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The exhibit runs through Jan. 3 in the Kalscheur Family Foundation Community Room with hours from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fridays through Mondays, but tours by appointment can be requested for Wednesdays and Thursdays. Admission is free.
The Driftless Historium, 100 S. 2nd St., is one of the gems among historical societies in Wisconsin. The $1.8 million, 14,500-square-foot museum, archive, research facility and community center opened in 2017 and includes artifacts from the now-closed Little Norway, campaign signs from former Wisconsin governor, presidential candidate and Primrose native Robert M. La Follette, and the re-creation of a rural general store. The facility, which includes a gift shop, also holds clothing, household goods, tools and nearly 25,000 photographs and thousands of documents. One of its newest exhibits is on the evolution of living rooms and includes mock-ups from the 1800s, 1930s and early 1960s.
The “Country Christmas” exhibit fits perfectly with the Historium’s mission and comes at a time when the state has only about 6,000 dairy farms compared to the more than 47,000 that were operating in 1978.
Four of the paintings by Eames are a little bit bigger than a piece of plywood but their huge size allowed the artist to focus on detail that would have been lost in smaller pieces. There are smaller paintings and a 3D aluminum piece from a wax mold in the exhibit, but Eames’ larger works can’t be ignored by visitors and provide a fitting backdrop for Brunner’s models.