Overture program highlights Watrous’ contributions to Elvehjem

Barbara Sanford

Before there was an Elvehjem Museum of Art, valuable artwork lay scattered in UW campus basements. It took artist and art historian James Watrous, known as the “father of the Elvehjem Museum,” to bring it all together. Watrous also is known for his own art, which includes the Paul Bunyan murals in the Memorial Union, and for teaching his students near-forgotten techniques of creating art materials from nature.

Millard Rogers, director emeritus of the Cincinnati Art Museum and the Elvehjem Museum’s first director, will discuss Watrous, his work and his legacy in a free presentation, “James Watrous: Life and Legacy” at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 16, at the Overture Center for the Arts, 201 State St.

The program will feature an artist’s demonstration using Watrous-inspired materials and techniques. The talk will take place in the Wisconsin Studio and is a presentation of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters as part of its Academy Evening series. No tickets or registration are required, but seating is limited.

The program is concurrent with an exhibit, “James Watrous and Friends: The Legacy and Influence of James Watrous,” in the Wisconsin Academy’s James Watrous Gallery in the Overture Center. The exhibit runs from Nov. 12 through Jan. 9. Arthur Hove, UW–Madison special assistant emeritus, will speak at an opening reception from 1-4 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 14.

Rogers was a close colleague of Watrous, who helped build the Elvehjem Museum, one of Madison’s and Wisconsin’s most important art spaces. He then became its first director.

As a teacher of art history and art at UW–Madison from 1934-1976, Watrous helped shape the departments of art history and art and mentored many students who went on to great accomplishments. He kept alive “old master” methods of drawing and painting and taught his students to create materials straight from nature.

Watrous’s legacy lives on all across the UW–Madison campus — from the Paul Bunyan murals in the Memorial Union (funded by the Public Works Administration) to the mosaic murals on Ingraham Hall, Social Science, Vilas Hall and Memorial Library. The Wisconsin Academy Gallery at the Overture Center bears his name to honor his many accomplishments.

Academy Evenings take place monthly on Tuesday evenings at the Overture Center and regularly at other venues around Wisconsin. The public forums are free presentations about a variety of topics of public interest featuring Wisconsin’s leading thinkers, scholars and artists. They are intended to encourage public interaction with these leaders in an intimate atmosphere designed to build community.

The nonprofit Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters connects people and ideas from all areas of knowledge and all walks of life to advance thought and culture in the state. The Wisconsin Academy’s many programs include an art gallery for Wisconsin artists, a quarterly magazine about Wisconsin thought and culture, public forums such as the Academy Evenings series and The Wisconsin Idea at the Wisconsin Academy, a public policy program that brings the public together with an array of experts and stakeholders to find solutions to statewide problems. For more information, visit http://www.wisconsinacademy.org.

This presentation is sponsored by the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation, UW–Madison, M&I Bank, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, Isthmus Newspaper and individual donors.