MADISON – The University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Division of the Arts will bring global interdisciplinary and community artist Laura Anderson Barbata to Wisconsin for a short-term residency in early March.

While here, Barbata will curate a series of Community Conversations in Wausau, aimed at bringing together people from indigenous, immigrant and refugee communities to tell their stories and discuss elemental themes and commonalities within their work.

“Flow: Artists, Activists and Educators Working with Water” will be held from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. March 2 at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, 700 N. 12th St.

It will feature Carol Amour, author and social/environmental activist; Mary Burns, fiber artist and Jacquard weaver; Wayne Valliere, Anishinaabe master canoe-builder; Tinker Elm, Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe tribal elder, artist and poet; and Nathan Zurawski, Wisconsin Institute for Public Policy and Service/H2N). Artworks by Burns and Elm also will be on display.

“Glow: Artists, Activists and Educators Working with Land” will be held from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. March 3 at the Grand Theater, 401 N. Fourth St.

Presenters will include Nasiah Herr, lead docent, From Laos to America Museum and client services manager, Hmong American Center; Guy Reiter, executive director, Menominee Rebuilders; Song Khang, co-owner, School Road Farm; and José Ortiz, visual artist and Hispanic community outreach worker.

Story cloths and other artworks from the Laos to America Museum will be on display, and the museum, two blocks from The Grand, will offer tours and special open hours as part of the event.

Barbata’s residency is part of the Arts for Everyone, Everywhere Initiative.

Both events are free and open to the public.

About the artist

Laura Anderson Barbata is a Mexican transdisciplinary artist based in New York and Mexico City. Since 1992 she has initiated long-term projects and collaborations in the Venezuelan Amazon, Trinidad and Tobago, Mexico, Norway, and the United States that address social justice and the environment. Her work often combines performance,
procession, dance, music, spoken word, textile arts, costuming, papermaking, zines and protest.