When Lynne Railsback began painting, she didn't paint roses, orchids, or iris. The plants that grew in the woods and prairies in the Midwest were her favorite subjects. She particularly enjoyed the plants in fall and winter with their interesting shapes, colors, and textures. When she became a snowbird and moved to Florida for the winter, her subjects changed. She's still working on this transition, but her process hasn't changed.
Nirmal Raja is an interdisciplinary artist whose artistic career thrived in Milwaukee for over 30 years. She lived in India, South Korea, and Hong Kong before immigrating to the United States in the 1990s. She holds a BA in English Literature from St. Francis College in Hyderabad, India; a BFA from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, and an MFA from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee.
Shiela Reaves is a professor in the Department of Life Sciences Communication and an affiliate faculty member of American Indian Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She specializes in visual communication and is interested in how neuroscience supports interdisciplinary theories of visual imagery used in science communication and technology studies. Currently Reaves is interested in how the visual brain is attracted to science media messages.
James Rhem is an independent scholar in the history of photography and a well-known local arts critic. His publications include books on photographers Ralph Eugene Meatyard and Aaron Siskind as well as catalogue essays on Wynn Bullock, August Sander, William Eggleston and others. He has lectured on these and other topics at many college campuses in the U.S. and at the Prague House of Photography in the Czech Republic.
Katie Ries is a graduate of the University of Tennessee (MFA) and Colorado College (BA). Ries lives and works in Northeastern Wisconsin where she is an assistant professor of Art at St. Norbert College. Ries is the founder of the Land Scouts, a modern troop promoting ideas and practices of urban land stewardship for all people. Her prints, drawings, and objects are in public and private collections throughout the Unites States.
Thor Ringler works as a writer/editor at the Madison VA Hospital where he manages the My VA, My Story project. My VA, My Story team members interview veterans about their life stories, write up narratives based on the interviews, revise the stories with veteran input, add them to the electronic medical record, and share the stories with the veteran's care team. The aim of the project is to foster a closer connection between VA providers and the veterans in their care.
Ashley Roberston received her MA in City and Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, where she specialized in real estate and placemaking. She came to Madison in 2013 to work as a city planning consultant with local firm Vandewalle & Associates (2013-2017). It was during this time that Robertson launched her art career in Madison.
Sylvie Rosenthal (Madison) started building at age six at the Eli Whitney Museum where she made circuses, catapults, rockets, and robots. She received her BFA from the Rochester Institute of Technology’s Woodworking and Furniture Design Program in the School for American Crafts, built two houses from the ground up with her mentor Doug Sigler, and received her MFA in sculpture from UW-Madison.
Wisconsin Academy Offices
1922 University Avenue
Madison, Wisconsin 53726
Phone: 608.733.6633
James Watrous Gallery
3rd Floor, Overture Center for the Arts
201 State Street
Madison, WI 53703
Phone: 608.733.6633 x25
