Arts & Culture
Photo courtesy of www.artglyphs.com
Artist Geri Schrab shares her passion for watercolor painting.
New rock exhibit gives new meaning to “getting stoned”: Rock art currently on display at the Learning Resource Center
The Pointer
bhaig870@uwsp.edu
The University of Wisconsin- Stevens Point Natural History Museum and Learning Resource Center are currently presenting a new exhibit featuring the work of artist Geri Schrab. The exhibit, titled “Rock Art: A Foundation for Healing,” is a collection of varied perspectives of Great Lakes images.
The exhibit is a collection of paintings by Geri Schrab, inspired by Wisconsin and Upper Great Lakes rock art. Schrab, a previous full-time court reporter in the Wisconsin State Court System, completed her first petroglyph painting in December of 1994. In January of 2003, Schrab gave up court reporting to pursue her painting full time, more exhibits and possibly a book.
Schrab’s focus, as stated in her artist’s statement, is “The study of petroglyphs and pictographs, images pecked, carved and painted on rock surfaces by the indigenous people of what we now know as North America.”
Most of Schrab’s work comes from Wisconsin and Minnesota, but she has also traveled to Australia. “I love visiting all areas of rock art. I just love being in the natural world,” said Schrab, who feels most at home in the northwoods boundary waters and Quetico area. When Schrab traveled to Australia, she was really struck by the age of Australian rock art. One of the petroglyph sites that she visited was 30,000 years old.
Although Schrab sticks to rock art and painting, she has been opening up her field of vision to include the landscape upon which the rock art is found. As one goes through the exhibit, one will notice dates on the titles, which refers to when Schrab completed each individual piece. As one looks at the more recent paintings, one will notice that they were painted within the landscape, unlike her earlier paintings, which focused on just the glyph. The work in progress in the museum, across from the buffalo head, is a good example of that.
Schrab is very honored to have the opportunity to show her body of work in the Natural History Museum setting.
“To have the paintings juxtaposed with the museum exhibits of flora and fauna of the natural world is incredibly effective,” she said.
Students will have a chance to view the ongoing exhibit through Friday, with a number of paintings in the LRC Cafe.
“Geri paints a very vivid and moving picture with her watercolors; she’s very focused on her work,” said UW-SP art major Justine Hess.
There will also be a rock art panel discussion on April 10, in room 107 of the LRC, and a discussion on women, creativity and rock art on Tuesday, May 5, from 6:30-9 in room 107 of the LRC.
