The Wisconsin Visual Artists was founded in October 1900 as the Society of Milwaukee
Artists. Their mission was to promote the welfare of Wisconsin art and artists by
creating exhibitions across Wisconsin and the United States. It began with
membership of ten men and one woman and had their first meeting in the Milwaukee
Public Library. In 1913, the Society changed their name to Wisconsin Painters &
Sculptors (WPS). In the early days of the organization, it was closely tied to the
Milwaukee Art Society, which later became the Milwaukee Art Institute. In the 1980s
the phrase “Wisconsin Artists in All Media” (WAAM) was added to their name to
include a wider range of artists. While there were some early branches or subsets of
WPS/WAAM that emerged as a result of interest outside of the Milwaukee area, it
wasn’t until 1990 when official chapters were created. Three chapters were created
to cover more geographical area in Wisconsin and their growing membership. They are:
Northeast, South Central and Southeast. These chapters are coordinated by a
governing statewide board of directors. In the early part of the 21st century
several artist exchanges/exhibits were coordinated between WP/WAAM artists in
Wisconsin and artists in Japan. In September 2008, a more streamlined name was
created and they became Wisconsin Visual Artists (WVA). Its current mission is to
advance opportunities and services for artists and the general public, and is
committed to the importance and value of art and its creation in our society.
Just a few of its well-known artist members include Lucia Stern, Schomer Lichtner,
Ruth Grotenrath and Morley Hicks. Morley Hicks was also a board member of Wisconsin
Painters & Sculptors in the early 1950s. Two more very active and long serving
officers and artists were Lawrence Rathsack and Ruth Ewart Muehlmeier; they both
served as president.
Morley Hicks was a Milwaukee painter who was born in 1877 in Picton, Ontario. He
studied with George Oberteuffer at the Chicago Art Institute and Gustave Moeller at
the Milwaukee State Normal School. Hicks exhibited at the Milwaukee Art Institute
for the Wisconsin Painters & Sculptors in the 1930s, as well as the Art
Institute of Chicago in the 1940s. He specialized in painting modern landscapes,
streetscapes, and townscapes in oil. Lawrence Rathsack, a local painter and
educator, was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1920. He attended Wisconsin State
Teachers College going on to teach in high schools and universities including the
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee from 1956-1988. Rathsack was the president of
Wisconsin Painters & Sculptors in the early 1960s. He passed away in 2008 and
was posthumously presented the Wisconsin Visual Arts Achievement Award in 2013. Ruth
Ewart Muehlmeier was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1925. She attended Wauwatosa
High School, and then Wisconsin State Teachers College in Milwaukee. After two years
she transferred to the Art Institute of Chicago where she earned a Bachelor’s of
Fine Arts. She was the president of Wisconsin Painters & Sculptors in the late
1960s then again in the early 1970s. She is a painter, sculptor and art
historian.
