An exhibit of art and poetry celebrating a walk along The Old Road (now known as the old 131 trail) will open Wednesday, April 18, in the Kickapoo Valley Reserve Visitor Center.
Created by local artist Susan Cushing and local poet Joanne Adragna Shird, the exhibit, entitled “The Old Road: Walking into Beauty,” is a series of walnut ink drawings and poems that invite viewers to share a walk along The Old Road, which is how the creators think of the Old 131 Trail through the center of the Kickapoo Valley Reserve.
The opening is sponsored by the Friends of the KVR and will begin at 5:30 p.m. Appetizers will be available, and the artists will make brief remarks about the work at 6:15 p.m.
“Walking this ancient pathway connects us to the human history held here, from earliest Ho-Chunk, to settlers, to busy highway, and now a favorite walking trail for many people,” Cushing said. “These drawings and poems share a small part of what we experience of changing seasons, weather, and meetings with kin that we are blessed with in the many hours we spend on The Old Road.
The road “also connects all the lives along the way,” she said. “We humans share the road with myriad plants, animals, birds, water life, and the microbiotic life that are part of all that is here.”
The exhibit will run from April 18 through May 4. The KVR Visitor Center, located at S3661 Highway 131, one mile north of La Farge, is open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. There is no charge to tour the center or this exhibit.
At 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 18, Wisconsin Poet Laureate Karla Huston will give a Driftless Dialogue lecture entitled “Experience Nature and Poetry Hand in Hand.” A lifelong Wisconsin resident and graduate of West Salem High School and University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Huston has written five chapbooks of poetry. She began writing poetry while teaching creative writing at Neenah High School.