Interdisciplinary artist to transform SoHE facade

Deep into her semester-long residency, interdisciplinary artist Janet Morton is to begin work on her new outdoor installation, slated for the facade of the School of Human Ecology in honor of its centennial.

The Toronto-based Morton and her UW–Madison students created the four-season tree installation on Library Mall earlier this semester.

The installation for the SoHE facade is expected to be finished before Saturday, April 24, in time for SoHE’s centennial banquet, which will feature famed culinary entrepreneur and UW–Madison alumnus Charlie Trotter. A Web cam, accessible at http://www.janetmorton.wisc.edu, is to follow the installation’s progress.

Morton’s pieces usually explore relationships between fabric and/or apparel and inanimate objects. The result often transforms something commonplace into a true original. The Library Mall tree, for example, used recycled fabric, all of it natural, purchased from St. Vincent de Paul’s “Buy- by-the-Pound” outlet.

Morton often questions the convention of permanency in contemporary installations. In keeping with her philosophy, the SoHE work will remain up until Monday, May 24. A companion exhibit in the SoHE Gallery of Design will introduce guests to other examples of Morton’s work. It will open on Thursday, May 13, and remain up until fall. The gallery will host a public reception for Morton on Sunday, May 15, at 1 p.m.

For information about SoHE centennial projects, or to register for the banquet: http://www.uwsohecentennial.com. The banquet begins at 5 p.m. at the Monona Terrace.