In honor of Labor Day, a few images of workers from the Grohmann Museum at the Milwaukee School of Engineering. We began a recent visit at the rooftop sculpture garden with these larger-than-life bronze figures, where there were also some attractive plantings that were holding up well to this summer's extreme weather.
This is a view looking down at the elaborate mosaic work in the entrance floor from an upper floor stairway.
Most of the artworks in the museum — not surprisingly — showed men as depicted by male artists. While the men were doing a wide variety of jobs, the women pictured tended to be doing a limited number of typical female tasks: spinning, weaving, and agricultural work. That's probably why I was so taken with this painting: "The Carpenter Shop of Sophie Christensen," 1899, by Maria Christine Thymann, a Danish artist who lived from 1867-1928.
Here's a critical view of some of the work in this collection from reporters Mary Louise Schumacher and Whitney Gould of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that appeared at the time the museum opened. (We did see signage that addressed some of these concerns on our visit last week).
I like that painting too. It reminds us that not everyone follows the norm. I worked as a carpenter for 20 years. It was a very satisfying occupation. The only woman on a 50 man crew. Back when it was news worthy. This painting makes me thank the women that came before.
Posted by: Lisa at Greenbow | Monday, September 03, 2012 at 08:48 AM
Lisa — Wow! That is an amazing story. When I moved to Madison in 1972, the jobs were listed in the newspaper by gender: jobs for men, jobs for women. And I remember the first women here being hired in positions that formerly were only men. That had to be a difficult situation, at least at first, as I am sure there was resistance. Congrats for your efforts.
Posted by: Linda Brazill | Monday, September 03, 2012 at 08:53 AM
The article here from MJS raises fascinating issues!
Posted by: Julie Siegel | Thursday, September 06, 2012 at 12:17 PM