Textiles is a term that can cover a myriad of fabric-focused work. It can be practical or decorative, historical or contemporary. This show will feature artists who are working in textiles that reflect an acknowledgement of the past but with an approach that is very much current in approach, materials and personal input. Participating artists include: Linda Barlow, Lisa Binkley, Barbara Chappell, Briony Jean Foy, Marna Goldstein Brauner, Sonji Hunt, Sharon Kerry-Harlan, Lee Ann Kleeman, Chris Kleppe, Pat Kroth, Gabriele Meyer, Leslee Nelson, Christopher Niver, Casey Puetz and Bird Ross.

Wisconsin bred, born and educated, Tom Berenz’s remarkable paintings are visual responses to various disasters that have befallen the US in recent years as substantial man-made structures are left ruined by nature’s extreme violence. In its aftermath remains a sense of stillness, of muted abstract forms that, in being removed from their greater context, offer a grim reminder that as powerful as humanity is, it is ultimately impotent against nature.

The Chinese Fine Art Association (CFAA) is a Wisconsin-based organization, open to anyone, that seeks to create a fusion of the East and West through art. Its primary focus is to promote and raise awareness of various oriental arts particularly the traditional Chinese brush painting and calligraphy.

The goal is to bring the Eastern and Western art styles together and to create unique images of the subjects members observe, feeling that it is a great privilege to use famous ancient techniques to interpret and recreate present images in the artworks. All of the paintings are done using Chinese brushes and special pigments on rice, cicada or sumi paper.

The subjects of their artwork range from flowers, insects, fowl, people and landscapes. Paintings are done in "Elaborate Style" and "Spontaneous Style" - the two dominant schools in traditional Chinese brush paintings. "Elaborate Style" paintings in China can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Not until the Sung Dynasty (960-1128 AD) did the style flourish and reach its golden age. Although there were numerous elaborate techniques from this glorious era, artists preferred this technique to create their own unique images. The lines in this style are drawn in very delicate detail. Exquisite details of the subjects are achieved by using a watercolor effect through different shades and tones. "Spontaneous style" displays subjects in an expressive manner with strokes and lines.

The objectives of the CFAA are to organize exhibitions and workshops for people interested in exploring various forms of Chinese art, to create a venue for members to display their work in our community and to provide a forum for sharing ideas and techniques among artists.

Bound by the common task of working on the enormous panorama paintings, over a dozen German artists arrived in Milwaukee in the 1880s, creating some of the most impressive works of art ever painted in the US. This exhibition features work by Biberstein, Heine, Fery, Lorenz, Schneider and Schroeter, directly related to either the panoramas or their subsequent careers within Wisconsin and beyond.

Founded in 1961 in West Bend, the Museum of Wisconsin Art has established itself as the state’s preeminent institution for collecting, documenting and exhibiting Wisconsin art. In a groundbreaking collaboration in 2011, the MWA partnered with Saint John’s On The Lake to bring great exhibitions of historic and contemporary art to the Museum Mile on Milwaukee’s east side.

Opening on Friday, April 20 will be Charles Thwaites: A Midwest/Southwest Master. Selected from a generous estate gift of work from Olof and Lucia Dahlstrand of Carmel, California, this exhibition will showcase just what an exemplary and sadly forgotten talent Thwaites possessed. In the 1930s and 40s he was one of the most prolific and high profile artists in Wisconsin; in the 1950s he and his wife Antoinette moved out to New Mexico where he remained for the rest of his life. There, inspired by the stunningly different landscape, people and air quality, he responded with paintings that became increasingly abstract and in tune with changing art styles.