WAUSAU – The Center for the Visual Arts has opened two new art exhibits at its galleries in downtown Wausau.

“Water Shields and Damselflies,” a solo exhibit by Katherine Steichen Rosing, will be on display in the Caroline S. Mark Gallery. “Maps & Mazes,” a show featuring map artist Sophia Parr and maze artist Raymond Kaselau, will be on display in the Vault Gallery. A public reception for both will be held at 5 p.m. June 23.

“Water Shields and Damselflies” is a body of work that emerged after Rosing’s artist residencies at the St. Croix Research Station in Marine on St. Croix, Minnesota, and the Trout Lake Research Station in northern Wisconsin. It looks to examine the delicate relationships between the tiniest organisms and those creatures which may be overlooked.

“When I try to understand the world, I imagine what invisible things and processes might look like and how all these tiny things are connected,” Rosing said. “I play with these ideas using shape to create visual rhythms along with color and texture to suggest hidden energies and the intricate relationships between even the most minuscule creatures and their roles within ecosystems.”

“Maps & Mazes” puts together two artists which offers you, as a patron, to consider the lines you travel each day and how you would compare to a map or maze. Ink drawn maps made by Parr feature a dozen towns surrounding the Wausau area come together with mazes
created by Kaselau which use line and shape to visually and metaphorically move the viewer through space.

“As a person, I have always been fascinated by how places can have such profound meaning in people’s lives,” Parr said. “Whether rural, urban or in the suburban intersection, every place in the world is likely to hold some memory or feeling for someone. As an artist, I discovered a way to capture these memories or feelings through map making.”

If you go

What: “Water Shields and Damselflies”
When: Through Aug. 12. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Friday; noon to 4 p.m. Saturday
Where: Caroline S. Mark Gallery – Center for the Visual Arts, 427 N. Fourth St., Wausau

What: “Maps & Mazes”
When: Through Aug. 12. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Friday; noon to 4 p.m. Saturday
Where: Vault Gallery – Center for the Visual Arts, 427 N. Fourth St., Wausau