Gallery of Chairs
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Help support the Charles Allis and Villa Terrace Art Museums' work in the community by attending our A Chair to Remember Chair-ity Auction Wednesday, June 19, 2013. This annual premiere fundraising event includes hors d'oeuvres provided by Shully's Cuisine & Events, a cash bar, live music performed by violinist Marco Gensch, the "Hot Seat" silent auction and live Chair Auction. Proceeds from the evening help support the six exhibitions of Wisconsin artists, veterans workshops, and the Milwaukee Public Schools arts programming that we do each year.
6:00 - 9:30 p.m.
Tickets $25
RSVP with Ann at RSVP@cavtmuseums.org
or 414/278-8295 x5
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4rotation Chair / Kyle S. Thompson
Kyle has designed a versatile chair that offers more than just a single position. His chair can be rotated to four different positions with one being on its side as a bench. Using pieces of plywood and pallet wood, black stain was introduced to create contrast and to denote the surfaces to sit upon. With each rotation, little cubbies offer a place for storage or display.
And I'm Already Wrapped / Jacklyn Thomas
About her creation, Jacklyn says, “Take me home today!” is what her chair titled And I’m Already Wrapped is all about. This charming little chair has a mahogany base and is adorned with crème and gold accents. Perfect for a wedding, first communion, and Christmas, this chair could bedazzle many occasions. And… it’s alreadywrapped and ready to go!
Tired / Alicia Lee Wade
Alicia Lee Wade, who works as a Marketing Director at Schmit Bros. car dealership, was inspired to use tires when creating her chair to remember. She rescued these used tires, enhanced their diverse textures, and transformed them into functional art. Due to its adjustable heights, Alicia notes, “You may use Tired as an ottoman, table, or seat.”
Secret Garden / Samantha Gartner
Describing her creation, Secret Garden, Samantha says, “The idea for the design of this chair had been mulling in my head for a while. I finally found the perfect chair to work with. My goal with this chair was to bring the mystery of the secret garden to life. What is behind the iron gate and aged brick wall covered with ivy?”
I Invited Pope Francis To Lunch - He Has Yet To Answer / Tony Busalacchi
Tony, a retired Humanities instructor, currently specializes in creating assemblages. He has had solo shows of his work in both Milwaukee and Door County. He sees art in just about everything and draws from his vast collection of found objects to create timely, and often whimsical, pieces of sculpture. Tony suggests that when the world’s newly selected Pope comes for lunch, this is the chair you should have him sit upon.
Envy / Miguel DeLaRosa
This glamorous chair continues Miguel’s on-going work in figurative painting with his fascination with media coverage of red carpet events. His green palette references the 2013 fashion emphasis on the color green and reinforces the chair’s title: Envy.
Beginning with a 1930’s oak dining room chair, Miguel built up its back with additional hardwood and then carved wood away to shape the body. He added metallic and micro-fine glitter to acrylic paints to produce faux effects. Envy is sealed with a piano-like finish of protective polyurethane.
With this chair, you’ll have a seat at all the best red carpet events.
Book of Journeys/ Emma & Daniel Hefty
Arthropology
The Book of Journeys Chair – A chair fit for Ibn Battutah and those who choose to follow in his footsteps – was inspired by Emma and Daniel’s current international project, The Book of Journeys. Inspired by the work of the medieval Moroccan traveler, Ibn Battutah, they examine the concept of journey in its myriad forms.
Moderne Slipper Chair / Cherie Klaus
Ethan Allen Retail Inc.
Cherie believes that a slipper chair, one that is armless, is an inherently feminine chair, reminiscent of one-armed fainting chaises of past eras. After she removed the original arms from this chair, its transformation was begun. Using copper metallic paint and lace overlays, she created interlocking patterns to create balance between the heavy and the delicate. Cherie’s signature inspired her bold use of typography. Finials add a bit of heightened asymmetry. Cherie says, “The drape of hand-beaded tassels is just for luxe, and the kidney pillow is whimsical in scale and flirty in design.”
Animal Crackers / R-Way Furniture Sheboygan
This vintage once-folding chair was commissioned from R-Way by the Milwaukee Women’s Club 70+ years ago. Skylight Music Theatre purchased it and first used it in their Salon at the Broadway Theatre Center. Years later, after being repainted and reupholstered, it made its theatrical debut in Animal Crackers directed by Bill Theisen in Skylight’s 2005-06 season, starring Norman Moses, Linda Stevens and Ray Jivoff.
In A Silent Way/ Amy Thomas
Fieldworks
Amy’s goal was to find a chair that was calming and restful. “When I found this old Danish-style woven chair I thought it had wonderful lines and would also be a great chance to teach myself a new skill.” After researching Danish cording, Amy developed her own weave and says “The cording process is physically challenging, but very rewarding.” All of Amy’s work is inspired by nature. For a touch of color, she includes a floral hand-made pillow imported from Kashmir. This chair’s title, In a Silent Way, is taken from one of Amy’s favorite Miles Davis jazz songs.
Variations on a Green Theme/ Sue Gilbertson
Visual and theatre artist, Sue Gilbertson, has always enjoyed working with oil base paint and how nicely it blends and flows. For this chair she chose to combine its natural wood with a variety of greens found in nature, using lighter shades to emphasize the chair’s subtle curves. Striped fabric, whose shades of golden brown and pale green give almost an illusion of movement, has been designed and sewn to draw focus toward the seat’s center embellished with an ornate vintage button.
www.etsy.com/shop/zgilbertsonz
The Zen Bench / Nik McCalligan
The Zen Bench is a one of a kind custom bench. It is named the Zen bench because it is made to resemble one half of a Yin-Yang. Its smooth lines and overall flow combine to create a certain harmony. This custom bench is made with the finest materials including solid maple base and a hand carved solid paralam top. Paralam is an engineered material used for construction beams and has a grain that is not found anywhere else. As a finish surfboard resin was used for its UV protection clarity and
flexibility. This is a sitting bench built to last a lifetime.
The Allis Chair / Christine Westrich
This chair’s hand-embroidered emblem has multiple abstract layers. The center rose represents the Charles Allis Art Museum’s Tudor Rose motif. The rich embroidery is indicative of the Allis Library’s embossed Lincrusta wall paper. The gold ivy emulates both the Allis’ English Garden and its gold color, the treasures that are housed inside. Lastly, the octagonal border recalls old timber buttresses of the 1911 Allis-Chalmers Factory.
Floral Nature / Debra Jones
Debra shares that as she created Floral Nature, she was inspired by the work of Vincent Van Gogh, his use of vivid color and by Wisconsin-born artist Georgia O’Keefe’s love of nature.
Postcards from Paradise / Bink Steinbach
Sue Gilbertson
Relax and reminisce in this classic Adirondack, truly a “chair to remember”… to remember the historic greatness of life on Big Cedar Lake. Incorporating images from vintage postcards, brother and sister team Bink and Sue pay homage to good times past and herald good times yet to come.
The Celebrity Chair / Maria Nunez
Maria’s mixed media artwork reflects her fascination with popular culture and the entertainment industry, especially the world of musicians and movie stars. She has worked in that industry after getting a Music Business Master of Arts at New York University. The Celebrity Chair was inspired by the style of furniture she has seen backstage in rock star lounges and dressing rooms. It captures the black and white color trend in vogue for spring / summer 2013. She says, “Each side of the chair is a painting on its own with the back, the star of the series. Why should walls have all the fun?”
Reflections of Time / Sharita Hayes
Sharita created Reflections of Time as an homage to her parents and a way of remembering how, in her childhood, they and her sister dressed up and visited the glamour of downtown Milwaukee in the 1980's. She thanks her parents for giving them a chance to see new places, museums and stores. They looked forward to these ventures and were filled with pride for our city.
Nouvelle Vie / David and Kate Lompre /
Joe Vanroo
Dutch Door Creations LLC
David and Kate made this chair out of two doors that came from a house built in the 1920’s. Because the house was being remodeled, the doors were dumpster-bound. They were rescued from probable fate in a landfill and given a “new life”, in French, “nouvelle vie”. The chair’s arms, upholstered to bring together its new life with the old, turn this chair into an inviting place to sit.
Limited Seating / John Ryan
Life-long artist John Ryan says, “I was happy to participate in “A Chair to Remember”. My inspiration was immediate. I knew I wanted to saw a chair in half and paint it white. The idea was for the viewer to fill in the missing half with their imagination. The title took longer to conceive, but when “Limited Seating” came to mind, I felt it completed the piece, and also extended it as a fitting visual pun.”
Magnolia / Sharon Seib
“The inspiration for this sculpture was a combination of an old desk chair of my father’s and a magnolia tree of my mother’s which had blown down in a storm.” Instead of using traditional materials to form her sculpture, Sharon used a fibrous mixture of a low-fire white clay and recycled paper. In doing so, a form emerged which represents the traditional, yet is constructed from non-traditional material.
Beach Bum Beach Seat / Colleen McCarrier and Hannah Jablonski - HANmade Milwaukee
This playful chair is a perfect accent piece for a kitchen,sunroom, or cottage. The seat cushion, made from aHANmade Milwaukee™ Lakefront Souvenir Bandanna, can be removed for use as a decorative pillow. It’s a Beach Bum Beach Seat, or is it a Beach Seat for Your Beach Bum?
Fore / Elden Molter
Elden began making unique lamps several years ago. It all started when a friend who had violins that were beyond repair caused Elden to wonder what could be done with them. His first violin lamp was born. Since then a clarinet, fishing poles, and motorcycle parts have been wired by Elden to become creative, unexpected sources of illumination.
Dream Garden / Lisa Gandre
“In the Garden of Our Dreams Art Takes Seed…” is a quote by William H. Rose III. Lisa draws from her art experience with Custom Clothing Design, Furniture Design, and Mixed Media to Cre8 Dream Garden. The chair’s graceful structure is enhanced with a stone-like finish and a garden of yellow roses. Delicate gold edging on the vintage organza skirt with crystal accents flows with the movement and magic often found in our dreams. The seat, adorned with Swarovski Crystals, features the text and a painted, stylized rose exploding into reality.
My Grandmother's Lap / Debra Fabian
“The inspiration for my chair was Emma Ninham, my Oneida, Native American grandmother. Her loving kindness was instrumental to my creative development as an artist. I have carried fond memories of sitting in her lap as a child and created this chair to honor that memory. Oneida’s are part of the Iroquois Confederacy and calico fabric is used predominantly in the women’s clothing and hers, so I chose to replicate that on awingback chair which I have re-purposed. I am a professional upholsterer with a background in sculpture.”
The Best Seat In The House /
Jenny Kyle Smith
Jenny’s inspiration for The Best Seat in the House came from her immediate surroundings. She thought her Windsor dining room chair with its spindled back and negative spaces between slats could become more functional and serve a greater purpose. Thinking about enjoying meals with friends, lively conversation, and sharing good wine, the new purpose became clear: chair as wine rack. Furthering the “purpose” theme, Jenny incorporated recyclables such as wine corks, paper towel tubes, cardboard forms and tin cans.
Scrap / Anna Jo Baldwin
Scrap is a chair rescued by Anna from Goodwill. She recovered it entirely with new, discontinued Crate & Barrel fabrics destined for a landfill and repurposed blue jeans. Anna favors using materials she already has on hand. She says, “In creating Scrap, I hope to demonstrate the importance of reclaiming, recycling, and not wasting that which we already own.
Imagine / Kate Steinbach
Kate returns for a second time as a contributing chair creator. In the manner of last year’s popular Chalk One Up, a child’s chair doubling as blackboard, Kate brings us Imagine. She encourages art and creativity and with this great chair you’ll be able to design and redesign to your heart’s content.
Thank You!
2013
Chair Creators
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Jacklyn Thomas
And I'm Already Wrapped
Kyle S. Thompson
WILO Design Farm
4rotation
Jenny Anderson
Emma & Daniel Hefty
Arthropology
Book of Journeys
Cherie Klaus
Ethan Allen Inc.
Moderne Slipper Chair
Chris Pritchett
Anna Baldwin
Miguel DeLaRosa
Envy
Nik McCalligan
Naked Hardwood
The Zen Bench
Angela Thompson
Amy Thomas
Fieldworks
In a Silent Way
Skylight Music Theatre
Animal Crackers
Alicia Lee Wade
Tired
John Ryan
Limited Seating
David & Kate Lompre
Joe Vanroo
Dutch Door Creations
Nouvelle Vie
Samantha Gartner
Secret Garden
Tony Busalacchi
I Invited Pope Francis To Lunch - He Has Yet To Answer
Sue Gilbertson
Variations on a Green Theme
Christine Westrich
The Allis Chair
Debra Jones
Floral Nature
Bink Steinbach
Sue Gilbertson
Postcards from Paradise
Maria Nunez
The Celebrity Chair
Sharita Hayes
Reflections of Time
Sharon Seib
Magnolia
Colleen McCarrier and Hannah Jablonski
HANmade Milwaukee
Beach Bum Beach Seat
Elden Molter
Fore
Lisa Gandre
Dream Garden
Debra Fabian
My Grandmother's Lap
Jenny Kyle Smith
The Best Seat In The House
Anna Jo Baldwin
Scrap
Kate Steinbach
Imagine
