{"id":3309,"date":"2016-06-09T16:41:59","date_gmt":"2016-06-09T21:41:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/for-wisconsin\/?post_type=campus_story&p=3309"},"modified":"2016-08-22T14:57:38","modified_gmt":"2016-08-22T19:57:38","slug":"artifact-history-inspires-artwork-in-la-crosse","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/artifact-history-inspires-artwork-in-la-crosse\/","title":{"rendered":"[art]ifact: History inspires artwork in La Crosse"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"UW-La<\/a>
UW-La Crosse Associate Professor of Art Brad Nichols created work for the [art]ifact exhibit, along with 15 other community artists. UWL student Ariel Reker and classmates presented the original project idea for [art]ifact as a capstone project in an Introduction to Public and Policy History course in the fall 2013. Since then, several classes moved the project forward from artifact analysis and research to curatorial work and programming. The project was made possible through a partnership among the Pump House Regional Arts Center, La Crosse County Historical Society, and UWL\u2019s History Department.<\/figcaption><\/figure>A women\u2019s mink muff from the 1920s was the last thing UW-La Crosse (UWL) metalsmith Brad Nichols thought he could use for artistic inspiration.<\/p>\n

But as Nichols, a UWL associate professor of art, learned more about the history of the object \u2014 the story of social status wrapped up in this consumer product \u2014 his mind filled with ideas of how to turn the historic artifact into art.<\/p>\n

Nichols\u2019 artistic interpretation of the mink muff was part of the\u00a0[art]ifact exhibit<\/a>\u00a0that ran in La Crosse\u2019s Pump House Regional Art Center<\/a> this spring. The\u00a0exhibit<\/a>\u00a0showcased 15 local artifacts from the La Crosse County Historical Society\u00a0collection and the corresponding new, original artwork inspired by\u00a0the objects.<\/p>\n

\"Mink<\/a>
Mink muff courtesy of the La Crosse Historical Society.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

UWL student Ariel Reker and classmates presented the original project idea for [art]ifact<\/a> as a capstone project in Assistant Professor of History Ariel Beaujot\u2019s\u00a0Introduction to\u00a0Public and Policy History\u00a0course in the fall semester of 2013. Since then, several of Beaujot\u2019s classes moved the project forward from artifact analysis and research to curatorial work and programming.<\/p>\n

The project was made possible through a partnership among the Pump House Regional Arts Center, La Crosse County Historical Society and UWL\u2019s History Department.<\/p>\n

Reker says over the last three years she\u2019s grown in ways she didn\u2019t expect.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2019Business casual\u2019 no longer frightens me and leading a meeting with people who possess four times the experience I have is now something I enjoy,\u201d she says. \u201cThese are small examples, but perhaps the most important takeaway for me will be learning how to navigate the wonderful, stressful and educational process of developing a great idea and watching it grow into a full-fledged project.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Brad<\/a>
Brad Nichols, UWL associate professor of art, created this necklace \u2014 a mink with a live trap as the pendant. The piece was inspired by an artifact from the La Crosse County Historical Society collection.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The story of the muff. Nichols was initially at a loss for how to use the mink muff for artistic inspiration until Reker handed him a report explaining the object\u2019s historic significance.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne reason I went in the direction I did is because of her research,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

The muff came from the Lutz Fur Store in downtown La Crosse. It was a sign of social status. When women wore a muff, their hands were occupied, so it put them in a position to have others open doors for them.<\/p>\n

It got Nichols thinking about material goods and their socially-constructed meaning. A diamond, for instance, is a symbol of money, power and love \u2014 yet it has also fueled civil conflicts and horrible working conditions in other parts of the world. Nichols piece displayed at\u00a0[art]ifact<\/a> begged the question of what true value or meaning such a consumer product has.<\/p>\n

Nichols\u2019 piece is a necklace made out of a mink shawl with a small live trap as the pendant. The mink \u2014 as it is wrapped around the neck \u2014 is either caught in or avoiding the trap. Yet, it wears a muzzle made of real silver. The piece sends conflicting messages about whether a high-society material good means status or entrapment. Just as the mink is caught in the trap, these ideas of status are locked up inside the piece, he explains.<\/p>\n

A seemingly complex artistic message, Nichols says he doesn\u2019t expect people to come away with the same story. That\u2019s the beauty of the visual arts, he adds. \u201cEveryone will interpret it in their own way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Get more information about the unique cooperative art project at: www.art-ifact.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A women\u2019s mink muff from the 1920s was the last thing UW-La Crosse (UWL) metalsmith Brad Nichols thought he could use for artistic inspiration. But as Nichols, a UWL associate professor of art, learned more about the history of the object \u2014 the story of social status wrapped up in this consumer product \u2014 his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":3312,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","institution":[104],"story_category":[],"class_list":["post-3309","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-la-crosse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/3309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/campus_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3309"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=3309"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=3309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}