Material Culture

A Madison woman finds her new home’s previous tenant found a way to recycle old highway signs - and repair his floors at the same time.The purchase of a…

Artists aim to create artwork that's both "beautiful and functional" from bicycle parts.Since it was first invented in Europe in the early 1800s, the…

How do you design a museum that's eco- and kid-friendly?As Wisconsinites, we're lucky to have access to some really stellar museums. Our state boasts…

A souvenir is usually something someone brings back from somewhere they paid a visit. But what happens when the somewhere no longer exists? That's the…

When Lake Effect's material culture contributor Gianofer Fields was a kid, her father worked at Pelton Steel Casting Company in Milwaukee. Very simply…

This summer the Chipstone Foundation challenged artists from all over Wisconsin to use just one tool to create a work of art. Contributor Gianofer Fields…

This artist's canvass is his own body.As a material culturalist, the conversations I have with artists are usually about how they use tools to change one…

For the past several months, Lake Effect's material culture contributor Gianofer Fields has been asking artists throughout Wisconsin a simple question: if…

If you don't carve your pumpkins, someone will. Halloween may be over, but pumpkin season doesn’t have to be. There are plenty of pumpkin seeds to be…

As a student of material culture, Lake Effect contributor Gianofer Fields examines the meanings behind objects - what they signify historically and to an…