They're Cute When They're Small

In 1939, artist-in-residence John Steuart Curry and John Barton, Professor of Rural Sociology, established the Wisconsin Regional Art Program (WRAP) at the University of Wisconsin. They were supported by the Dean of the College of Agriculture, Chris Christensen. The program hosted the first statewide Rural Arts Exhibit in 1940 at the Memorial Union as part of the University’s annual Farm and Home Week. Participants were non-professional artists from rural backgrounds. WRAP encouraged laypeople to create art, cultivate personal styles, and draw inspiration from daily life. Emphasis was placed on personal expression rather than technical skill. Curry and Barton believed not only that art and culture enriched the lives of farmers, but also saw artistic expression and participation in culture as a sign of a healthy democracy. The program received national attention in the 1940s and Barton published Rural Arts of Wisconsin in 1948, featuring biographies of many of WRAP’s artists to promote the program’s mission and celebrate its success. WRAP continued under the Division of Continuing Studies at the University of Wisconsin until 2020. It hosted regional art exhibits and workshops and purchased over 110 works of art for its permanent collection. The death of her youngest son in 1935 inspired Millie Rose Briner Lalk to begin painting. She exhibited at the inaugural 1940 Rural Arts Exhibit and later exhibited a painting at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1943. She lived with her husband and sons on a farm overlooking Lake Koshkonong, which served as inspiration for her paintings of farm life. Lalk also acted in local theater, created lithographs and sculpture, and played the saxophone. She earned money to help send two sons to the University of Wisconsin by painting road signs. Lalk exhibited They’re Cute When They’re Small in the 1941 Rural Arts Exhibit and it was published by Life magazine. The vibrantly colored painting features members of her family in their farm’s pigsty. When it was exhibited, someone criticized the pig snouts as disproportionate and Curry defended Lalk, saying “That’s a part of the design; it looks more like a pig than a pig does.” Curry’s remark defended Lalk’s painting as being emotionally truthful to the subject and the artist’s experience.