Departments

Exhibits Preview

Please check in with individual galleries and museums before you visit to ensure you have the most updated information and hours.

Appleton Historical Society Museum. 920-540-3699.

Vulcan Hydroelectric Replica

Sept. 5 and 19 + Oct. 3 and 17. Appleton Historical Society, in partnership with the City of Appleton, opens the Vulcan Replica to the public. The Edison K dynamo and replica water wheel; that in conjunction with the leather belts, created electricity from the water power of the Fox. The 1932 replica of the Vulcan hydroelectric is on display. 

Then and Now

Ongoing. This photo display of modern day images next to historical photographs gives a retrospect on what used to be where in Appleton. New display of major department stores in Appleton including Prange’s, Sears and more, as well as a five-cent to a dollar store display.

Jimos Hat Cleaners and Shoe Shine

Ongoing. In the Langenberg Room, find a recreation of the Jimos Hat Cleaners and Shoe Shine store which was the longest running business based on College Avenue. It chronicles the Jimos story from penniless immigrant to successful building and business owner.

Appleton Public Library. 920-832-6173.

Artist in Residence: Jesse Martinez

Oct-Dec. Jesse Martinez was born and raised in Wisconsin which has influenced his strong connection to its rural environment. He is currently focused on drawing with themes pursuing the contemplation of the engineered environment systems vs. the natural environment systems, creating work which encourages the viewer to become engaged in theory and self-reflect on the  imagery. Jesse works in Mediums of wood carving, drawing, painting, intaglio, and woodcut.

Allen Priebe Gallery, UW Oshkosh. 920-424-2235.

Shane Walsh 

Sept. 9-30. Shane Walsh’s paintings are the result of his involvement with collage, both in a literal sense and as a conceptual framework for understanding the legacy of abstraction. His process begins with small-scale collages constructed from photocopies of various shapes and marks – some expressive, others graphic or digital, which respond to the history of abstract painting.

Art Garage, Green Bay. 920-448-6800.

Youth Summer Art Workshops Student Exhibition

Sept. 2-26.

Designed for ages 6 to 16, The Art Garage’s Youth Summer Art Workshops program encourages young students to discover their inspiration and express themselves in new ways! This exhibition will feature the work of multiple students showcasing what they learned at the Art Garage over the summer!

Fifteen Years

Oct. 7- Nov. 28. Since 2006 the Art Garage has provided a unique venue for the public to enjoy and support local artists and has been a place for local artists of all skill levels and mediums to share their work. Fifteen Years is an open themed art exhibition celebrating 15 years of connecting creativity and community.

The Building for Kids Children’s Museum, Appleton. 920-734-3226. Open by reservation only.

Station 99
Ongoing. Time to save the day! Wear firefighters’ gear as you drive the truck, get out the hose and make sure everyone is safe. Station 99 is sponsored by Pierce Manufacturing.

Move It
Ongoing. Physics, engineering and air pressure come together in what would likely be Newton’s favorite exhibit. Use levers, pulleys, and ramps to change air flow and the path of bright balls shooting through clear tubes in this simple machines exhibit sponsored by AZCO Inc.

Elisha D. Smith Public Library, Menasha. 920-967-3690.

Art Exhibit with W. David Fields

September. The Menasha Public Library starts this fall by showcasing a fascinating exhibition of abstract photography by Menasha artist W. David Fields. According to the artist, beauty can rise from transformation and surprise us… he captures the constantly changing nature of reality. On Thursday, Sept. 23 at 6 p.m. visit the library’s main-floor Miron Fireside Room to meet with the artist and learn about how he gets inspired and develops his work.

Hardy Gallery, Ephraim. 920-854-5535. 

Contemporary Landscape: Colorist, Formalist, Tonalist
Sept. 4-Oct. 10. This exhibition brings together the paintings and drawings of three artists – Rodger Bechtold (Illinois/Wisconsin), Paula Swaydan-Grebel (Wisconsin), and Brian Sindler (Illinois) – whose methods and aesthetic approach to the contemporary landscape are influenced by colorist, formalist, and tonalist practices. This exhibit presents a rich survey of three distinguished painters curated by representational painter, Craig Blietz.

Hearthstone Historic Museum, Appleton. 920-730-8204.

Lewis Latimer: Self-Made Renaissance Man

Ongoing. An inventive genius who worked alongside some of the most famous names in American history—Alexander Graham Bell, Hiram Maxim, Thomas Edison—before gaining his own fame as an inventor and educator, Lewis Latimer is the subject of a new permanent exhibit at Hearthstone. It features artifacts and video presentations covering not only Lewis Latimer but also his parents’ fight for freedom from slavery. 

History Museum at the Castle, Appleton. 920-735-9370.

AKA Houdini

Ongoing. AKA Houdini lets you experience Harry Houdini’s tricks of the trade and see handcuffs, keys, and a straitjacket used by the famous magician. It is great fun for the whole family! See why the world renowned magician called Appleton his hometown.

Play: The Golden Age of Toys

Ongoing. Explore the history of classic and locally-made toys in this whimsical exhibit that offers children, parents, and grandparents an opportunity for intergenerational learning.

Lawrence University Wriston Art Center Galleries, Appleton. 920-832-6621. 

Valaria Tatera
Sept. 24-Nov. 19. Milwaukee-based artist Valaria Tatera’s family is from the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa in Wisconsin. Her work focuses on creating social awareness of contemporary Indigenous issues such as the environment, sovereignty, and colonialism. The personal themes explored include self-identity, the cost of forced assimilation, and breaking the bonds of learned silence.

Lawton Gallery, UW-Green Bay. 920-465-2916.

Norbert Kox Retrospective

Sept. 2-23. Exhibition of work by apocalyptic artist Norbert Kox, featuring his paintings, sculpture, and everything in between.

Toni Damkoehler

Oct. 7-28. Exhibition featuring work by designer and professor emeritus Toni Damkoehler.

49th Annual Juried Student Exhibition

Nov. 11-Dec. 16. Exhibition of work by UWGB Art and Design students.  

National Railroad Museum, Green Bay. 920-437-7623.

Pullman Porters: From Service to Civil Rights

Ongoing. The life story of the porter, from working for the Pullman Company to efforts to unionize. Housed in a Pullman sleeping car restored to its 1930s appearance.

Signals and Signs: Railroad Safety

Through Jan. 2. After a history of railroad accidents caused by faulty and unclear signals and a lack of regulatory laws in the United States, the public called for better regulations. Railway companies implemented their own safety procedures by using signs and signals to communicate clear operating standards, reducing collisions and promoting an injury-free environment. This exclusive exhibit gives museum patrons an up-close look at some of the equipment the railroads developed to enhance safety including wigwags, semaphores and the strong arm from the 75th Street Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

Neenah Historical Society. 920-729-0244.

Tracing Our Paths – Neenah’s Immigration Stories

Ongoing. The Neenah Historical Society’s exhibit highlights the stories of Neenah’s immigrants over the past 175 years including many familiar as well as not so familiar names of the community. Visitors will discover what it took to make the journey here from Europe in 1880, but also learn about some of our most recent immigrants and the challenges they have faced.

Neville Public Museum, Green Bay. 920-448-4460.

Generations Gallery

Ongoing. For over a century, the museum has collected and preserved history. From fossils to footballs, explore the vast collection through a variety of themes and the stories of the people of Northeast Wisconsin in the Generations Gallery.

Beauty of the Beasts: Neville Animal

Through Nov 7. This exhibit will share animal art from the Neville Collection and discuss topics including biodiversity, habitat, ecology and more.

Spirited: Prohibition in America

Sept. 1-Oct. 20. This exhibit brings visitors back to this period of flappers and suffragists, bootleggers and temperance lobbyists, and real-life legends, such as Al Capone and Carry Nation. Spirited explores the history of Prohibition, from the dawn of the temperance movement to the unprecedented repeal of a constitutional amendment in 1933.

New London Public Museum. 920-982-8520.

V is for Victory

Through October. An exhibit focusing on the home front during World War II. Historic newspaper articles from the New London Press Republican are paired with artifacts and photographs from the collection and on loan to the museum. Please contact the New London Public Museum for information about visiting.

Oshkosh Public Museum. 920-236-5799.

Titanic: The Wisconsin Connection

Through Oct. 13. The enduring story of the ill-fated White Star liner RMS Titanic continues to fascinate people 109 years after the disaster. In addition to telling the story of passengers associated with Wisconsin, the exhibition showcases over 100 recently conserved artifacts, all recovered from the debris field over 12,000 feet below the North Atlantic. Each artifact powerfully illustrates an element or person in the dramatic event that took place that terrifying night.

Iridescence

Through April 2023. The Durow Trust presents the colorful exhibition “Iridescence” in the Sawyer Library that, along with the historic Sawyer Home portion of the Museum, was uniquely designed by Tiffany Studios. The exhibition demonstrates how iridescence has impacted the decorative arts and design and showcases iridescent items in the Museum’s collection. The exhibition will also introduce three new acquisitions of iridescent glass pieces recently added to the Museum’s decorative arts collection.

Paine Art Center & Gardens, Oshkosh. 920-235-6903.

Star-Studded Soles: Autographed Shoes Courtesy of Britton’s Walk-Over Footwear

Through Oct. 10. This diverse, private collection of autographed celebrity shoes has been assembled over the past decade by Britton’s Walk-Over Footwear, located on Main Street in Oshkosh. From rugged athletic shoes signed by Green Bay Packer players to glamorous stilettos designed by Stuart Weitzman and worn by Beyoncé and Jennifer Lopez, this fun collection captures our fascination with footwear, fashion, and fame. 

Peninsula Art Gallery, Fish Creek. 920-868-3455.

On Location: Artists Explore a Sense of Place

Through Oct. 2. What is it about a place that captures our imagination, clings to our memories, and infuses our daily lives? Can its presence be conveyed by careful documentation of dimensions, stories told, the light of a window on a wall, or the ephemera inhabiting it? Though the artists included in On Location take many different approaches, place is central to their art.

Plymouth Arts Center. 920-892-8409.

League of Milwaukee Artists Present Recent Work

Through Oct. 1. For over 70 years, the League of Milwaukee Artists (LMA) has championed artistic creativity and actively contributed to our Community. The League represents 108+ local artists creating two and three dimensional artworks in all types of media, a group dedicated to the promotion of visual creation, personal artistic growth, and the expansion of the Arts in our state, region and community.

Seymour Community Museum, Seymour. 920-833-6064.

World’s Largest Hamburger Collection

Ongoing. Items include an original Burger Time arcade game, burger telephones and radios, hamburger banks, burger candles, burger jewelry, watches and magnets, clothing, dolls, a battery operated burger skateboard and much more.

Trout Museum of Art, Appleton. 920-733-4089.

Made to Order

Through Nov. 7. Artwork in this exhibit will be commissioned by local community members and created by Wisconsin artists. Commissioners browse our artists, find someone whose style they love, and TMA works with them and the artists to design a piece perfect for them. Following the exhibit, they have a new original work special to them, their family, decor and personal.

Art is Her: Nikki Johnson

Sept. 1-Nov. 7. The Art is Her exhibition series celebrates women artists and champions their goal of achieving museum presence equal to men. From the artist: “My use of culturally diverse imagery, geometric shapes and bright bold colors helps me express myself in a way that is very different from my everyday life.”

Art is Her: Abby Gammons

Nov 1-Dec. 31. The Art is Her exhibition series celebrates women artists and champions their goal of achieving museum presence equal to men. From the artist: “As I knot multiple strands of rope, I intertwine a distinctive Bohemian nuance with the pattern. The result is a thick, textured wall hanging that makes a room feel warm and inviting.”

Weis Earth Science Museum, Menasha. 920-832-2925.

Fossil Gallery featuring the Bruce Danz Collection

Ongoing. One of the best dinosaur nests in any exhibit. Find a life-size skull replica of Stan, the Tyrannosaurus rex, a thigh bone of a duck-bill dinosaur that you can touch and a complete Psittacosaurus with stones in its gizzard – just like the birds.

Barlow Hall of Gems and Minerals

Ongoing. See a rare collection of minerals and gemstones from around the entire world.