sometimes mysterious character of the Lower Wisconsin Riverway. It explores the river as object and symbol, a place with layers of meanings, some which recall our oldest cultural myths.

This is my effort to find hope and renewal within the natural world, to which we have done such immense harm.

More on Rich Maciejewski: After earning a journalism degree from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, Rich began photographing at the Baraboo News Republic and later at the Plymouth Review, documenting daily life in small-town Wisconsin of the 1970's and early '80's.

​In 1983 he joined Kohler Co. where he served as a staff photographer and photo supervisor for three decades. Today his photography involves Wisconsin art and environment, and assignment work from select clients. He lives in Madison, WI.

Recent work is featured in "Lenore Tawney Mirror of the Universe" published in 2019 by the John Michael Kohler Arts Center (JMKAC) in association with The University of Chicago Press, which won the 2019 George Wittenborn Memorial Book Award, and “Eugene Von Bruenchenhein Mythologies” published in 2017 also in collaboration with JMKAC.

​Rich is currently photographing the Wisconsin River as it flows through the Driftless Area of southwest Wisconsin, exploring the different meanings and emotions we take from this landscape.