The UWM Faculty Art Exhibit and Photography by Vicki Reed opened on October 16. Installation was a gargantuan task executed flawlessly by our Exhibits Manager Jeanette Gabrys…especially challenging with the constant rubbernecking by staff and visitors.

The UWM Faculty Art Exhibit stretches the imagination as well as—for many—the definition of Art. “Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore.” Or Cedarburg for that matter. This is an exhibit that evokes visceral reactions. It makes people talk and think. On Friday, I found three teenage girls seated in front of one of the video installations, giggling and blushing.

I love the work of our Ozaukee County artists. My office is happily filled with it. But the urbane perspective of the UWM faculty has turned our generally gentile space into a creative riot! The staff is enjoying having such a diverse collection of media and styles in the Columbia St. Mary’s Gallery. Approximately 50 artists are represented, and only one of them is a regular exhibitor at the CCC: Allen Caucutt. Change is good…and interesting…and—well—different! (To the right is Fig Leaves by Marla Goldstein Brauner. Dyed vintage textiles anigital embroidery.)

Sharing the Center with the UWM faculty is Cedarburg’s own Vicki Reed in our East Gallery. No stranger to our walls, Vicki was the winner of our 2009 juried Miniature Show. Her current exhibit displays a wide range of techniques and photographic processes including hand tinting and a beautiful array of “encaustic” pieces, a method involving the use of beeswax to impart a lovely, soft patina to the piece. Vicki’s Bee Balm Quilt uses an image she captured with a scanner and “cut” into “quilt” blocks: five inch wood squares coated with beeswax. The first nine tiles are on display at the Center, and over the course of the exhibit, she will add forty more panels to complete the quilt.

I urge you to visit the Center prior to Sunday, November 27, and experience our newest exhibition. All pieces are available for sale, and there’s never any admission to look!

Thank you once again to our season exhibit sponsor Tri City National Bank.