Brittingham Art Invitational features UW artists

Painter Elaine Scheer and two UW–Madison graduate students are among the artists whose works are on display through April 8 as part of the first Brittingham Art Invitational.

The invitational showcases selected pieces of artwork of 17 art faculty and instructors from throughout the 26-campus university system, says UW System President Katharine Lyall.

“We have a tremendous amount of talent in our art departments on all of our two-year and four-year campuses, and the Brittingham Art Invitational is a wonderful opportunity to display this talent to the state,” Lyall says.

Scheer is the graduate chair of the Department of Art and an associate professor of art at UW–Madison. She earned her M.F.A. from the San Francisco Art Institute. Previously, she studied studio art at Sonoma State University in California and at the University of London.

Her paintings are inspired by the historic and contemporary tiles and architectural installations she has studied in Spain and Portugal. Three of her watercolor diptychs, created in 2000, were selected for the Brittingham show.

Another featured artist, Susan Batts, is a graduate student and teaching assistant at UW–Madison. She holds a B.F.A. in painting from Louisiana State University. Her work focuses on intimacy, which she derives from mixing real-life painting and photographs. Two 1999 watercolor on paper works and a 1998 oil on panel painting were selected.

The third artist, Jake Keeler, is a graduate student and teaching assistant at UW–Madison. He earned his B.A. in studio art from Macalester College. Keeler’s work is based on his life experiences as a Midwestern male. The study of American history and religions prompted him to start recording his experiences in religion, history and culture.

The show features three mixed media on wood panel creations from 2000 by Keeler.

UW System artists were invited to submit artwork for consideration last spring. A selection committee chose the final pieces to be exhibited. The 46 pieces of art will be displayed at Brittingham House, the official residence of the UW System president, and in the UW System office space at Van Hise Hall.

“It seems particularly appropriate for these works to be exhibited in a university system setting,” says guest curator Christie Charbonneau Wells, an oil painter and former curator of the Indiana State University Permanent Art Collection.

“For the individual artist, creating art often involves an immersion in self that can be an isolating experience. This exhibition provides an important opportunity to view current work and establish a dialogue among artists and a broader community.”

The artwork on display includes a wide variety of media and stylistic approaches, including ceramics, drawings, etchings, lithographs, paintings, photographs, printmaking, textiles, weaving and woodcuts.