Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission Presents 2009 Art Poster
March 05, 2009
Karen Crossley, Director, 266-5915
County Executive
The widely anticipated Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission 2009 art poster now is available. The late winter arrival of this unique signature product, in its thirty-first edition, has become a highly popular annual tradition. This year’s poster features a spectacular watercolor entitled September Flora recently painted by world-renowned Madison artist, Lee Weiss.
Over the past thirty years, the Cultural Affairs Commission has enhanced Dane County’s aesthetics with its traditional annual art poster. Thousands of high-quality reproductions printed from local artists’ work have become an integral part of the Dane County landscape. Posters from throughout the years can be spotted in public and private offices, convention spaces, commercial buildings, homes, and far off the beaten path.
Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk praised the 2009 art poster and its contributing artist. “The Cultural Affairs poster is much anticipated—both for its own beauty and its signal that spring is just around the corner. Lee Weiss, the wonderful artist who allowed the Commission to reproduce her superb painting, also reminds us that Dane County’s greatest cultural treasures are skilled, talented, generous persons such as Lee.”
Particularly noteworthy is this year’s featured artwork. The piece itself—an enchanting painting of a flowery green prairie in Madison’s Hoyt Park—is especially striking, as is the artist who created it, Lee Weiss.
Weiss, a phenomenal and unflagging artist of 80 years, is one of the most celebrated and awarded artists in Wisconsin today and named a Who’s Who in American visual arts. While living in Madison for the past several decades, she and her artwork have become internationally acclaimed.
Weiss has a unique and adventurous watercolor painting style. She developed a process of painting on both sides of the paper, turning the painting over and over while she paints, building up textured layers before detailing the subject. The result often is a rich and dreamily textured painting that still retains the transparency of the watercolor medium.
Weiss’ works have been included in such public collections as the Smithsonian Institute, the San Francisco Museum of Art, and many of the top galleries, museums and corporate collections throughout the nation. Her works even have graced the walls of the White House in Washington D.C.
So why stay in Wisconsin? “I fell in love with Madison,” says Weiss. “We came here in 1962 thinking it would be a great place to raise the kids and never left.”
“The Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission is proud and blessed to have Lee Weiss share her artistry with us and with all of Dane County,” remarked Karen Crossley, Cultural Affairs Commission Director. “Our 2009 art poster offers another stunning example of how rich our culture is, and how much talent and creativity reside in Dane County. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to share this gift with citizens, residents and visitors.”
The 2009 poster will be unveiled publicly during a special celebratory reception at Promega’s BTC in Madison on the evening of March 11. In attendance will be Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, artist Lee Weiss, commission and grant advisory panel members, and many representatives from local arts and cultural organizations who will be honored as 2007 and 2008 Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission grant recipients.
2009 art posters are available by free-will donation at the Cultural Affairs Commission Office, Room 421, City-County Building, 210 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Madison. For more information, call 608-266-4296 or email: cultural.affairs@co.dane.wi.us. Office hours are 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Other poster distribution sites include the city and village halls of Belleville, Brooklyn, Cambridge, Cross Plains, DeForest, Maple Bluff, Marshall, Mazomanie, McFarland, Middleton, Monona, Mount Horeb, Oregon, Shorewood Hills, Stoughton, Sun Prairie, Verona, and Waunakee. They are also available at the town halls of Blooming Grove, Dunn, Middleton, Montrose, Oregon, Springfield, Sun Prairie, Verona and Westport. Companion bookmarks that feature a detail of the painting are available without charge at Dane County community libraries.
More information about Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission, its grants program and signature products, can be found at www.culturalaffairscommission.com. More information about artist Lee Weiss can be obtained at www.leeweiss.com.
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