Art & Design

Art & Design / Milwaukee Handicraft Project Portfolio / Milwaukee / Milwaukee County / 1918-1945 / Society & Religion / Region 8 - South East

Elsa Ulbricht: A Pioneer for Women’s Work

Due to its longevity and the number of women employed, historians consider the Milwaukee Handicraft Project to be one of the most successful programs sponsored by the Works Project Administration (WPA). The WPA funded many public works projects during the Great Depression as a…

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April 23, 2025

Art & Design / Milwaukee Handicraft Project Portfolio / New Object Histories / Milwaukee / Milwaukee County / Object Histories / Society & Religion / 1918-1945 / Region 8 - South East

OBJECT HISTORY: Milwaukee Handicraft Project Portfolio

A seagull is eating fish for lunch, disrupting the regularity of the water’s waves as it splashes around. This is a scene so common on the Milwaukee shores of Lake Michigan that it served as design inspiration for local craftsmen, and in…

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April 23, 2025

Art & Design / New Object Histories / Art, Sport & Entertainment / Milwaukee County / Wauwatosa / Object Histories / Everyday Life / 1900-1918 / Region 8 - South East / Lefeber Glass Plate Negatives

OBJECT HISTORY: Lefebers’ Glass Plate Negatives

Kodachrome? Fujifilm? Ektachrome? All too modern! We're stepping back more than a century to an era when photographers used glass plates – not film – to capture an image. Glass plate negatives can be professionally restored and digitally scanned. These before-and-after images are…

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January 25, 2024

“SMART” Banner by Dennis Nechvatal, Madison, WI, 1983. Courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society ID #2011.63.2

Art & Design / Music, Theatre & Cinema / Art, Sport & Entertainment / Madison / Dane County / Object Histories / 1965-1987 / Region 7 - South Center / Smart Banner

OBJECT HISTORY: “SMART” Banner by Dennis Nechvatal

Not many people would expect that some of the most legendary music of the late twentieth and early twenty first century was made right here in Wisconsin. During its twenty-seven years of operation, Madison’s Smart Studios was a cornerstone of the music…

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June 24, 2022

City of Madison Manhole Cover. Photo courtesy of Keith Kaziak, 2020.

Art & Design / Industry / Art, Sport & Entertainment / Neenah / Related Stories / Everyday Life / 1848-1877 / Manufacturing & Trade / Winnebago County / 1965-1987 / Region 5 - Center East / 1987-2011 / 2011-Today / Neenah Foundry Manhole Cover

Manhole Cover Designs and Contemporary Aesthetics

Over the past 45 years, there has been a growing worldwide fascination and appreciation for the beauty and craftsmanship of manhole covers. Some enthusiasts even created a subreddit aptly titled, Manhole Porn: Sewer covers in all their glory!, celebrating this ubiquitous iron…

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September 29, 2021

Delonge Studio, Portrait of Frank Lloyd Wright, c. 1930. Courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society, Image ID 26555.

Art & Design / Art, Sport & Entertainment / Home Furnishings / Iowa County / Related Stories / Everyday Life / Nature & Environment / 1900-1918 / 1918-1945 / Region 6 - South West / Frank Lloyd Wright Pew/Bench

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Organic Architecture

Born in 1867 in Richland City, WI, Frank Lloyd Wright designed nearly 150 buildings in Wisconsin alone, as well as numerous homes and churches across the United States. Wright’s philosophy of matching an architectural structure to its natural environment, along with his…

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August 19, 2021