Barbara Manger

Artist, Printmaker

Artist’s Statement

I watch rivers from canoe and kayak, attempt to comprehend the pulse and energy, the flow, the depths, the secrets and the constant change. I am interested in the infinite properties and varieties of line as means to explore and convey what I observe and experience in rivers. I engage line as metaphor, creating marks that repeat and weave themselves together like fabric or raga or indicate movement for a swaying dance.  Like rivers, some of the lines can be traced to their origins, but another’s end and beginning may never be found. My focus is sometimes on directing and ordering line, but mostly I am intrigued by tangles, overlays, apparent disorder. I am in awe of the insistent quality of a line released to follow its own direction, like a river wending its own path of necessity. I follow the lines I make, alert for the furls and rapids as I go. I hear my voice and see my movement in these lines and merge with the direction of the river.

Statement  |  Collections  |  Exhibitions  |  Juried  |  Related  |  Distinctions  |  Teaching  |  Workshops  |  Education

 

Collections

  • Elmbrook Memorial Hospital Cancer Treatment Center, Brookfield, WI
  • Alverno College, Sacajawea Collection, Milwaukee, WI
  • Wright Art Museum, Beloit College, Beloit, WI
  • Neville Public Museum, Green Bay, WI
  • Nebraska Wesleyan University, Lincoln, NB
  • Carroll College, Waukesha, WI
  • St. Norbert College, De Pere, WI
  • Mount Senario College, Ladysmith, WI
  • Iowa City Public Library, Iowa City, IA
  • Waukesha Memorial Hospital, Waukesha,
  • WI Medical Associates Health Center, Menomonee Falls, WI
  • Kurten Clinic, Racine, WI
  • Swidler, Rollo & Goldberg Law Offices, Chicago
  • Hart & Bruner Law Firm, Minneapolis, MN
  • Cooke & Franke, Milwaukee, WI
  • Quarles & Brady Law Firm, Milwaukee, WI
  • NSEA Industrial Systems, Milwaukee, WI
  • Arthur Anderson Corp., Milwaukee,WI
  • Quad Graphics, Pewaukee,WI and Saratoga, NY
  • Allen Bradley Corp., Milwaukee, WI
  • Valuation Research, Milwaukee, WI
  • KMC Stamping, Port Washington, WI,
  • Arthur Young and Assoc., Milwaukee, WI
  • JH Collectibles, Milwaukee, WI
  • Mosinee Paper Corporation, Mosinee WI (commission)
  • Cherne Corporation, Minneapolis, MN
  • Northwestern Mutual Insurance, Woodbury, MN
  • Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance, Milwaukee, WI & Hartland, WI (5 river works)
  • Southeastern Banking Corporation, Miami, FL
  • GE Medical Systems Buildings, Milwaukee WI (5 commissioned pieces)
  • Independence Bank, Waukesha, WI
  • Winmar Building, Milwaukee, WI
  • MCI Telecommunications, Denver, CO
  • Universal Foods,Milwaukee,WI
  • Major Trends, Milwaukee, WI
  • Ernst & Young, Milwaukee, WI,
  • Orbis-Division of Menasha Corp., Oconomowoc, WI
  • Private Collections in the Midwest

Statement  |  Collections  |  Exhibitions  |  Juried  |  Related  |  Distinctions  |  Teaching  |  Workshops  |  Education

 

Selected Exhibitions
Invitational and Individual

  • Wisconsin Women Printmakers, Quadgraphics Gallery, Pewaukee, WI
  • Journey, One person exhibit, Carroll College, Milwaukee, WI , October 1999
  • One person show, Peltz Gallery, July-August, 1999
  • Gardens, Paine Art Center, Oshkosh, WI
  • Stitchers & Beaders, America’s Best, Invitational Exhibit, Ohio Craft Museum, Columbus OH,
  • Remarkable Women, Annual Show, Peltz Gallery, 1996-2004
  • Prints Created on Bunch Presses, Water Street Gallery, Prairie du Sac, WI,
  • New Works, Barbara Manger, Katie Gingrass Gallery, Milwaukee
  • Synectics, Three Person Show, Viterbo College, La Crosse, WI
  • MC Gallery, Three person show, Minneapolis, MN
  • Celebrating the Stitch, Group Exhibit, Chicago Cultural Center, travels US & Japan
  •  (catalogue)
  • Mount Mary College, one person show, Milwaukee, WI
  • Monoprints, group show, Grace Chosy Gallery, Madison,WI
  • Tory Folliard Gallery, Three person show, Milwaukee, WI
  • Gifts from the Earth, New Visions Gallery, group show, Ithaca, NY
  • On Site, Installations, Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI
  • 5 sides and some tops, Southern Ohio Museum of Art & Culture, Portsmouth, OH
  • Lithographs; Hand Editioned by John Gruenwald, UW-Waukesha, Waukesha, WI Making Paper: Wisconsin, Group show, Wustum Museum, Racine,WI
  • Perspectives: Barbara Manger, one person show, J.M. Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI
  • In Line, One person show, Alverno College, Milwaukee
  • New Wisconsin Fibers, Galerie Filambule, Lausaunne, Switzerland (sponsored by Wisconsin Arts Board, travels to UW WI-Eau Claire, Macalester College, ST. Paul, MN, Kenyon College, OH, etc., catalogue)
  • Assemblage: WI Paper, Bergstrom Museum, Neenah WI
  • Out of Line, One person show, UW-Platteville, WI
  • Drawing: The Fundamental Art, 5 person show-Cudahy Gallery, Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI
  • Wisconsin Fibers, Invitational, Wustum Museum, Racine (catalogue), work reproduced in  American Craft Magazine
  • Haitian American Institute-Musee Nationale of Haiti, group show tours Haiti, Dominican Republic, Guyana (catalogue)
  • Would You Believe It’s Made of Paper, Group Show, Peter M. David Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
  • Patterns and Borders, group show, Ross Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
  • Invitational Group Show, Artemisia Gallery, Chicago, IL
  • Headdress, J M Kohler Art Center, Sheboygan, WI
  • One person show, Concordia College, Milwaukee, WI
  • Statements, group show, Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA (catalogue)

Statement  |  Collections  |  Exhibitions  |  Juried  |  Related  |  Distinctions  |  Teaching  |  Workshops  |  Education

 

Juried Exhibits

  • Wisconsin Directions, Milwaukee Art Museum
  • National Small Prints & Drawings, Fort Hays State University, Hays, KS
  • Crafts National, Zoller Gallery, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
  • National Drawing & Small Sculpture Show, Del Mar College, Corpus Christi, TX-1973, 75, 76, 81, 85
  • Just Plane Screwy: Metaphysical & Metaphorical Tools by Artists, Wustum Museum, Racine, WI
  • Wisconsin Watercolor, Wustum Museum, Racine WI-awards 1989, 2004; 2005
  • Beloit & Vicinity Show, Juror’s Award, Purchase Award-1989: Beloit College, Beloit, WI
  • A Show of Hands, Carnegie Museum of Art, Oxnard, CA
  • The Aesthetic Excursion, Wustum Museum, Racine, WI
  • Fiber Structure National V, Downey Museum of Art, Downey, CA
  • Pieceworks II, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA (travels through Southeastern states)
  • Open Door, Elvehjem Museum of Art, Madison, WI
  • Paper/Fiber VI, Juror’s Award, Purchase Award, The Arts Center, Iowa City, IA
  • Works On/With Paper, Cheney Cowles Museum, Spokane, WA
  • Burpee Art Museum Annual, Rockford, IL
  • Wisconsin Biennale, Madison Art Center, Madison, WI
  • Midwest Landscape Show, Nebraska Wesleyan University, Lincoln, NB-University Purchase Award,
  • College of the Mainland National Competition, Texas City, TX
  • The Wichita National, Wichita, KS
  • National Fiber Arts Show, Dalton, GA

    Gallery Representation

  • Peltz Gallery, Milwaukee, WI

Statement  |  Collections  |  Exhibitions  |  Juried  |  Related  |  Distinctions  |  Teaching  |  Workshops  |  Education

 

Related Activities

  • Founder(1997), President (1997-2002), Artists Working in Education, Inc, Non-profit organization providing meaningful art experiences for children in schools through its School Studio Program and in inner city parks with its Truck Studio Program
  • Juror-various art exhibits—Neville Public Museum, Green Bay, WI; J. M. Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI;  University of WI-Green Bay, University of WI-Oshkosh, Art Center of MN; Carroll College; Panelist, WI Arts Board
  • Member, Public Art Subcommittee, City of Milwaukee Arts Board, 1997 to present; Board of Nia Imani-transitional living facility for women in recovery, 1995-present; 
  • Past  Board member, Wisconsin Painters and Sculptors; Walker’s Point Center for the Arts; ; Wisconsin Painters and Sculptors; Walker’s Point Center for the Arts; Artists Advisory Committee, Cudahy Gallery, Milwaukee Art Museum;   Grants Advisory Committee-Women’s Fund, Greater Milwaukee Foundation-1998 to 2005; Tirimbina Rain Forest Center, Costa Rica, Preservation, Research & Education Center 1997-2004;  Board of Trustees-Beloit College, Beloit, WI
  • Juror-various art exhibits—J.M. Kohler Arts Center, University of WI-Green Bay, Art Center of MN, WI Art Teachers Association, Exhibit-Carroll College, Milwaukee Art Museum Cudahy Gallery exhibit, etc.
  • Cross-country bike ride in support of a cure for breast cancer, 1998
        Artist discovers back-roads America during fund-raising bike trek.

Statement  |  Collections  |  Exhibitions  |  Juried  |  Related  |  Distinctions  |  Teaching  |  Workshops  |  Education

 

Distinctions

  • Artist in Residence, Mwangaza Center, Arusha, Tanzania
  • 2001 Milwaukee-Area Nonprofit Excellence Award for Young Organization for AWE, Inc.
  • 2002 Governor’s Award in Support of the Arts from the Wisconsin Foundation for the Arts for convening a group of artists and educators in 1998 to form Artists Working in Education, Inc. to fill the void produced by cuts in public school funding for arts programs.
  • 1999 Lynde Uihlein Award, Women’s Fund, Greater Milwaukee Foundation
  • Artist’s Residency, Ragdale Foundation, Lake Forest, IL, March, 1983; January and November, 1984
  • 1986 Wisconsin Arts Board Grant for Milwaukee Montessori School Peace Project
  • 1986 Wisconsin Arts Board Grant, Project Director, Bicentennial Project,
  • 1975 Artist for Dairy land Graphics Project, Wisconsin Arts Board, Oak Creek, WI
  • 1983 Edition of 10 lithographs chosen for Sacajawea Award, Professional Dimensions.

Statement  |  Collections  |  Exhibitions  |  Juried  |  Related  |  Distinctions  |  Teaching  |  Workshops  |  Education

 

Teaching

  • On-going printmaking workshops in Grafton Studio-second and fourth Fridays
    Contact Barbara for specifics.
  • The Clearing, Ellison Bay, WI, summer classes, (Wood Block Printing)
  • Specialty teaching classes in Drawing in Nature
  • Carroll College, Waukesha WI 1997-2000, Adjunct Professor,
  • Cardinal Stritch University, Milwaukee, WI, Instructor, Gallery Director,1987-97; Assoc. Professor, 1987
  • Alverno College, Milwaukee, WI, 1976-82; Art Department Chair, 1976-1977; Gallery Director 1977-82

Additional Teaching and Workshops

Fayetteville State University, Fayetteville, NC; Concordia College, Milwaukee, WI; Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI; Rhinelander School of the Arts, Rhinelander, WI;  Wustum Museum, Racine, WI; Peninsula Art School, Fish Creek, WI; UW-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI

Statement  |  Collections  |  Exhibitions  |  Juried  |  Related  |  Distinctions  |  Teaching  |  Workshops  |  Education

 

Education

  • BA Art, Spanish, Beloit College,
  • M.S. Painting/Sculpture, University of Wisconsin-Madison
  • MFA Painting/Sculpture, University of Wisconsin- Madison
  • Study with Toshi Yoshida, Miasa Bunka Center, Japan

February 2005

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