Lynn Binnie

The Wisconsin Regional Art Program (WRAP) held its reception on Friday, May 12 that announced its State and Honorable Mention award winners. Artists in the non-professional Wisconsin-only show were judged by
award-winning multi-faceted artist Larry Schultz to receive either an Honorable Mention award or a State Award. Honorable mention awards are given to artists who exemplified talents deserving of recognition while State award winners are invited to take their artwork to Madison, WI for the State Exhibition and Conference with the
Association of Wisconsin Artists (AWA). This year, state winners will display their artwork at the Pyle Center in Madison during the conference which is scheduled for September 22-23, 2023.

To learn more about the State Exhibition and Conference:
https://wiscartists.wildapricot.org/State-Conference

Artists were judged on the following criteria to earn an award: originality, expression, content, composition, design, color, and technique. Honorable Mention winners had at least one area of the aforementioned criteria that needed improvement while State award winners held excellence in all the criteria.

Whitewater WRAP Honorable Mention Award winners are:
● Silvia Cavagnero’s “Amnesia” (Madison, WI)
● Megan Forsythe’s “Blue Hair and Pronouns” (Stoughton, WI)
● Jeff Mann’s “Brandy and Tiny” (Wales, WI)
● Laura Strehlow’s “Autumn Leaves” (Cambridge, WI)

Whitewater WRAP State Award winners are:
● Mary Bughman’s “Fall Thought” (Whitewater, WI)
● Judith Buzzell’s “Wolf #5” (Delavan, WI)
● Sue Herring’s “Carver’s Rock Reflections” (Milton, WI)
● Roy Schmidt’s “Pink” (Waterford, WI)

All artwork will be on display in the gallery through May 28, Thursdays thru Sundays, noon to 4 p.m. at the Cultural Arts Center–402 W. Main St. The show is also viewable online on the Whitewater Arts Alliance (WAA) webpage:
https://www.whitewaterarts.org/wrap-2023.

After the completion of a national search, Provost John Chenoweth is pleased to announce that Dr. Michael Dugan has been appointed to serve as the Dean of the College of Arts and Communication effective July 1, 2023.

As a distinguished teaching scholar and musician, Dr. Dugan has served the college as Associate Professor and Professor as well as Chair of the Department of Music.  Dr. Dugan served the college most recently as Interim Associate Dean.

Dr. Dugan earned his Doctorate of Musical Arts and Masters of Music Degree from the University of Minnesota.

Provost Chenoweth would like to thank everyone who provided feedback during the interview process as well as the members of the Search and Screen Committee, chaired by Dean Paul Ambrose, for their extensive work on this search.

Provost Chenoweth would also like to thank Robert Mertens, MFA, for his service in the role of Interim Dean.  Mr. Mertens will resume his role as Associate Dean of the College. 

Please join Provost Chenoweth in welcoming Dr. Dugan to his new position!

Editor’s note: The above announcement was posted at UW-Whitewater on May 23.

By Lynn Binnie
Whitewater Banner volunteer staff
whitewaterbanner@gmail.com

Per Wisconsin Circuit Court Access, Willie Hearn III, age 68, of 370 N. Tratt St., #124, was charged on May 22 in Walworth County with a Class C Felony, Armed Robbery with Threat of Force, in connection with a robbery that occurred on May 19 at the BP/Raceway Food Mart at 1138 W. Main Street. Hearn was additionally charged with five misdemeanors: two counts of Resisting or Obstructing an Officer and one count each of Disorderly Conduct, Possession of Cocaine/Coca and Possess Drug Paraphernalia. He is being held on a $25,000 cash bond and will have an initial appearance on May 24. Upon conviction, a Class C felony is punishable by up to 40 years in prison, a fine of up to $100,000.00, or both (Wis. Stat. sec. 939.50(3)(c)). Unless a judgment of conviction is entered, the defendant is presumed innocent of all charges.

The Whitewater Police Department press release concerning the incident may be viewed on the Banner here.

In recognition of Memorial Day and to honor our deceased veterans’ sacrifices to keep America free, the Whitewater American Legion Post 173, with assistance from community members, will be decorating veterans’ graves at Hillside Cemetery, 400 S. Wisconsin St., on Thursday, May 25 at 5:30 p.m. Participants will gather on the hill inside the second gate. All are welcome to participate in the event.

By Al Stanek

The baskets of colorful flowers hanging from light poles in downtown Whitewater along with the colorful huge coffin-like sidewalk planters gracing city parks are apparently a thing of the past. A shortage of available workers and potential budget savings appear to be the cause.

A small group of residents is trying to stimulate a grassroots approach to not letting these, often taken for granted, urban amenities disappear.

The group, led by long-time Whitewater residents Rick and Jeanine Fassl, with the blessing of Public Works Director Brad Marquardt and Streets Superintendent Brian Neumeister has planted a half dozen flats of annual flowering plants and buckets full of perennial bulbs in large street planters at Cravath Lakefront Park. Along with the help of City Urban Forestry Commission Chair Sherry Stanek the group is now working on finding residents and businesses willing to periodically water and weed planters downtown and at nearby community buildings.

Living Word Fellowship has agreed to sponsor two large flower boxes in front of their Main Street building. The downtown SweetSpot Cafe has committed to maintaining another two large flower planters across from their building on Whitewater Street.

Whitewater Common Council member David Stone has volunteered to maintain four large planters at the entrance to Cravath Lakefront Park and the city’s Walmart made a generous donation of gift cards used to purchase the initial flats of flowers.

Recently the “pop-up volunteer garden club” cleaned up the area around the Birge Fountain on the Whitewater Cultural Arts Center grounds along with filling fountain area planters with colorful annuals to enhance the area’s soon to be popping rose bushes.                                                         

City summer-help crews used to plant and water downtown hanging baskets along with planting and maintaining landscaping at all city buildings and public parks. Without more volunteers and/or financial contributions Whitewater is likely to be less attractive for residents and visitors this summer.

Mother’s Day in Trippe and Cravath Lakes area

Early May Birds in Whitewater

Our thanks to Steve Watson for sharing more of his beautiful bird photos.

— Our Readers Share: We hope that you might have something that you’d be willing to share.  Anything that’s been created by someone else should, of course, be credited, and you should ask their permission if you’re able. We cannot post copyrighted material without permission. We can’t guarantee that we’ll have space for all submissions, and contributions will be subject to editorial board approval. The one definite exclusion is anything politically oriented. We will assume that you’re willing for us to include your name as the submitter unless you indicate that you prefer to remain anonymous. Send to whitewaterbanner@gmail.com or click on “submit a story” near the top right of our homepage.  Thanks for thinking about this!

Mina Truesdale from Whitewater, majoring in BS in Chemistry, was named to the spring 2023 Dean’s Honor List at Cedarville University. This recognition requires the student to obtain a 3.75 GPA or higher for the semester and carry a minimum of 12 credit hours.

Located in southwest Ohio, Cedarville University is an accredited, Christ-centered, Baptist institution with an enrollment of 5,082 undergraduate, graduate, and online students in more than 150 areas of study. Founded in 1887, Cedarville is recognized nationally for its authentic Christian community, rigorous academic programs, strong graduation and retention rates, accredited professional and health science offerings, and high student engagement ranking. For more information about Cedarville University, visit www.cedarville.edu.