The Wisconsin Idea and the Visual Arts

press release: Explore the history and future of rural arts in Wisconsin with one of its greatest leaders. Maryo Gard Ewell (left), arts administrator and daughter of arts advocate Robert E. Gard, will tell the story of how the Wisconsin Idea fostered the development of Wisconsin’s rural artists. In the 1940’s, the Wisconsin Rural Art Program (WRAP) at the University of Wisconsin began to enroll adult noncredit students, gathering a group of largely self-taught artists—teachers, mail carriers, blacksmiths, farmers, and homemakers. From its foundation in the College of Agriculture to its present day home in the Division of Continuing Studies, the Rural Arts Program continues to encourage and cultivate art in all corners of our state.  

Free and open to the public, this talk is sponsored by the Robert E. Gard Foundation, the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters, and Capitol Lakes.

Questions? Please e-mail Maryo Gard Ewell.