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UWDCC’s 1 millionth image represents Wisconsin Idea
by Kristin Knipschild
Library Communications
Posted 10/3/2005
MADISON, Wis. — Today, the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections Center digitized an image that represents the Wisconsin spirit and marks a significant achievement for the UWDCC and the university community — digitizing and launching their 1 millionth digital object.
The image, “Harvest Time,” is a painting by Lois Ireland that shows the picturesque nature of Wisconsin’s rolling hills, cobalt skies, regional agriculture and rustic barns. The scene reflects the people, land and products of rural Wisconsin and is likely familiar to anyone who has traveled Wisconsin’s roadways.
Ireland is a native of Waunakee who studied at the University of Wisconsin under UW’s first Artist-in-Residence John Steuart Curry. By the age of 15, Ireland began showing her work in art exhibitions sponsored by the Wisconsin Rural Art Project, a university program in which Curry mentored and encouraged amateur artists throughout rural Wisconsin.
“Harvest Time” is included in John Rector Barton’s Rural Artists of Wisconsin. The book, published in 1948, documents artwork displayed in the Memorial Union during the 1940s by the Rural Art Committee in an effort to highlight non-professional rural artists throughout the state. The overarching goal of the exhibits was to promote greater interest in the cultural treasures of Wisconsin, and following the Wisconsin Idea, extend work from the UW beyond the boundaries of the university to the boundaries of the state.
The Wisconsin IdeaThe boundaries of the campus are the boundaries of the state. |
More than half a century later, and armed with new technologies, the UWDCC works to
publish and promote the university’s research and resources beyond geographic boundaries. Through the work of the UWDCC, “Harvest Time” can now go beyond Wisconsin and onto the World Wide Web.
While launching the one-millionth digital object is a significant milestone, the UWDCC has done more than launch digital objects. For the past five years, the UWDCC has worked to build partnerships with UW System faculty and staff, refine project development processes and work cooperatively with library and technology staff to create and preserve online research resources according to professional standards. Often this required developing innovative ways of presenting a variety of resources including digitized video and audio, archival images and manuscript collections, rare books, maps and more. As the UWDCC looks ahead, they will continue to develop online digital resources in the spirit of the Wisconsin Idea and facilitate scholarly research and communication beyond the boundaries of the university.
“Harvest Time” and the entire contents of Rural Artists of Wisconsin will be available as part of the Arts Collection in October 2005.
