The work of contemporary artists who manipulate glass and paper to elevate these ordinary mediums to the realm of the exceptional can be seen in two exhibitions at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausau. The shows are on display from Feb. 4 to April 9, 2006.

"Paul Stankard: A Floating World" honors the extraordinary work of the undisputed master of floral glass paperweights, through 75 objects spanning his forty-year career. The Woodson Art Museum welcomes Stankard to Wausau for a six-day residency from March 7-12, in what promises to be an exhibition highlight. Both adults and Wausau-area students will have a chance to interact with Stankard and see him demonstrate his techniques.

"In Stankard's art, nature is crystallized," says David Revere McFadden, chief curator of the Museum of Arts & Design, New York, which organized "A Floating World." "With amazing technical skill, the artist creates flowers and insects that rival the perfection and diversity of nature. Stankard melts and manipulates colored glass rods in the lampworking process, and then encases them in glass crystal. The magnifying effect of the crystal brings out every intimate detail, from the fuzz on the inside of a petal or bumblebee's body to the fine sheen on a dragonfly's wing."

Stankard's floating worlds reveal his deep interest in nature's cycles and patterns, as well as a sense of spirituality and mystery. The careful observer gradually notices in his paperweights miniscule words and tiny figures entangled among the plant roots that symbolize the vital forces that flow through all living things. He strives for "organic credibility" by constantly experimenting to find correct colors or special techniques that allow him to capture the beauty of flowers with an artist's sensibility and a poet's awareness of a deeper meaning.

"Paper Cuts: The Art of Contemporary Paper" explores a material often taken for granted, but for which there is virtually no limit to what it can do and how it can be manipulated. Forty objects by 26 American artists reveal innovative and exciting uses of paper, from the utilitarian to the purely artistic.

The artists in "Paper Cuts" employ a wide range of techniques, including mixed-media assemblage, three-dimensional collage, quilling and papier-mâché. They also take advantage of paper's contradictory nature: transient or enduring, delicate or strong, smooth or highly textured, filter or barrier, flat or voluminous.

The exhibitions "Paul Stankard: A Floating World" and "Paper Cuts: The Art of Contemporary Paper" and their complementary programs are made possible by presenting sponsor Wausau Paper and media sponsor WSAW-TV7. Stankard's artist residency is made possible by a Community Arts Grant from the Community Foundation of North Central Wisconsin.

If you go:

Admission to the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, open Tuesday through Sunday, is always free. The museum is located at 700 N. 12th St. in Wausau; its phone number is 715-845-7010. Visit the Woodson's Web site for information on exhibition-related events and planning your visit to the museum. You can also search PortalWisconsin.org to find Woodson events. If you'd like to plan a fun, full-day excursion to Wausau, see our "Day Trip" article written by the Woodson Museum's Marcia Theel.