Ruth DeYoung Kohler II (October 24, 1941 – November 14, 2020) was a museum director and teacher from Wisconsin who championed under-recognized, self-taught artists and vernacular art. She was the director of the John Michael Kohler Arts Center from 1972–2016. She led the development of the Art Preserve in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, the first museum dedicated to the exhibition and conservation of artist-built environments.

Early life

Kohler was born in Chicago, Illinois to mother Ruth DeYoung Kohler and father Herbert Vollrath Kohler Sr. on October 24, 1941.[1] Her father served as Executive Chairman of Kohler Co., and her mother was a journalist and women's rights advocate.[2] Kohler attended the Ferry Hall School in Lake Forest, Illinois.[3] She earned her Bachelor of Arts in art and art history from Smith College,[4] and spent her junior year studying at the University of Hamburg.[5][6] She went on for graduate work at the University of Wisconsin.[4]

Career

Kohler's passion for artist-built environments began when her father took her for drives in Wisconsin.[7] Kohler began working as an art teacher in Beloit, Wisconsin, and then founded the printmaking program at the University of Alberta in Canada.[4] She moved to Spain in 1963 to study cave paintings of the Paleolithic Era, and worked as an artist there. In 1967 the John Michael Kohler Arts Center was established, and as her father's health was declining at the time, she returned to Sheboygan to care for him and took up volunteering at the Center,[8] before becoming the assistant director in 1968 and [9] director in 1972.[4][10] According to Kohler, some members of the arts center's board of directors were not eager "to hire a woman or anyone with the last name of Kohler".[11]

Kohler developed an Arts/Industry residency program in 1974.[12] Early on as director of the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Kohler also visited Fred Smith's Wisconsin Concrete Park, and afterwards became determined to preserve and restore similar artistic spaces.[13] She also directed the John Michael Kohler Arts Center to preserve over 6,000 objects from Eugene Von Bruenchenhein after his death in 1983.[14] In 2016 Kohler became the John Michael Kohler Arts Center's Director of Special Initiatives. She also served on the Kohler Foundation, Inc., board from 1969 to 2019,[15] serving as its president from 1999 until 2006.[16]

Toward the end of her life, Kohler envisioned the Art Preserve, which opened June 26, 2021, in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.[14] Kohler was committed to the idea that the building should include natural materials such as stone, wood, and earth, as a sign of respect for the materials often utilized by artists in creating the art environments held in the Arts Center's collection.[17] The Art Preserve was built into a hill, and designed by the Denver-based architectural firm Tres Birds using timber, concrete, and river stones from the nearby Sheboygan River.[18] The museum currently houses about 25,000 objects, the largest collection of artist-built environments in the world.[14]

Death

Kohler died on November 14, 2020.[1]

Legacy

Mount Kohler was named for Ruth and her brother Herbert Jr., in recognition of their father's financial contributor to the Byrd Antarctic Expedition.[19]

The Ruth Foundation for the Arts, with a bequest from Kohler, began providing its first grants in 2022. The foundation plans to give away up to $20 million US dollars per year,[20] and aims to provide funds for unconventional forms of art.[21]

Books

  • Umberger, Doss (2007). Sublime spaces and visionary worlds : built environments of vernacular artists. Erika Doss, Ruth D. Kohler, Lisa Stone, Jane Bianco. Princeton Architectural Press. ISBN 978-1-56898-728-6. OCLC 1126361157.[22]
  • Berg, Louise; Fred Fussell; Eleanor Jung; Laura Kohler; Marie Christine Kohler; Ruth DeYoung Kohler ll; Lisa Stone; Bradley Strudsup; Terri Yoho (2018). Kohler Foundation: A History. Kohler, Wisconsin: Kohler Foundation. ISBN 9781935861126. OCLC 1091190645. Retrieved 5 July 2021.

Honors and awards

In 1984 Lakeland College (Wisconsin) awarded Kohler with an honorary doctorate.[23][24] She was elected a fellow of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters in 1989,[25] and named an honorary fellow of the American Craft Council in 1992.[26] In 2000, she received an honorary doctorate from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design and earned the Smith Medal from Smith College for her leadership in the arts.[27] In 2005, honorary doctorate from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh,[28] followed by an honorary doctorate from Edgewood College in 2007,[29] and an honorary doctorate from Alverno College 2012. She has also received the Wisconsin Visual Art Achievement Award in 2005,[23] and the 2015 Visionary Award from the American Folk Art Museum.[30][31]

References

  1. 1 2 "Ruth DeYoung Kohler II obituary". Chicago Tribune. 2020-11-22. pp. 1–33. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
  2. ↑ "HISTORICAL ESSAY Kohler, Ruth Miriam [De Young] 1906 - 1953". Wisconsin Historical Society. 3 August 2012. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  3. ↑ "Ruth DeYoung Kohler Timeline". John Michael Kohler Arts Center. 2021-06-14. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Ruth Kohler elected Beloit College trustee". The Sheboygan Press. 1978-06-10. p. 4. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
  5. ↑ Daykin, Tom. "Ruth Kohler helped build an international reputation for a Sheboygan art museum. She has died at the age of 79". Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 2022-11-16.
  6. ↑ "Miss Kohler to study abroad". The Sheboygan Press. 1961-07-31. p. 8. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
  7. ↑ Hieggelke, Brian (25 June 2021). "Big in Sheboygan: How the New Art Preserve will Transform Coastal Wisconsin". New City Art. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  8. ↑ Schmuacher, Mary Louise (28 August 2020). "A Journey to Understand the Life and Works of Ruth DeYoung Kohler II". Milwaukee magazine. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  9. ↑ "Ruth Kohler Arts Foundation choice for arts center post". The Sheboygan Press. 1968-07-19. p. 15. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
  10. ↑ "Ruth Kohler appointed arts center director". The Sheboygan Press. 1972-03-20. p. 3. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
  11. ↑ Finkel, Jori (8 July 2009). "Way Off the Beaten Path, Letting the Outsiders In". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  12. ↑ "The Unlikely Pairing of Art & Industry". Architectural Digest. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  13. ↑ Lopez, Ruth (24 November 2020). "Ruth DeYoung Kohler II, Outsider art champion and Art Preserve founder, has died, aged 79". The Art Newspaper. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  14. 1 2 3 Schumacher, Mary Louise (27 May 2021). "Rescuing Artists of Vision". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  15. ↑ Daykin, Tom. "Ruth Kohler helped build an international reputation for a Sheboygan art museum. She has died at the age of 79". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
  16. ↑ "RUTH DEYOUNG KOHLER II In Loving Memory of Ruth DeYoung Kohler II". Kohler Foundation. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  17. ↑ Bergin, Mary (10 June 2021). "See bedazzled objects from The Original Rhinestone Cowboy, a 'healing machine' and a former lumberjack's concrete sculptures at the new Art Preserve in Sheboygan". The Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  18. ↑ Hickman, Matt (2021-03-25). "The Tres Birds-designed Art Preserve will open in Sheboygan this June". The Architect's Newspaper. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
  19. ↑ United States Board on Geographic Names and the Secretary of the Interior (2008). Geographic Names of the Antarctic 1st edition. p. 458.
  20. ↑ Loos, Ted (2022-06-29). "With $440 Million, a New Arts Foundation Spreads the Wealth". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
  21. ↑ Rovito, Rich (2022-07-01). "Ruth DeYoung Kohler II's Legacy Lives on Through This New Art Foundation". Milwaukee Magazine. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
  22. ↑ Review of Sublime Spaces and Visionary Worlds: Built Environments of Vernacular Artists
  23. 1 2 "Biz people". The Oshkosh Northwestern. 2010-12-12. p. 15. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
  24. ↑ "Two to get honorary degrees from Lakeland College Saturday". The Sheboygan Press. 1984-05-16. p. 13. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
  25. ↑ "Kohler elected Academy fellow". The Sheboygan Press. 1989-10-21. pp. , . Retrieved 2022-12-03.
  26. ↑ "College of Fellows". American Craft Council. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  27. ↑ "Ruth Kohler earns Smith medal for arts achievements". The Sheboygan Press. 2000-03-12. p. 23. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
  28. ↑ "Honorary doctorate". The Sheboygan Press. 2005-05-08. p. 22. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
  29. ↑ Derby, Samara Kalk (2007-05-21). "Edgewood message: 'Heart speaks to heart'". The Capital Times. pp. , . Retrieved 2022-12-03.
  30. ↑ "Ruth DeYoung Kohler II (1941 - 2020)". American Folk Art Museum. 18 November 2020. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  31. ↑ "Visionary Award". American Folk Art Museum. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
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