Menomonie Women's Club to host Helen Mears Art Contest

Each year, the GFWC – Menomonie Woman’s Club hosts the Helen Mears Art Contest for 7th and 8th grade students in Dunn County. The contest honors the legacy of Helen Mears, who was born in Oshkosh in 1872.

At the age of 20, her clay sketch of a woman and a winged eagle, entitled “Genius of Wisconsin,” was commissioned for the World’s Columbia Exposition of 1893. The completed nine-foot marble piece now stands in the Wisconsin State Capitol.

She passed away in 1916 in New York City, and in 1927, the General Federation of Woman’s Clubs – Wisconsin honored Helen Mears’ memory by inaugurating the annual art competition for school children. Students from Menomonie, Boyceville, and Elk Mound Middle Schools, as well as St. Paul’s Lutheran, Summit Academy, and Home School students, will be participating in this year’s contest.

The artwork will be judged by local artists, and the winners will be announced on March 31st at 7 pm at the Mabel Tainter Center for the Arts. The public is invited to attend the announcement of the winners as well as view the artwork, which will also be on display for the entire month of April at the Rassbach Heritage Museum in Menomonie.

Submitted article.