Water’s Edge: The Art of Truman Lowe

Water’s Edge: The Art of Truman Lowe is the first major retrospective of acclaimed Hoocąk (Ho-Chunk) artist Truman Lowe (1944–2019), bringing together nearly 50 sculptures, drawings, and paintings spanning five decades of his career. Known for transforming willow, wood, feathers, stone, and other materials into remarkably fluid forms, Lowe developed an artistic language that moved between abstraction and recognizable form, exploring moving water, Woodland structures, memory and place.

Lowe’s work was inspired by Hoocąk cultural knowledge, family memories and creative practices, and his lifelong relationship with Wisconsin’s waterways and woodlands. Born near Black River Falls, he spent formative years along the Black River, experiences that became an enduring source for his art. He studied at the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse and the University of Wisconsin–Madison and later taught sculpture at UW–Madison for 35 years, mentoring generations of artists. His influence extended nationally through his work as an artist, educator, curator, and mentor, including serving as the founding curator of contemporary art at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian.

Organized by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, Water’s Edge returns Lowe’s work to the state where much of his artistic vocabulary developed. At the Milwaukee Art Museum, works from the Museum’s own collection will be presented alongside major loans, while the setting beside Lake Michigan places Lowe’s sustained exploration of water, landscape, memory, and place in direct relationship with the environment beyond the galleries.

Water’s Edge: The Art of Truman Lowe was organized by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian and curated by Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art Rebecca Head Trautmann.