April 18, 2023 at 6:00 p.m.
2023 Ettinger Book Artist Series Lecture (Recording)
UW Milwaukee, In-person and via Zoom

From artist’s books and sculpture to installation and public art, Minneapolis artist and educator Karen Wirth will talk about how books, reading, and language are the common denominators in her work. A professor emeritus at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Wirth was born and raised in Milwaukee, and received her BFA in art education from UWM and an MFA in sculpture from the University of Minnesota. Her book works include offset editions, one-of-a-kind sculptural pieces, and room-sized installations. In addition, she co-designed four Minneapolis Light Rail stations and the Gail See grand staircase at Open Book in Minneapolis, which houses the Minnesota Center for Book Arts, The Loft writing center, and Milkweed Editions.

This event is being held in-person in the 4th Floor Conference Center of the Golda Meir Library on UWM's campus, and virtually via Zoom. Click here to register to attend virtually. Registration is not required for in-person attendance. 

The lecture, free and open to the public, is supported by the Ettinger Family Foundation.

For more information or accommodations, email libspecial@uwm.edu.

Winter 2022-2023

  • Karen Wirth has been invited to be a visiting artist at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee on April. 18, 2023. The visit is part of the Ettinger Book Artist Series. The visit includes the lecture and teaching a workshop for students the following day.

  • A new installation will be included in the upcoming invitational exhibition, Banned, at the Traffic Zone Center for Visual Art in Minneapolis, August 12-September 8, 2023, with a reception on August 12. The show features books that have been banned, altered by each of the 12 nationally known book artists.

  • The exhibition Kohler’s Sampler: Assorted Artists’ Books at the University of Wisconsin-Madison featured four artist’s books by Karen Wirth. The show is continuing through spring semester, 2023. 

  • Three of Karen’s artist’s books were included in UWM Creates, a retrospective of student/alumni, and faculty-created artwork spanning nearly 65 years from UW-Milwaukee Special Collections and the UWM Union Art Gallery Art Collection. The show was on view in the Fourth Floor Exhibition Gallery of the Golda Meir Library starting September 2022 and was extended through February, 2023.

  • Karen contributed a collaged drawing to the invitational pop-up show, CHOPSHOP6 at the UW-Madison Art Department Fall Open Studios event. All contributed works will be included in a printed zine.

June, 2023
Residency in the Arctic Circle

Photo credit: Arctic Circle

Karen Wirth has been selected to participate in the Arctic Circle Artist & Scientist Residency in June, 2023. The international group of artists and scientists sets sail out of the Svalbard archipelago, ten degrees south of the North Pole. The three-week residency encourages collaborative research, conversation, and experimentation to engage issues around this important and increasingly threatened area of the globe.

June, 2023
Residency at Halden Bookworks, Norway

Photo credit: Halden Bookworks

Following the Artist Circle Residency, Karen Wirth has been selected as an artist-in-residence at Halden Bookworks in Tistedal, Norway. Their mission is to further cultivate the field of book arts in Norway and internationally.

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