The Wisconsin Regional Artists Association is sponsoring the WRAP exhibit, featuring the works of non-professional Wisconsin artists at Whitewater’s Cultural Arts Center, 402 W. Main Street through June 27.
Nearly 60 artists from Whitewater, Palmyra, Elkhorn, Williams Bay, Janesville, Jefferson, Johnson Creek, Watertown, Beloit, Madison, Fitchburg, Verona, Monona, Walworth, Edgerton, Muskego, Delavan, and Clinton are exhibiting art in a variety of mediums in the exhibit, open to the public free of charge.
The exhibit runs Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. through June 27. On June 27 from 9:30 a.m. to approximately 2 p.m. a workshop will be offered and is open to anyone ($5 registration fee applies; free for exhibiting artists.) To register call Joyce Follis at (262) 473-2360.
WRAP was established to encourage Wisconsin citizens with a serious interest in art – people who make art purely for the love of it, rather than for fame and fortune and to encourage nonprofessional artists to develop their abilities. The program consists of many artist workshops and exhibits that meet throughout the year statewide, each offering different artist demonstrations or lectures and judge to lead the critique.
The first Rural Art Exhibit was held at the Memorial Union during Farm and Home Week in 1940. Under the guidance of John Stuart Curry, the exhibit grew rapidly, expanding from 30 nonprofessional artists in 1940 to more than 100 by 1947. The energy and enthusiasm of Curry’s successor, Aaron Bohrod, the WRAP directors, James Schwalbach and Ken Kuemmerlein, and the help of the Wisconsin Rural Artists Association have continued to make the exhibition and workshops cornerstones of activity for nonprofessional artists throughout the state.
WRAP is developed and administered by the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Department of Liberal Studies and the Arts.
