Willy's blog

This post is the third in a series by Junior Grounds Manager Weston Wagner tracking the behavior of wood ducks at Lynden. Read part one here and part two here.

April 3, 2015 – I noticed two pairs of wood ducks occupying their usual spot on the lake this morning. I have yet to capture a picture of them as they are very wary of human activity. It is possible and likely that these two pairs are the same wood ducks I have been seeing over the past couple weeks. It’s hard to tell but it is also possible that these wood ducks are the same wood ducks that have successfully nested in the boxes here at Lynden in previous years. I have yet to see a wood duck in a location other than the South East corner of the lake where two nest boxes are positioned. If these wood ducks do decide to use these boxes as nesting sites, it will be soon. My guess is they will start using the boxes, especially the ones over the water, next week, if they haven’t already. I won’t check the boxes until late next week to prevent disturbing any nesting activity. Once a nest is established, the hen will lay one egg per day until her clutch is complete. On average, the size of a clutch is usually between 10 and 14 eggs. Once the hen lays all of her eggs, she will begin the incubation process.

Bufflehead duck

Unlike the wood ducks, the lone male bufflehead duck I observed this morning was oblivious to my presence. Buffleheads are a diving duck that feed underwater by catching aquatic invertebrates. One thing they do have in common with wood ducks is that they are cavity nesters. This leaves the possibility that buffleheads are checking out the nest boxes as potential nesting sites as well.

This post is the second in a series by Junior Grounds Manager Weston Wagner tracking the behavior of wood ducks at Lynden. For part one, click here.

Wood duck nest box in the water

March 27, 2015 – The ice is now completely off the lake. That certainly doesn’t mean it’s warm. I read 20°F on the thermometer this morning. There was just enough wind blowing to prevent the lake from skimming over with ice. I checked for nesting activity in the wood duck boxes in the fields today. No signs of wood ducks but in one of the boxes there seemed to be some screech owl activity happening. Some owls, like wood ducks, are cavity nesters and would have no problem occupying a nest box designed for a wood duck. Although no nest boxes showed signs of activity, there is still time for things to develop. Once we get some consistently warmer weather things will start unfolding as they should, and before you know it we’ll be in the full swing of things.

Eastern screech owl

I saw two pairs of wood ducks yesterday. Once again, they were hanging out between the two nest boxes in the water. I haven’t seen them actually put the nest boxes to use yet but it seems like they are interested in that area. Every year this is the first place they show up. I haven’t had much of a chance to observe them because wood ducks are very skittish. As soon as they see you, they take off flying. It will be important to leave any wood ducks undisturbed so they can take time to establish the boxes as nesting sites. Predator protection is one of the most important parts of installing a wood duck box. If you have predators, including humans, constantly moving around the area where potential nest sites are available, chances are wood ducks won’t feel safe and might look for other locations to nest. This is probably why the most successful wood duck boxes here at Lynden have been the ones that are over water.

This post is the first in a series by Junior Grounds Manager Weston Wagner tracking the behavior of wood ducks at Lynden.

A wood duck hen on a nest at Lynden in 2014

March 19, 2015 - I witnessed the first pair of wood ducks of the year today. They were scoping out one of the newly installed boxes that we placed over the water. Wood ducks usually show up around the 1st of April or when the ice starts disappearing from the lake. There was just enough shore ice melted for the wood ducks to start to come and check things out for possible nesting sites. We put up the 3 wood duck boxes over the water on March 13, including an additional box at a new location. The new box is located over the water not too far from where other successful nest box sites are established. Wood ducks are not very territorial and do not fight over nesting locations.

I recently attended a nest box building workshop at the UWM field station. There were a handful of very knowledgeable people hosting the event. They mentioned that wood ducks are so non-territorial that you could have two wood duck boxes mounted back to back on the same 4 x 4 post and wood ducks would possibly use both boxes as nesting sites in harmony without conflict.

Weston building a wood duck box

Lynden's wood duck boxes, built by Weston & Bob Retko

Installing a wood duck box

Possible nesting site for wood ducks

This post is by Pegi Christiansen, a Lynden artist in residence through October 15. Learn more about her Distance project here.

One of my favorite temporary art pieces at Lynden is Sightseer by local artist Brian Nigus. For Lynden's Winter Carnival I proposed to roam Lynden in the fall, save what I collected, and create a “Winter Forest” display inside his “portable think-space.”

Jeremy Stepien was a student of mine at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design in the nineties. For “Winter Forest” Jeremy, Lynden’s Director of Education, was my teacher and advisor. He asked this important question: “What will happen to the display at the end of the carnival?” It took several months before I came up with the solution.

In October I met with Brian to discuss “Winter Forest.” No one had mounted a display inside Sightseer since it came to Lynden last summer (Brian had made the piece in 2011 while he was a student at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and it had been used in various ways before arriving in Milwaukee). Brian requested that everything I placed in Sightseer come from Lynden.

I made four major collection trips to Lynden during the fall. Except for cutting wild weeds, I would only collect what I found on the ground. The trips were exhilarating. I would always lose track of where I was and find plants I had never come across before and wonder, “What’s this?”

In January I made three planning trips to Lynden. I spent time inside Sightseer and measured it carefully. Jeremy showed me all the types of items, like vases, I could use to help with the display and I experimented with eight basic designs before I selected the one I wanted.

On January 30th, I started making “Winter Forest.” Naomi Cobb, Lynden’s naturalist, asked me whether it was primarily planned or being made on the spot. I told her it was a blend of both. Sightseer only has one door and is less than six feet wide. I had to plan carefully because I needed to work from the far end toward the door. Once I arranged an area, I could no longer reach it to make changes. At the same time, I was totally winging it. I spent 25 hours over five days musing inside Brian’s very special “think-space” and my head popped with ideas about where to place particular items I had collected.

Winter Forest

It was at this point that Naomi told me that she was going to have a bonfire during the Winter Carnival. What a perfect conclusion to "Winter Forest": to burn all the branches and wild weeds during the final hour. Jeremy's question was answered. I spent twelve days making “Winter Forest.” It would be on view for five hours, and then it would become ashes.

Winter Forest, photo: Eddee Daniel

Winter Forest, photo: Jeremy Stepien

At 3 pm on February 7 as the Winter Carnival wound down, friends and carnival visitors, as well as several children very eager to throw things on the bonfire, gathered around me. I was alone for those twelve days of making, so it couldn’t have been sweeter to have a group of children and friends carrying everything over to the flames as we unmade "Winter Forest."

Bonfire, photo: Eddee Daniel

Sweetest of all was a child, Caroline May, who named the dried dead toad “Hubertus.” I saved Hubertus for her and brought it to her home. “Winter Forest” lives on.

Hubertus, photo: Jeremy Stepien

Hubertus, photo: Eddee Daniel

This is the fifth in a series of blog posts by Pegi Christiansen, who is a Lynden artist in residence through October 2015. As part of her project, Distance, Pegi will accompany people, in groups of up to three, on their first trip to Lynden. She will pick them up, drive them out, take a walk with them, and bring them back. As part of the excursion, she will ask some questions about distance. If you are interested in participating in this aspect of Pegi's project, please call 414-446-8794 or email info@lyndensculpturegarden.org and mention you are interested in a “distance visit.”

The instant I picked up Wendy Hamilton, Healthy Neighborhoods Program Manager for Sherman Park Community Association on Fond du Lac Avenue November 10, I became lost in thought. My father was a mapmaker for General George S. Patton during World War II and I pride myself on using real maps (not GPS) and getting where I need to go without making mistakes. However, I was so caught up in my conversation with Wendy (on a very easy drive straight north on Sherman Boulevard) that I had to backtrack twice.

When I am with visitors at Lynden, along with talking about distance, the one other thing I need to do is make sure to take a picture. I forgot to do this. Instead, Wendy sent me a photo from inside her home in Sherman Park. It gives you a sense of how vibrant she is.

I have known Wendy since 2007, but have never spent time with her outside of the SPCA office. I knew it would be special to have one-on-one contact with her. Just like with the planners from West Allis a week earlier, we talked about distance nonstop, but in a way I never imagined. Wendy had carefully considered the topic and knew what she wanted to say. I was riveted.

Once at Lynden, Wendy told me, “Distance equals peace.” Wendy grew up in Sherman Park and lives in the neighborhood now. She said, “I am a city girl and love it, but I also care about being close to the earth.” She believes everyone should be able to experience both the urban and the rural. This means taking her two daughters, who want action and excitement, to places where teenager Afrika first says, “This is too quiet.” Afrika soon starts to soak it in and imagines her daily life in these places and spaces. Fourth grader Nadiatier believes they have left the state when they drive to a rural community.

Wendy is searching for ways to bring the untroubled and natural environment of Lynden to Sherman Park. Living in an urban environment can be stressful. Wendy believes bringing tranquility to Sherman Park will “bring peace to the landscape of people’s minds” as well.

We discussed lots of ideas. It would be possible to create prairies in vacant lots. You could plant a dense forest area in Sherman Park. You could create spaces that would attract birds and other wildlife right in people’s backyards.

Lynden could be a part of this process. Lynden's education staff offers field trips for school groups that invite students and teachers to observe and inquire about place, nature, and art. Participants then explore ways to bring the things learned at Lynden back to their own schools and neighborhoods.

This is the fourth in a series of blog posts by Pegi Christiansen, who is a Lynden artist in residence through October 2015. As part of her project, Distance, Pegi will accompany people, in groups of up to three, on their first trip to Lynden. She will pick them up, drive them out, take a walk with them, and bring them back. As part of the excursion, she will ask some questions about distance. If you are interested in participating in this aspect of Pegi's project, please call 414-446-8794 or email info@lyndensculpturegarden.org and mention you are interested in a “distance visit.”

These visits keep surprising me. On November 5, I picked up City of West Allis planners Shaun Mueller and Bart Griepentrog. During our two hours together that morning, I didn’t ask any of the questions from my list. We discussed distance in all sorts of new ways.

L-R: Bart Griepentrog and Shaun Mueller

I reside 23 miles away from Lynden in Greenfield. Since moving there in 2009, I spend more time in West Allis and find it intriguing. West Allis has more history and breadth than most Milwaukee suburban communities. We stopped in at Executive Director Polly Morris’s office and she agrees. She has a background in history and when she moved to Milwaukee in 1987 one of the first places she visited was the former Allis-Chalmers site in West Allis. One of the reasons I asked Bart and Shaun to come to Lynden with me is because, like Lynden, West Allis is an undiscovered treasure for too many people.

When I summarized the history of Lynden on the drive out, Bart remembered hearing that the sculptures at Lynden almost ended up at the Milwaukee Art Museum. We asked Polly about this. She said after Jane Bradley Pettit died in 2001, her descendants debated donating the sculptures to the MAM. The family decided to open Lynden to the public instead.

We also spoke with Polly about former artist in residence Roy Staab, who lives in West Allis. For the city’s 100th anniversary in 2006, the mayor commissioned Roy to create Fountain in the Sky at the West Allis City Hall. Roy made the temporary sculpture out of weeds bound with jute and plastic cording. As we started our walk, I suggested West Allis could designate a permanent site where Roy could create a series of temporary installations.

I asked Shaun and Bart about ways in which, as planners, they think about distance. It turns out they are thinking about distance all the time.
--How far do people live from shopping, restaurants, and entertainment?
--How much time does it take for people to walk or drive to various locations?
--Potential employers want to know how far away potential employees live and whether it is easy to get to the airport.

Distance can be political as well as geographical. In the four-county Milwaukee area, some people want distance from the city, which increases segregation. West Allis needs to alert citizens about certain land use changes happening in their neighborhood, but only if they live within 200 feet. If you live outside this arbitrary zone, you are not directly notified.

The final stop on our walk was by my favorite cluster of permanent sculptures. In the area just south of the bridge are two Linda Howard sculptures (I enjoy watching the way they interact with the sun), Isaac Witkin’s Kumo (it makes me laugh), and Deborah Butterfield’s Hara (the horse looks like it is made out of wood, but it’s really bronze).

It turns out Shaun and Bart care about clusters, too. People tend to come to West Allis for one thing--perhaps the farmers market or the Wisconsin State Fair. West Allis wants to encourage people to explore a cluster of things. For example, after shopping at the West Allis Farmers Market, open May through November at 65th and National, what would it take to convince a person to check out Oniomania, a funky gift shop a block away at 6430 W. National?

On our way back to the parking lot, Bart challenged all my typical thinking about noise. Although Lynden is pastoral and serene, the sound of cars on Brown Deer Road, a state highway, is audible. Bart said that Cathedral Square, a one-block park in downtown Milwaukee, is actually quieter. “This is because people downtown have alternatives to using cars,” Bart explained. “They can walk or bike, and the cars downtown are driving 25 miles an hour and have to stop about every three blocks for lights.” Bart is frustrated by all the commuters on Brown Deer Road who, in order to escape the city to reach the small communities where they live, in Menomonee Falls or Germantown, destroy the calm for everyone in between.

This is the third in a series of blog posts by Pegi Christiansen, who is a Lynden artist in residence through October 2015. As part of her project, Distance, Pegi will accompany people, in groups of up to three, on their first trip to Lynden. She will pick them up, drive them out, take a walk with them, and bring them back. As part of the excursion, she will ask some questions about distance. If you are interested in participating in this aspect of Pegi's project, please call 414-446-8794 or email info@lyndensculpturegarden.org and mention you are interested in a “distance visit.”

On Wednesday morning, October 22, I visited Lynden with two more members of the Grand Avenue Club. Tuesday had been windy and overcast, but Wednesday was calm and the sun poked out now and then. With no wind, Cathy Litwin, Aaron Leverence and I could see the clouds and trees reflected in the pond.

I explained on the drive out that 4000 trees were planted at Lynden when it was converted from cornfields into a private garden for Harry and Peg Bradley in the 1930s (the sculptures didn't begin to arrive until 1962). Cathy told us she has a friend who plants a tree for every grandchild.

The first question I asked Aaron and Cathy was, “If you could use a Star Trek transporter so you could step in right now and arrive somewhere else immediately, who would you want to see?” I was delighted to hear from Aaron that scientists have teleported atoms. In the Netherlands this year three atoms were teleported about ten feet. Who knows what might be possible ten years from now?

Cathy currently has a niece in Argentina. She would want to go to there to “see what she’s seeing.”

Aaron, thirty years old, lives in Elm Grove and has a nine-year-old brother who lives in Cudahy. He wishes he could see him more often, but acknowledges that “distance makes the heart grow fonder.” As he reminded me, “Sometimes you take people who are close to you for granted.”

Cathy picked up some leaves from the ground. After she moved to Milwaukee, she would press leaves in a book and send them in letters to her godparents in Manitowoc, and they would send leaves back. Cathy and her sister-in-law in Minnesota exchange cards with each other. She likes choosing which card to send. She generally doesn’t keep the letters and cards she has received, instead anticipating new ones in the mailbox. Cathy is an acute observer of people's penmanship: “My godmother wrote large and clear,” she recalls. “My husband had swirly handwriting.”

I mentioned the photographers I know who used to live in Manitowoc, John Shimon and Julie Lindemann. It turns out they photographed a friend of Cathy's, Susan, and Susan’s daughter. “Everyone is connected in a smaller city,” she said. “A smaller city keeps you grounded.”

On our way back to the car we walked by a stunning stand of birches where I took a picture of Aaron and Cathy.

This is the second in a series of blog posts by Pegi Christiansen, who is a Lynden artist in residence through October 2015. As part of her project, Distance, Pegi will accompany people, in groups of up to three, on their first trip to Lynden. She will pick them up, drive them out, take a walk with them, and bring them back. As part of the excursion, she will ask some questions about distance. If you are interested in participating in this aspect of Pegi's project, please call 414-446-8794 or email info@lyndensculpturegarden.org and mention you are interested in a “distance visit.”

Colleen Kassner is the type of person you can count on to share enthusiasm for an idea. Colleen is the Gallery Director for Gallery Grand at the Grand Avenue Club in downtown Milwaukee, where she also teaches art. The Grand Avenue Club provides adults with mental illness a place to come and participate in activities 365 days a year. When I emailed her about taking members to Lynden she responded, “A resounding yes!”

On the afternoon of October 21, Colleen and GAC members Deb Olson and Herbert Walker came with me to Lynden. Although chilly and windy, we had a spirited visit. Deb taught me a lot and asked good questions. She loves weeping willows, so I took a picture of her under one by the pond. The willow’s leaves remained green, though birch trees nearby had lost all their leaves. She recalled ironing leaves between pieces of wax paper when she was young. This inspired me to bring home some sunlight yellow gingko leaves to preserve.

Deb wanted to know what animals we might see. I mentioned coming upon a group of eight wild turkeys by George Sugarman’s yellow-painted aluminum sculpture Trio one morning. Deb told me there are wild turkeys where she lives at 20th and Layton, too. I never would have guessed this was possible near an expressway interchange.

One of the questions I have been asking people focuses on how you can feel more distance with someone in the same room than with someone miles away. “Some people are coldblooded and can’t warm up,” said Deb. “You can know them for years and years and not get close.” Deb can sense right away if she will be able to make a connection with someone she meets.

Herbert had a huge challenge overcoming distance. As a youth, his Aunt Ruby lived in Minneapolis. Her husband drove a bus and Herbert would ride the bus with him when he visited. They got divorced and Aunt Ruby moved to Arkansas. When Herbert was 21 he was visiting her and she had a heart attack right in front of him. No one else was home. He is 55 now and though Aunt Ruby is dead he has been able to sustain his relationship with her by seeing her children. Her son is a professional golfer and Herbert got to play a round with him. Just five years ago, he met her daughter for the first time.

Herbert was using a GAC camera to take pictures. In the second photograph for this post, he is sitting next to Deb, with Colleen standing to the side. They are at one of the highest spots at Lynden, where we went to view the grounds on this gray day.

After our walk, we warmed up in the Lynden gallery. As we looked at a painting, Colleen explained that in the Renaissance it took six months just to prepare a canvas for painting. The rabbit-skin glue and gesso took this long to dry. She is grateful for modern materials that allow her to paint right away.

This is the first of what will be a series of blog posts by Pegi Christiansen, who is a Lynden artist in residence through October 2015. As part of her project, Distance, Pegi will accompany people, in groups of up to three, on their first trip to Lynden. She will pick them up, drive them out, take a walk with them, and bring them back. As part of the excursion, she will ask some questions about distance. If you are interested in participating in this aspect of Pegi's project, please call 414-446-8794 or email info@lyndensculpturegarden.org and mention you are interested in a “distance visit.”

Executive Director Polly Morris mentioned that artist and educator Paul Druecke would be bringing out a class from the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design and suggested I contact him. This excited me! I used to teach at MIAD and the students tend to be full of ideas. They proved true to form.

I pulled up in front of MIAD at 4:20 on October 16, 2014. The class, titled "Post Studio Practices," has seven students. Paul, who has a temporary installation at Lynden, asked if my walk and talk about distance could include all of them. I had prepared eight questions, so one for each student plus Paul. Perfect!

After the two carloads of students met up at Lynden, I walked with them to three of the temporary sculptures, Sightseer, Feast, and Seedpod, as well as Open-Air Writing Desk, while I asked questions. Two topics came up repeatedly when they responded.

Many brought up the importance of distance. They appreciated being away from their families in order to develop their own identities. “I needed breathing space from my family,” is how one student put it. In another case, a student realized she was mimicking her parents in ways she wanted to change. A third student explained she had developed a closer relationship with her father from a distance. “We were not in the moment,” she said. On the phone they were able to talk about family dynamics and then work through problems in what she described as “a healthier way” when she returned home.

A number of students had strong reactions about technology and distance. Michael Collazo called Facebook “fake” because people create a certain persona. Two agreed with Michael and gave the example of students getting scared off by assertive Facebook comments that didn’t really express a person’s full personality. Some said you present yourself in a certain way no matter when or how you communicate.

Evin Sagduyu has grandparents who live in Turkey. His family used to visit every summer, but it has been four years since the last trip. “Skype is not the same because you aren’t interacting,” Evin said. “When I am there I am involved; Skype is a routine.” Nick Kinsella, in counterpoint, sometimes feels closer to people he communicates with online who live in other countries than with people in the same room.

Two surprises happened. First, we got lost. Of course we weren’t really lost. It is impossible to lose sight of the service road or the pond. However, on our way over to view David Robbins’s Open-Air Writing Desk, we approached it using a different route than I usually take. Paul and I both needed to backtrack to find it. I like getting disoriented. It shakes up my senses and I notice things I hadn't before.

I have explored Lynden day and night, and during all four seasons of the year, but had never experienced sunset. The picture shows my first. The sky cleared an hour before we departed from MIAD after days of rain and clouds making it an extra-special second surprise.

Photo: Paul Druecke

In the second half of its eleventh cycle, the Fund provided assistance with shipping and travel to seventeen individual artists. These artists—six of them past Nohl Fellows—work in a range of media. Their exhibitions took them to Anchorage, Alaska; Kansas City, Kansas; Bangor, Maine; St. Mary's City, Maryland; Detroit and Grand Rapids, Michigan; Canton, Missouri; New York, New York; and Kenosha, Wisconsin. Destinations abroad included Quebec, Canada; Shanghai, China; Varennes-sur-Loire and Yerres, France; Ballyvaughan, Ireland; Malaga, Spain; and Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

2012 Nohl Fellow Lois Bielefeld received support for Androgyny, a solo show at The Rita at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside in Kenosha. The exhibition explores the power and complexity of gender identity in a series of photographic portraits, videos, and a large-scale installation.

As the recipient of a major award in a national juried Watercolor U.S.A. Honor Society exhibition, Christine Buth-Furness had a painting selected for Watercolor Now!, the 2014 WHS Small Works Exhibition in the Mabee Art Gallery at Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Missouri.

Cecelia Condit, a 2004 Nohl Fellow, traveled to Ireland for A Stone's Throw, a solo exhibition at the Burren College of Art Gallery in Ballyvaughan. She showed a three-channel video installation, shot in Ireland during a prior residency, and large-format composited photographs.

Christopher Davis-Benavides and Karen Gunderman both traveled to China to participate in the 2014 Fourth Biennial Shanghai International Contemporary Porcelain Art Exhibition at the Shanghai Arts and Crafts Museum and the International Modern Pot Art Museum in Yi Xing. They exhibited their work, lectured, and served as members of the international awards selection committee.

Paul Druecke (Nohl Fellow 2010) was invited to exhibit a new public sculpture as part of the Marlborough Gallery's Broadway Morey Boogie in New York City. The group show of outdoor sculpture by American contemporary artists extends from Columbus Circle to 166th Street on Broadway.

Sally Duback is making two trips to Grand Rapids, Michigan to participate in ArtPrize 2014. She is exhibiting Nature's Children, a large mixed-media mosaic.

Jenna Knapp will spend two weeks in Amsterdam at Kulter, an independent gallery and a collective that organizes projects at relevant sites. Knapp, a recent graduate of the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, will be participating with other artists, musicians and performers in a site-specific group show.

Xav Leplae and his Riverwest Radio project (a neighborhood radio station that broadcasts live from the window of his Riverwest Film & Video store) have been invited to participate in the Detroit iteration of The People's Biennial, a traveling show curated by Jens Hoffman and Harrell Fletcher. Leplae, a 2008 Nohl Fellow, will travel to MOCAD (Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit) with three other Milwaukee artists to create and activate a fantasy web radio installation inside the museum.

Patrick Lichty traveled to Anchorage, Alaska for a solo exhibition at the Institute for Speculative Media at Out North Contemporary Arthouse. He also taught a workshop on drone cinema using a DJI Phantom Drone, and continued his field research in Alaska, using his drone for artistic purposes, mapping and scientific study of global warming at the Exit Glacier in the Kenai National Forest.

As a finalist in the 6th edition of the Pollux Awards, Joseph Mougel was invited to exhibit Blanc 016 in the 3rd International Biennial of Fine Art and Documentary Photography at the Municipal Heritage Museum in Malaga, Spain.

Mark Mulhern, a 2003 Nohl Fellow, exhibited works from his pigeon series in the gallery at Le Manoir de Champfreau in Varennes-sur-Loire, France. Aptly, the gallery was entered through a 16th-century pigeonnier. Mulhern, who also makes artist books and monotypes, met with curators at the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris.

Christopher McIntyre Perceptions received support for a solo exhibition of his photographs at KAHBANG Arts, a nonprofit arts organization in Bangor, Maine.

Colette Odya Smith has been invited to be the guest of honor of the Societe des Pastellistes de France at their fall international exhibition of pastel paintings at the Caillebotte Park in Yerres. She will exhibit fifteen paintings and meet society members in Paris and at the public opening reception.

Marc Tasman, a 2004 Nohl Fellow, exhibited twenty photographs from Laurentian Internationale at Galerie Remise in Saint-Hippolyte, Quebec. The documentary series spans six years and explores one family's connection, over five generations, to a land community and their attempts to preserve its culture and natural resources,

Lynn Tomaszewski will travel to St. Mary's City, Maryland, for a solo exhibition at the Boyden Gallery at St. Mary's College of Maryland. Tomaszewski will be exhibiting paintings, large wall drawings, and two interactive installations.

Christopher Willey received support for Lanterns, a collaborative exhibition/installation with Tonia Klein at The Hown's Den: A Nomadic + Domestic Exhibition Space in Kansas City, Kansas. The work references doorknockers and lanterns that Willey saw in China, and incorporates Klein's screen printing practice.