One thing that I thoroughly enjoy, both in a professional and creative way, is writing. I’ve been lucky enough to have had several opportunities for writing here at DuMA.

I was assigned the project of writing an interpretive panel for the Arthur Geisert display cases on the second floor of the museum, relating his body of work to rural Midwest and agriculture. Not only was I excited to write, but also to learn more about an artist so prevalent and cherished at the museum. Arthur Geisert, an etcher who has illustrated countless children’s books, is incredibly influenced by rural Midwest. As a transplant to the Midwest, we’ve clearly left quite the impression on him. After reading through several of his books, and noticing the stark impressions of the Midwest within his work, I began the task of writing.

Initially, I wanted to think about who was going to be reading this panel, and I quite simply sorted readers into Midwesterners and Non-Midwesterners. I wanted to play off of Midwesterners’ nostalgia as well as be descriptive enough to have a visceral experience for the Non-Midwesterners. I like to use a lot of pathos in writing because I believe appealing to reader’s emotions can be a very powerful tool when attempting to connect readers to whatever it is you’re writing about. Once I knew how to approach the writing, I researched Geisert’s biography and body of work, which included reading several of his books. I looked for things that I personally connected with as a Midwesterner. After constructing a draft, I asked for feedback from DuMA staff, and applied their helpful input into the final write-up. I’m excited to be contributing to the interpretive content at the museum!