Local art interprets mysterious Munger Road for museum show
A work titled "Munger Road," by artist and Bartlett resident, Denise Laurin, has been chosen from over 130 entries for the Cedarburg Art Museum's annual exhibit running Sept. 30, 2021 through Jan. 9, 2022, in Cedarburg, Wisconsin.
The museum's eighth annual juried show challenged artists to use a square format to examine their environment during the pandemic shutdown.
Denise chose Munger Road as her subject because of its reputation as a haunted site, and because she crossed the tracks with greater frequency during the pandemic to spend time with her 92-year old mother. The work is an 18 by 18 pastel painting with a color palette of blue, green and yellow. It depicts the railroad crossing where a train, as legend has it, struck a bus caught on the tracks. The dark nature of the subject resonated with the artist because her family experienced significant deaths, one Covid-related, during 2020-21.
Juror Evelyn Patricia Terry chose 62 artists for the exhibition from a variety of submissions by 138 artists. Cedarburg Art Museum's "One Square Mile" reveals the beauty and resilience that artists can capture coming out of a world pandemic.
A recurring theme in Denise Laurin's work is the universal idea of moving from darkness into light, and the transcendence of the physical into the non-material. Denise has exhibited at The Fine Arts Building, The Chicago Cultural Center, and other regional locations. Between 2009-2014, she lived in New York City where she led a group show under the auspices of the MoMA education department. She has studied with Grace Cole, David Kassan and at the New York Academy of Art with Peter Cox.
Prior to launching her fine art career, Denise taught studio courses and art history at both Elgin and Waubonsee community colleges and the Illinois Institute of Art/Chicago. In 2015 she launched "Living Creatively," to mentor people who want more creativity in their lives, provide public speaking and demos on art, and to teach realism skills in drawing and painting. Formerly, she owned a graphic design firm and was named Woman of the Year from Women in Design/ Chicago. She holds a B.A. in Art and an M.A. in art history from Northern Illinois University. She lives in Bartlett with her husband Marc.
The Cedarburg Art Museum is an inclusive gathering space that celebrates regional and local art. Through original exhibitions and programs, the museum supports, enhances, and furthers the creative arts in the community. It is located in a grand redbrick Queen Anne style building at W63N675 Washington Ave, Cedarburg, Wisconsin.
"One Square Mile" runs Sept 30, 2021 to Jan. 9, 2022 at the Cedarburg Art Museum, Cedarburg, Wisconsin. An opening reception will be held from 1-4 p.m. on Oct. 2.
For information, contact deniselaurin2@gmail.com or visit www.livingcreatively.info.