The exhibition, which runs through Nov. 1, revealssome of the unusual history of this Milwaukeelandmark. With its interesting artist biographies, the exhibit also offers aunique perspective on Wisconsin art. More than50 paintings, prints, sculptures and photographs depict bygone days andindustrial landscapes on Jones Island. The sheer varietyof techniques and images in the artwork makes for an interesting study.
Frank Enders’ etching on Asian paper mounted oncardboard, Jones Island #1, carries both the artist’s signature and the long-ago 1888date. Helen L. Hoppin, a former teacher at the Layton School of Art, uses loosebrush strokes in pen and India ink drawings to capture the peninsula. The morerecent Artist at Easel,a woodblock print by Gerrit Sinclair,pictures birds, gulls and island rooftops through stark black-and-white images.
Be sure to note several compelling watercolors andprints hanging in the MWA’s stairwell, including Howard Thomas’ Boat and Turtle (1936), which showcasesa lyrical, semi-abstract rendering of a shoreline dock. The watercolor’swet-on-wet application mimics the inky waters of Lake Michigan. Hulda Rotier Fischer’s watercolor, gouache and ink onpaper, Abstract of Jones Island (mid-1940s),melds the faded colors of the terrain in fractured and overlappingshapes.
On the wall opposite the reception desk, MaxFernekes’ watercolor and crayon on paper, titled Winter Morning at Jones Island, delineates freighters’ prows andmasts in bold, black strokes. Blue and orange clouds enhance the translucent sky.
The intriguing “Isle of Inspiration” details thesingular atmosphere of this Milwaukeeurban settlement, which drew creative minds and hands to its port. Jones Islandhas been inhabited by American Indians, fur traders and, of course, theisland’s namesake, shipbuilder James Monroe Jones. The small communityeventually incorporated a Polish fishing village, but, ultimately, the island’sinhabitants gave way to industry. Today the peninsula, with its tip directlybeneath the Hoan Bridge, is home to salt mounds and asewage treatment plant.
But the MWA exhibition resurrects the diversecultural history of Jones Island through the poeticvision of these eclectic artists. An opening reception takes place Sunday,Sept. 13, from 1:30 to 4 p.m.
