The all-female Black Hawk Artists will host their annual art show at the Hoard Historical Museum.
The opening reception will be on Sunday, November 2 from 1:00-4:00 p.m. The show runs until Thursday,
November 20. Shown here are Black Hawk Artist Janet Nelson [above] preparing a piece for the show and artwork [below] by Black Hawk Artist Jan Gilkey that will be in the show. For more information, please contact the Hoard Historical Museum at 920-397-9914 or info@hoardmuseum.org
Returning for its 52nd year, the Black Hawk Artists’ Show will run from November 2 through November 20.
As it has been for all 52 years, the show will be held at the Hoard Historical Museum, 401 Whitewater Ave.,
Fort Atkinson WI. Artists invite the public to an opening reception on Sunday, November 2 from 1:00-4:00
p.m. The Black Hawk Artists is a group of women artists who meet monthly to support each other’s work
and to plan their annual show at the museum. This year’s artists include Jan Gilkey, Priscilla Heussner, Judith
Henning, Jan Holewinski, Julia Ince, Sally Koehler, Mary Pratt, and Angie Hamele Szabo, all of Fort Atkinson. The group also includes Janet Nelson and Mary Wallace of Cambridge; Karen Crosby of Lake Mills, and Linda Tump of Whitewater.
Each artist’s interpretation of this year’s theme and title for the show, “Hanging By A Thread” will be
displayed as part of the theme wall located in the museum’s entrance gallery. The wall will end in a tribute to
Priscilla Heussner who passed away shortly before the show. Prior to her death, she completed most of her
theme piece. That accomplishment, one of her many achievements in overcoming her physical limitations
stands as a testament to her absolute determination to create art and to inspire the artistic efforts of her
fellow Black Hawk Artists.
The largest collection of the show’s art is found in the museum’s Jones Family Gallery. The gallery
provides a rich showcase for artwork created in the past year. The artwork is remarkably diverse. Artists’
media include oil, acrylic, pastel, and ink paintings. There are also fiber creations, jewelry, mixed media,
crafted papers, scarves, sculpture, and a Jan Holewinksi miniature assemblage featuring wildlife stamps.
Each artist spent the last year creating new pieces of art for the show. Julia Ince drove to the Pacific
Northwest in her modified van in search of painting subjects. She especially savored the stunning scenery of
Washinton state and Oregon. She painted oil and acrylic works on site and took a wealth of photographs to be subjects in later paintings. Karen Crosby is continuing her lifelong exploration of all things related to paper. She has also produced pieces in fused glass and a mobile for this year’s show. Judith Henning’s abstract
paintings involve continued experiments with various media. She has been printing leaves on gel plates for
this year’s show. Sally Koehler is searching for inspiration in Spain. Mary Wallace has spent weeks on a large
wall-hanging fashioned from wool and silk. Mary Pratt is working on small landscaping paintings which reflect the same fine craftmanship of her pottery. Linda Tump’s pear paintings have evolved into collaged sculptures.
New this year, the artists will also be hosting a gallery talk regarding their artwork. Led by Julia Ince,
the gallery talk will be held on Friday, November 7 from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Artwork created by the artists will be
for sale during the run of the show.
The Hoard Historical Museum and National Dairy Shrine Museum are located at 401 Whitewater
Avenue in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. The museum is open Tuesdays through Saturdays, from 9:30 to 4:30.
There is no admission charge. For more information, call the Museum at 920/563-7769, e-mail the Museum at info@hoardmuseum.org, and visit our website at www.hoardmuseum.org.
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