Wisconsin artists pay tribute to nonprofits
Northwestern Mutual may be famous for insurance, investment and philanthropy, but it's bullish about the visual arts, too.
On Thursday, the Northwestern Mutual Foundation opens "Giving Gallery: Community in Process," an exhibit of works commissioned from 17 Wisconsin artists in tribute to 25 nonprofit agencies and community institutions the foundation has supported over the past 25 years.
For example, Della Wells has created a striking collage on one of the red jackets worn by representatives of City Year Milwaukee, AmeriCorps members who mentor students in local schools.
Two sculptures may resonate with even the youngest visitors. Madison metalsmith Hiroko Yamada has sculpted an enormous dragonfly in honor of the American Red Cross. In tribute to the Milwaukee Public Museum, local sculptor Tom Queoff has created a passenger pigeon, once abundant in Wisconsin but now extinct. Teary-eyed at the top, his bird sculpture fades away at the bottom.
In addition to celebrating community-serving agencies, Lynn Heimbruch, Northwestern Mutual's assistant director of strategic philanthropy, hopes the artwork will encourage visitors to "donate, advocate and certainly volunteer for these great organizations and causes."
The Northwestern Mutual Foundation also gave a $10,000 grant to each nonprofit represented, Heimbruch said.
The uplifting purpose of the exhibit has not led to homogeneity or blandness. It contains a pleasing diversity of styles: Shelby Keefe's gentle paintings of scenes representing Metcalfe Park Community Bridges and other neighborhood agencies; Julie Roth's strong graphic artwork in honor of Milwaukee College Prep; and Nova Czarnecki's image in tribute to the Northwestern Mutual Foundation itself, a cousin to her mural on S. Kinnickinnic Ave.
Northwestern Mutual is capping off the Giving Gallery by installing a kiosk with portraits of the artists created by tintype photographer Margaret Muza, the Pfister Hotel artist in residence.
For the next year, Giving Gallery will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday on the first floor of Northwestern Mutual Tower & Commons, 805 E. Mason St. Admission is free. With plentiful representation of children and people of color, it is a natural for field trips and family outings.
After the exhibit closes in 2019, Northwestern Mutual plans to tour it to New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz., where the company has offices and where two of the nonprofits are located, Heimbruch said.