John Steuart Curry

At Home in Wisconsin

Past Exhibition

June 27–September 14, 2014

MOWA | West Bend

About the Exhibition

June 27–September 14

Hyde Gallery

The nation’s first university artist-in-residence, John Steuart Curry was hired at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1936 by the College of Agriculture rather than the art department in the hope that his art could help forge a bond between farmers and the university. Curry, an American Regionalist dedicated to rural subjects, loved Wisconsin. His contract was wonderfully vague: continue his own work, paint murals, hold workshops, encourage amateur artists, and foster greater cultural appreciation among farmers and rural residents. In essence, he was to be a roving ambassador for art.

Image: John Steuart Curry, Youth Helps Rebuild a World, 1946 (detail)