Milking Time

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. As a dairy farmer from Gale, Wisconsin who enjoyed painting scenes of farm life, Lloyd Scarseth was the ideal WRAP participant. Milking Time is representative of Scarseth’s style, which is characterized by bright colors, flatness, and thin paint application. Milking Time features a farmer leading a winding line of cows from the Black River towards a red barn in the distance. A black and white dog bounds excitedly alongside them. The trees and landscape are lushly painted in greens, blues, and yellows. The scene is imagined, though it was based on the artist’s experience, as according to Scarseth, he “never painted a real scene, only imaginary ones.” Scarseth exhibited this painting at the 1941 Rural Arts Exhibit where it was selected for publication in Life Magazine, which wrote a feature on WRAP. Life described the composition as “painted with unusual freshness and charm.” Curry appreciated Scarseth’s “characteristic primitive style” and told him to “keep right on with it.” Scarseth continued to send paintings inspired by his life on the farm to the annual exhibition.