Christian Logan Bazar
"Giving Gallery" Celebrates 25 Years of Community Support
Eighteen months ago, the Northwestern Mutual Foundation—the charitable arm of the financial services giant—was fast approaching its 25th anniversary. Over the past quarter decade, the Foundation has dispersed $320 million in support of its mission to improve the lives of children and communities. The question was how to best celebrate the occasion. “We decided to tell the story of the Northwestern Mutual Foundation through the impact of the non-profits we have supported, each of which received an additional $10,000 in connection with the anniversary,” says Lynn Heimbruch, assistant director of strategic philanthropy at Northwestern Mutual.
In its finished form, the anniversary celebration has taken the form of the “Giving Gallery: Community in Process,” an exhibition of 26 original works of art by 17 artists with ties to Wisconsin. Each artist was paired with one or more nonprofits that have, in collaboration with the Northwestern Mutual Foundation, positively impacted our communities.
Artists spent time with their nonprofits, observing, interviewing and conceptualizing a work of art that would capture the organization’s singular spirit. The resultant works are as diverse as their creators and inspirations. In honor of the American Red Cross, Madison artist Hiroko Yamada created a metal dragonfly, exponentially larger than an actual dragonfly. “In Japanese culture, dragonflies carry the spirits of ancestors in times of need,” explains Heimbruch. Mutópe Johnson, professor of art and design at UW-Whitewater, represents a watchful community, which can be viewed as a the sort of ideal envisioned by Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Metro Milwaukee and the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Milwaukee.
Stay on top of the news of the day
Subscribe to our free, daily e-newsletter to get Milwaukee's latest local news, restaurants, music, arts and entertainment and events delivered right to your inbox every weekday, plus a bonus Week in Review email on Saturdays.
Asked about outcomes, Heimbruch says, “We hope that the ‘Giving Gallery’ will inspire people to donate their time, treasure or talent. That way, the tentacles will expand and the effect will multiply.” “Giving Gallery” is on display throughout 2018 on the first floor of Northwestern Mutual Tower & Commons in Milwaukee, 808 E. Mason St. After its time here, it will travel to Northwestern Mutual outposts in New York City, Tucson, Ariz., Phoenix and Philadelphia.
“At Home”
Carthage College, H.F. Johnson Gallery of Art
2001 Alford Park Drive, Kenosha
Two contemporary Chicago artists make the mundane magnificent in “At Home,” opening at Carthage College’s H.F. Johnson Gallery of Art on March 12. Gwendolyn Zabicki is a painter who relishes challenges and has the chops to see them through. Her canvasses pick out unusual perceptual experiences from the flow of daily life, such as the disorienting reflection on a teakettle cleansing a stinky sponge with boiling water. Recently, Zabicki has focused on mirrors, and mirrors mirrored by other mirrors, and mirrors whose surfaces and reflections have been adulterated with vinegar. Ann Toebbe’s paintings, collages and drawings can be similarly, agreeably disorienting. Toebbe paints domestic interiors in two dimensions, which grants the viewer a God-like panoptic view, similar to a top-down videogame perspective. Toebbe’s dynamic use of color and depth of detail hold the attention and fire the imagination. An opening reception will be held on Thursday, March 15 from 4:30-7:30 p.m. and there will be an artist lecture on Monday, March 19 at 5 p.m.