Events and Programs

In the Galleries

Find out how you can display at the Central Gallery or view our upcoming displays:

May
Central Library

Local Landscapes: Watercolor paintings by Dave Smith.
A solo show of watercolor paintings by Dave Smith during the month of May. Smith makes plain-air and pseudo-photographic renderings of the woods, lakes, and streams in and around Madison and the Baraboo hills. Each painting will be accompianied by a short description about its production and location.

March 27 - June 14
Alicia Ashman Branch

Hanging by a Thread: Artist Craig Wilson displays kite aerial photography of Wisconsin
Celebrated photographer Craig Wilson captures amazing and beautiful images with cameras attached to kites. The low aerial perspective offered in Wilson's photographs is fascinating: familiar locations and subjects look entirely different when captured through a camera hanging from a kite string! Wilson's kite aerial images have been displayed at galleries and art museums around the world. Join him on Saturday, March 29 at 1 p.m. for a presentation and conversation about his book, Hanging by a Thread: A Kite's View of Wisconsin.

April
Central Library

"Wisconsin Landscape" by 2007 Winner Amber Pirus of LaFollette High School

Student Congressional Arts Exhibit. 
This annual competition, sponsored by Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, is open to high school art students in the 2nd congressional district of Wisconsin.  The winning artist's piece will hang for a year in the Capitol Building in Washington D.C.  Winners will be announced at a reception for all the artists, their parents, and teachers on April 28 at 7 PM at the library.

The Congressional Arts Competition was created in 1981 to showcase and promote the artistic work of talented high school artists from around the nation. It was created by Members of Congress who objected to Reagan administration cuts to funding for the arts and has continued to this day as a national competition. Read the official press release.

(left to right: 2007 Winners, Jordan Lentz (3rd place), MacKenzie Heinrichs (2nd place), U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, Amber Pirus (1st place)

March
Central Library

Luke Magalsky: Recent Works
The recent paintings and drawings of Luke Magalsky deal with themes such as spirituality, emotion, and fragility in the human condition. Magalsky is interested in mythical and psychological issues and the manifestation of these motifs in the human body.  His current work is an inquiry into the concept of figuration as it applies to metaphysical or spiritual subject matter.

February, 2008
Central Library

Ellen M. Siebers: New Paintings and Drawings
Ellen M. Siebers newest body of work uses animal imagery to set up a narrative with a human (or allows the exclusion of that figure) to imply a human presence to the viewer.  She chooses to compose loose narratives in these works, which do not necessitate a single reading, but rather permit the viewer to respond to these situations in any variety of ways.

Artist's Statement
The body of work that I have created, and will continue to create, is one which uses animal imagery to set up a narrative with a human (or allows the exclusion of that figure) to imply a human presence to the viewer.  I choose to compose loose narratives in these works, which do not necessitate a single reading, but rather permit the viewer to respond to these situations in any variety of ways.  These obscure narratives rely on tensions, which are created by the juxtaposition between human life and animals.
Technically these paintings are created with wash-like layers of oil paint on top of a singular layer of gesso.  To the gesso I combine marble dust to enhance the absorbency of the surface.  I mix areas of simple abstraction with more rendered areas and I also allow parts of the initial drawing to show through the thinner areas of paint.

January 5 - February 24, 2008
Alicia Ashman Branch

BLUE: The Artwork of Laura Anderton
Although Laura draws in a wide variety of styles and media (including her hugely popular classical nudes in pastels) her first love has always been the Anime/Manga style. Her art has been displayed in numerous galleries, as well as being published in books and magazines. Laura was recently in charge of production for Geek.Kon, a new Madison convention which took place in early October. She created the mascots, program book, and website, and plans to continue her work with Geek.Kon in 2008. She also teaches "How to Draw Anime" classes at ACEN and at the Madison Libraries. Artist's Statement and Artist's web site.

January, 2008
Central Library

Scott Rice:   The Last Days of 49
Rice fills his large-scale paintings with his own vocabulary of symbols and signs, often repeating images of birds, skulls, and numbered lists.  Rice gives the viewer just enough visual information to construct a narrative while simultaneously maintaining the mystery that gives the work its power. See more photos on the Library's Flickr account.

November 1-30, 2007
Central Library

Roland Torres: Arcatao Through My Eyes
I n August of 2006, Torres traveled to Arcatao, El Salvador where he took pictures of everyday life in this sister city to Madison, WI. As he captured his images on film, Torres was moved by the residents' accounts of the suffering they had encountered during the twelve years of civil war (1980 - 1992). Yet he also found "a sense of hope, caring and promise for a brighter future" shared by members of this vibrant community.  Nov. 1st-30th at the Central Library. There will be a reception with the artist Saturday, November 3rd from 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

Artist's Statement:

Arcatao Through My Eyes; an exhibit that showcases different photographs that I took as a delegate from Madison to the sister city of Arcatao, El Salvador in August 2006. I captured photographs from this village's community everyday life. I was astounded and truly mortified as I listened to the stories and detail that were told by the people of this vibrant community of the suffering that they had encountered during the twelve years of civil war (1980 -1992).  There is a very strong faith life, a strong value of family and education, and an incredible sense of community organization, support and solidarity. There is a sense of hope, caring and promise for a brighter future and the sistering connection between Madison and Arcatao continues to play an important role in this future.

November 1 to December 30, 2007
Alicia Ashman Branch

Karen Reppen: Visual Voracity
Artist Karen Reppen displays photography, collage, and assemblage. Reppen draws upon imagery she observes through everyday occurrences to produce a range of work that varies from simple and straight-forward, to wildly complex and deeply emotional. Artist's reception on Tuesday, December 4th from 5:30 - 8:00 pm. For purchasing information, please contact the artist at cuerva@earthlink.net or (608) 444-8327. See full artist's statement.

October 5-30, 2007
Central Library

S.V. Medaris presents: "The Whole Hog." Oils, pastels, intaglio and mixed media.

S.V. Medaris returns to Madison's Central Library on Madison Museum of Contemporary Art's Gallery Night, Oct. 5, this time showcasing the lives of pigs in her solo exhibit: "The Whole Hog." Using her own hogs as well as neighboring farmers' swine and 4-H event pigs as references, Sue's art of the swine includes oils, pastels, intaglio and mixed media both large and small (8ft. tall to 3" x 4"). The crowning glory will be the 10ft. x 18ft. acrylic painting of a giant boar hanging in the library's stairwell landing  (a la "Big Tiny") aptly named "Some Pig."

There will be an opening reception with refreshments on Friday, Oct. 5, from 4:30-8:30 p.m.