To the Moon Alice, a title that has more to do with the moon shot of the 60’s than it does the 50’s sitcom catchphrase it conjures. When John Bergstrom showed an interest in sponsoring an ACRE sculpture and scanned the juried selections, it took him literally seconds to make the connection between this solar activated work and the symbolism of this century’s moonshot; the immense challenge of getting to 100% renewable energy. It was immediately clear where we needed to install this work, at the birth site of Appleton’s electric future near the historic Atlas and Vulcan Mills site where the first power generator lit up these Mills and Henry Rodger’s home.

It was quite literally a week After the Storm of EF0 and EF1 wind events tore though Appleton, stripping it of over 1000 mature trees from the public terraces and many more from private property and outlying urban forests. Though purely coincidental, the devistation provided the artist Anthony May with an incredible opportunity to tell a timely story. By integrating chunks of storm loss trees into the work, he opens the dialogue about the impact of devastating effects of extreme weather events that we are just now starting to come to grips with and find new ways to adapt to them.

Prairie Song Q. is part of a series of works inspirited by Fermilab’s particle accelerator, interpretations of the aftermath of particle collision; disintegration arcs, exploding masses, atomic regeneration into new and often astonishing elements. We have been a fan of Guy’s particle series since his first entry in 2017, and after three attempts to get into the exhibition, are so pleased to welcome Prairie Song Q. , an example of the sometimes fantastical and obscure organs of inspiration artist draw upon.

The Collective is sponsored by Brian Moore and daughters in honor of Linda Kuplic Moore, outsider artist and found art fan, loving wife, mother and grandmother. Linda was a huge advocate for lesser known artists who work outside mainstream artist circles, either because they aren’t capable of handling norms, have an aversion to the limelight, or just don’t care about getting recognition. She had a great relationship with poet Ellen Kort and collaborated on a number of books and arts related projects. One of Ellen’s poems in embedded in the sidewalk next to the found object sculpture.

Brothers Nathan and Ben Pierce are both represented by the ACREofART at either end of the pedestrian bridge that connects Arrowhead Park with the northbound portion of the Loop the Lake Trail. Nathan’s Better Days is installed one the north end and brother Ben’s Sum or Our Parts on the south, focal connections between Neenah and Menasha (and Fox Crossing). We saw and opportunity to create this deliberate pairing of sculptures as a means of telling a bigger story and strengthening the bridge between two brothers who work in the same medium and in the same town.

This work was selected by Dr Georgen, the ER physician on call who treated the fatally wounded victims of the 2015 Friendship Trail shooting. His desire was to find a public artwork that could speak to the tragic loss and the ability of a community to stitch themselves back together after such horrific and tragic events. The hurt never goes away for the families that lost loved ones, but we must come to an understanding that we are a diverse community that makes of the whole and we’re stronger when we stand together.

home is a mobile and transitional artwork that travels around the Fox Valley with the intent to highlight and initiate conversations about various causes; the growing homelessness crisis, the lack of affordable housing, the challenge of veterans to reenter society upon return from war zones… and more. As simple as the definition of the word is, our personal meaning differs dramatically from one individual to the next. What does the word home mean to you and where do you want to see it go next?