Special Exhibitions

Textile Art by Wisconsin Artist Mary Burns

Mary Burns is an award-winning artist whose work is inspired by the natural world and those who protect it. One of only a handful of weavers in North America with a jacquard loom in her studio, Mary “paints” with cotton yarns barely thicker than sewing thread, hand weaving with as many as seven shuttles through over 1,300 individually controlled warp threads. By marrying the raw elements of nature—cotton fibers—with this highly technical process, Mary captures the essential spirit and purpose of her subjects. These two unforgettable exhibits are being shown together for the first time.

Funded in part by grants from the Green Bay Packers Foundation and the Kenosha Community Foundation.

Exhibition Programs

Ancestral Women: Portraits of Elders from the 12 Tribes of Wisconsin

August 16, 2025 – November 30, 2025

Ruble Gallery

This exhibit of 23 textiles honors women elders from each of Wisconsin’s 12 Native American tribes. These are women who have held families and communities together; women leaders who have kept traditions, cultures, and languages alive. Mary Burns collaborated with elders, their families, and their communities to choose and honor them with portraits based on their photographs and stories, paired with clan symbols and culturally important landscapes that reflect the rich life of the woods and waters of their homelands.

“One of my teachers said, ‛Listen and practice the skills of your art every day so that you can hear the work when it speaks to you, and you are ready to do the work.’ This work spoke to my heart and still speaks to me. I hope it speaks to you as well… This work is dedicated to all women who have carried the light before us.”

Mary Burns

Women and Water: Woven Portraits from Around the World

August 16, 2025 – November 30, 2025

Touhey Gallery

Water is the source of all life. In many traditional cultures, water is imbued with feminine roles and symbolism. Women are the protectors of water, because women give birth and are seen as the keepers of water. This exhibit celebrates and honors water by portraying women who work with it, protect it, and advocate for it. These woven tributes are sure to ignite thought and inspire action. What is your connection to water? What does water mean to you? What actions can you take to preserve and protect it? How will you choose to be a water advocate?

Mary Burns has used her jacquard loom to hand weave 29 portraits of scientists, water-walkers, teachers, farmers, activists, poets, and healers who hold deep connections with water. Featured profiles include American conservationists Rachel Carson, Marjory Stoneman Douglas, Sylvia Earle, and Indigenous leaders Wilma Mankiller, Autumn Peltier, Sharon Day, and Tinker Schuman (Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe, Wisconsin) along with women from Canada, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mozambique, New Zealand, Peru, Russia, Sri Lanka, Ireland, and Wales. The essence of water is portrayed in woven panels hand-dyed with fresh-leaf home-grown indigo and other natural colors.

50 States of Mind: The Art of Bill Reid

October 4, 2025 – August 2, 2026

Treasures Gallery

In celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States, local artist Bill Reid presents 50 States of Mind, a playful journey across the country that blends wordplay, travel, and sculpture.

Having visited all 50 states, Reid photographs his whimsical, brightly painted steel sculptures in natural settings, reimagining each state’s welcome sign and motto with a humorous twist. From frolicking on the “Opun Range” of Nebraska to spotting “Buffaloons” in bloom and discovering Iowa’s “Unicorns” made of corn, Reid invites viewers to see the nation through a lens of creativity and laughter.

For more than 40 years, Reid has welded thin-gauge steel into colorful, character-filled sculptures that often draw on puns, homonyms, and playful language. As writer Stacey Williams-Ng once remarked, “Bill Reid is to sculpture what Dr. Seuss is to children’s books.”

50 States of Mind celebrates the diversity of the country with wit, imagination, and an artist’s deep appreciation for the places and people that make up the United States.

Coming Soon

The World of Sharks

December 13, 2025 – March 1, 2026

Touhey and Ruble Galleries

Older than dinosaurs—and more threatened than threatening—sharks are spectacular, surprising, and often misunderstood. Dive into the world of this amazingly diverse group of animals in the new exhibition, The World of Sharks.

The World of Sharks is organized by the American Museum of Natural History, New York (amnh.org) with support from Fundación Coppel A.C. The museum gratefully acknowledges Warner Brothers Discovery Inc. for its generous support of The World of Sharks. A selection of footage in The World of Sharks has been provided by Discovery’s Shark Week.