Ongoing Partnerships
Kohler Foundation, Inc., established in 1940, has long supported the arts and education. The work of Kohler Foundation encompasses five major areas of concentration: art preservation, grants, scholarships, a performing arts series, and the management of the Waelderhaus, a historic home. Kohler Foundation is committed to the preservation of art environments and important collections, as well as Wisconsin culture and heritage. Their conservation efforts include work by numerous artists also in the Arts Center’s Collection, such as artists Kenny Hill, Ernest Hüpeden, Bernard Langlais, Eddie Owens Martin (also known as Saint EOM), Mary Nohl, Herman Rusch, and James A. Tellen. The Arts Center and Kohler Foundation have worked together on efforts to conserve, preserve and exhibit the work of these, and other artists, over the past several decades, and this partnership is ongoing.
Visit Kohler Foundation, Inc.
SPACES—Saving and Preserving Art and Cultural Environments—is dedicated to the study, documentation, and preservation of art environments and self-taught artistic activity. SPACES was incorporated in 1978 for the purposes of identifying, documenting, and advocating for the preservation of large-scale art environments. Founding director Seymour Rosen conceived of SPACES as a national (and, later, an international) organization; currently managed by Kohler Foundation in Kohler, Wis., it boasts an archive of approximately 35,000 photographs as well as numerous books, articles, audio and videotapes/DVDs, and artists’ documents. SPACES and the Arts Center collaborate on exhibitions, catalogs, and research projects and these efforts are ongoing.
Visit SPACES Archives
The Wisconsin Art Environment Consortium was formed in 2008 by the stewards of nine of Wisconsin’s art environments to build awareness of and appreciation for these sites and the artistic and cultural heritage they embody. Together they produced a guide to these sites called Wandering Wisconsin.
Visit Wandering Wisconsin
Additional Resources
American Folk Art Museum
Chauvin Sculpture Garden
Dr. Evermor’s Art Park
Intuit
James Tellen Woodland Sculpture Garden
Lenore Tawney Foundation
NarrowLarry’s World of the Outstanding
National Center for Preservation Technology and Training
Outsider Art Fair
The Painted Forest
Prairie Moon Sculpture Garden
Rock Garden of Chandigarh
Roger Brown Study Collection
St. EOM’s Pasaquan
Watts Towers
Wilson Whirligig Park
Wisconsin Concrete Park
