Tag Archives: art

Farley Center Volunteer “Snow Labyrinth”Day!

art, community, create, culture, friendship, fun, meditational, snow, volunteer, winter

Please join us to work on the Farley Center Snow Labyrinth 2022 at the Farley Center from 11:00-1230 on Sunday, February 6.

The Farley Center snow labyrinth has been completed and will be soon open to the public. However, we would like to have volunteers come and walk the labyrinth to stamp down the snow so it is easier for people to walk it. This year we made it closer to the parking area so it is a shorter walk up the trail.

Please meet at the lower parking lot at the Center, We will walk/snowshoe to the labyrinth from there.

Please dress for outdoor weather. Wear good boots or bring your snowshoes.

Please social distance and wear masks if you feel more comfortable. We do require that all volunteers be vaccinated for the safety of all our volunteers and staff.

If you have any questions, please e-mail .

FARLEY CENTER ON SITE SUPERVISOR(S)
Director Shedd Farley
Program Director Caroline Tu Farley

Gene Farley Sculpture Exhibit

art, celebration, community, create, culture, environmental, friendship, fun, justice

Gene Farley Sculpture Exhibit
Opening Reception – Sat, Aug. 13,
1:00-2:30

Many of you who have been out to the Farley Center have noticed the many sculptures that are grace the land.

Gene Farley was a man of many talents. In addition to being the Chair of the UW Family Medicine, he was active in many progressive groups but he also enjoyed creating these large metal sculptures and drawing what he called doodles.

There are a total of 17 sculptures at the Center. There is another one in front of the Social Justice Center in Madison and another in Golden, CO.

We will kick off the Gene Farley Sculpture Exhibit on Sat, August 13 from 1:00-2:30 at the Farley Center. Please join us for light refreshments and take a map and take a self guided sculpture tour. This exhibit will be a permanent exhibit at the Center.

Linda Farley also was artistic and talented and enjoyed painting with watercolors. The watercolor is from a photo of Gene working on a sculpture. Linda named it “Sculpturer with Red Gloves.”

Farley Center Volunteer Day in the Sculpture Garden

art, community, environmental, friendship, fun, gardening, sculpture, volunteer, woods

8/3/2021

Please join Farley Center Board Member Jeanne Meier, the Spartan Youth Service (SYS) Volunteers and other Farley Center volunteers for a day working in the Sculpture Garden!

Chance to Showcase Farley Sculptures!

In addition to being a physician and community activist, Gene Farley enjoyed making sculptures, mostly in metal or wood. Many of his metal sculptures are permanently installed on the grounds of the Farley Center. We need to do some tender loving trimming so they don’t get lost in the plants which surround them.

If you would like to help with this project, grab your garden shears or clippers and come on out.

Meet at the Center at 8:20 at the Bur Oak Welcoming Area near the red packing shed.

This work is all outdoors so dress for the weather and bring work gloves and water bottles. If you have any questions, please e-mail

Rooted In The Land: Land Art Exhibition

art, celebration, community, create, culture, environmental, friendship, fun, NPS, woods

As part of the “Rooted in the Land” celebration, 26 artists are coming together to fill the NPS woods with art using only materials that can safely decompose back into the ground! This is the 5th year we’ve had artists creating in the woods and its the largest exhibition yet!

Work will be on public view August 15 – October 31, 2021.

Meet the artists at a reception September 25, 2021, 1:30-4:00pm
Thank you Bunky’s Catering for providing light refreshments and drinks.

Learn More

Farley Center Tree Carving Tour with Artist David Carlson

art, community, create, culture, friendship, fun

Tree Carving Tour and information for wood carvers and other interested folks with Artist David Carlson. This will be a visit to the tree and a walkabout on the grounds for ideas.

See: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1468380859914667

For more information, please e-mail David Carlson at

Please send an e-mail to if you plan on attending.

Greetings Artists,

I have begun to receive seed catalogues, so we know spring is on its way. My thoughts return to the Farley Center Tree Carving project. This is one of many things that Covid-19 has put on hold. The good news is that we can begin to work towards resuming.

I would like to invite you to consider what you might want to contribute to the project. Remember that the theme is “Rooted in the Land.” This will also be the theme of the 2021 land art exhibition this year.

Simply contact me with what you would like to do. The tree is divided by vine carvings into “panels” of various sizes. You can select one of those to carve, paint, or attach objects that are environmentally friendly and that fit the theme. The challenge is to create with materials that are weather resistant.

I will, when things warm up this spring, be refreshing things and then I will be working on a carving on one of the panels modeled after the oak tree we so often gather around at the center. There are lots of other ideas related to the land, such as farming, bees and bee keeping, wildlife, birds, native flowers and much more.

I hope to hear from you soon.
David Carlson

Earth Dance – 2019 Environmental Art Participation Deadline

art, environmental, NPS, woods

ARTIST PARTICIPATION DEADLINE: April 15 – May 31, 2019

All artists are invited to come and be creative on the land. All work is created out of doors, in the woods of the Natural Path Sanctuary on the Farley Center land.

Using natural materials that can decompose back into the earth, area artists have been invited to be inspired, expand creative boundaries, play with mystery, initiate surprise, explore and celebrate our connection to the earth at the Farley Center this summer.

For more information and to get involved, contact
Caroline Tu Farley ( or 608-845-8724)

WHAT’S NEW THIS YEAR
We are joining Nelson Institute in celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day along with a number of organizations. We are all promoting together and expect much more exposure and visitors than ever to see the work.

We are adding the opportunity for each participating artist to bring additional work to sell on the day of the reception as we make this a big art event for our visitors. You can set up outside or bring your work to display inside the Farley Center.

Check out what artists have created in previous exhibitions
Sanctuary 2017: Environmental Land Art at the Farley Center
Earth Sculpture 2015: Environmental Land Art at the Farley Center
Earth Tones 2013: Environmental Land Art at the Farley Center

Photo credit by Barry Sherbeck

Sanctuary: Environmental Land Art at the Farley Center

art, climate change, community, create, culture, environmental, friendship

The Farley Center presents an art exhibition at the Overture Center.

Artist reception on Friday, Sept. 28 from 6:00-8:00. Enjoy light refreshments and music by WYSO Madison Music Makers while exploring the exhibit and meeting many of the participating artists.

“Sanctuary: Environmental Land Art at the Farley Center” exhibit is a photographic tour of these art installations. It will be on display in the Playhouse Gallery at the Overture Center for the Arts September 7-October 28, 2018.

Using natural materials from the land, area artists were invited to be inspired, expand creative boundaries, play with mystery, initiate surprise, explore and celebrate our connection to the earth. The theme was “Sanctuary” which could be interpreted however the artists chose. Sixteen artists took on the challenge and created a variety of pieces on the outdoor grounds of the Natural Path Sanctuary at the Farley Center near Verona, WI the summer of 2017.

ARTISTS
Dave Carlson, Jessica Luer, Betsy Delzer, Drew McCoy, Michael Duffy, Karen Reppen, Patrick Flynn, Cynthia Reynolds, Beverly Gordon, Bobbette Rose, Chris Hindle, Jane Scharer, Lewis Koch, John Scharer, Katrina Krueger, Sue Schuetz

EXHIBITION PHOTOGRAPHER
Barry Sherbeck

The Farley Center thanks Dane Arts, the Dane County Board of Supervisors and private funders for their generous support of this exhibition including funds from the Endres Mfg.Company Foundation, the Evjue Foundation, Inc., charitable arm of the The Capital Times, the W. Jerome Frautschi Foundation and the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation.

Farley Center also thanks the Overture Center for the Arts for inviting us to exhibit in the Playhouse Gallery and helping us make this show a reality.

Sanctuary 2017

art, community, create

Artist gathering to talk about participation in SANCTUARY 2017. Get creative using natural materials from the land. This is an open invitation to create something new and fresh in the woods. There is space for everyone who wants to be involved. All work is created out of doors, in the woods of the Natural Path Sanctuary on the Farley Center land.
Learn more and access the registration form