Lee Pulaski, lpulaski@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader Photo by Lee Pulaski Simon Levin, a potter living in Gresham, stokes his kiln Thursday afternoon. The kiln was fired up most of the week as Levin and his apprentices crafted 600 pottery pieces, many of which will be available for viewing and purchase at Miles of Art.
Photo Courtesy of the Shawano Country Chamber of Commerce Megan Dorsch, an illustrator from Shawano, will showcase her work, like this piece showing a scene from a fish fry, during Miles of Art. Dorsch is among the new artists participating in the festival, which is in its eighth year.
Artists in Shawano County are hard at work daily creating beautiful works and letting their imaginations flow in studios away from public scrutiny.
Some of those studio doors will fly open to the public Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 during the eighth annual Miles of Art. Dozens of artists will show off pottery, painting, photography, furniture making and more at eight host sites, six in Shawano County.
Two sites will join the Miles of Art tour for the first time: The Menominee Cultural Museum in Keshena and Off the Wall Studio in downtown Shawano.
The cultural museum will feature artists from the Menominee Nation and other area tribes.
“The College of Menominee Nation is not participating this year, but the importance of the Menominee voice and native crafts and skills is an important part of the Miles of Art,” said Simon Levin, a Miles of Art board member whose Gresham studio is one of the host sites.
There will also be plenty of new artists to whet the appetites of local art lovers. Megan Dorsch, of Shawano, will showcase some of her illustrations.
Dorsch describe her art as a natural inclination and not necessarily a fascination with the pen and ink illustration style.
“I have some paintings, but I largely work in the pen and ink world,” Dorsch said. “This is hand to paper and canvas.”
Last year, Miles of Art formed a partnership with the Trout Museum, which purchased some of the local artists’ works. The partnership has expanded this year, Levin said, to include a number of pieces in “Undercurrents,” a show running through Sept. 24 at the Fox Cities Building for the Arts, 111 W. College Ave., Appleton.
The WOWSPACE is continuing its tradition of being a host site on the western side of Shawano County, Levin said, but there will be fewer artists this year. The upshot, he added, is that those artists will provide more pieces for display and sale.
Levin will host his apprentices’ work and the work of other local artists during the weekend. He was busy all week with his kiln, firing more than 600 pieces of pottery for the event.
This year’s Miles of Art will be bittersweet for Levin, who has been a major force for the event since its inception. He and his family are relocating to Springfield, Illinois, where his wife will serve as pastor at a Presbyterian church.
“We are actually moving the day after Miles of Art,” Levin said. “I think this is going to be a nice goodbye party.”
Miles of Art is self-sustaining after getting its start with the help of a state tourism grant. The event, which draws more than 2,000 people annually, has become so popular that word of mouth has become the best advertising, Levin said.
“You can go to many downtown business locations and get a flyer, but the best advertising has been word of mouth,” Levin said. “It helps that people who have come before have spread the word.”
AT A GLANCE
Host sites for Miles of Art:
• Menominee Cultural Museum, W4234 County Road VV, Keshena
• David Aschenbrener studio, W10181 Cherry Road, Gresham
• David Rand Memorial Site, N4933 Pine Lane, Shawano
• Old Feed Mill, Pleasant Street, Gresham
• Off the Wall Studios, 122 S. Main St., Shawano
• WOWSPACE, 208 W. Vinal St., Wittenberg
• Mill Creek Pottery, W11561 Mill Creek Road, Gresham
• Kloes Custom Furniture, N7193 Ballard Road, Seymour
More information on the host sites and the artists can be found at www.smartwisconsin.com.