Art Preserve Archives - Page 6 of 8 - John Michael Kohler Arts Center

THE BUILDING: A RESPONSE TO THE COLLECTION

In form and function, the Art Preserve celebrates the conviction that significant, original, and compelling works of art are created everywhere, by people from a broad spectrum of life experiences.

Conceived as a series of open-ended responses to the unique nature of artist-built environments, the Art Preserve provides a platform for continual explorations into the John Michael Kohler Arts Center’s expansive collection. This response model is reflected in the architecture of the building and the ongoing commissioning of work by contemporary artists.

Individuals who have seen art environments in their original sites often express the delight and surprise that was part of that experience. To foster a similar level of exploration and sense of wonder, some of the responses to the collection are built into the interior architecture of the building.

The Stairwell

The first of these embedded responses honors the contributions of Ruth DeYoung Kohler in the realization of the Art Preserve and in the development of the collection it houses. Embossed on and extruding from the central stairwell walls are representations of hobo symbols, a collaboration between Kohler and Tres Birds. “The hobo symbols came to be a part of the design based on our extensive discussions with Ruth Kohler,” wrote the architectural team. “Acknowledging outsiders, those rarely recognized or honored, has been a repeating theme in Ms. Kohler’s life. As a child, Ms. Kohler recollected seeing these symbols on her own home and when visiting with tramps in Sheboygan.” Moving through the stairwell, visitors will find symbols of welcome and caution used within the hobo community. Some are subtle, expressed with a change in the type of masonry block used, while others extrude from the face of the wall and light the stairway.

The Washrooms

Four artist-designed washrooms continue the spirit of discovery that pervades the building. These surprising interventions also link to the Arts Center’s renowned Arts/Industry residency program, which offers artists the time and space to focus on the creation of new work in studios located in Kohler Co.’s Pottery and Foundry. Arts/Industry is a unique collaboration, administered by the John Michael Kohler Arts Center and generously hosted and funded by Kohler Co. The artists chosen for the washroom commissions were given access to the materials and support team of the Kohler Co. factory to execute their designs. In keeping with the theme of the Art Preserve’s first floor, Wisconsin-based artists Beth Lipman and Michelle Grabner were tasked with creating spaces that speak to the particularities of Wisconsin. For the third-floor washrooms, collaborative team Joy Feasley and Paul Swenbeck were elected to create an immersive, fantastical environment, for which they drew inspiration in part from Emery Bladgon’s “The Healing Machine.”