Experience Art and Community at Wayside Days 2025

feature image: Visitors explore the work of Gregory Van Maanen at the Art Preserve, 2024.

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Sheboygan, WI — “Be open to detours and side roads—often they lead to the richest experiences,” said Ruth DeYoung Kohler II, longtime director of the John Michael Kohler Arts Center.

Whether you arrive via side roads or take a detour from your daily routine, Wayside Days at the Art Preserve — taking place September 18–20, 2025 — offers a time to embrace the spirit of her words through three days of art, live music, nature, and community gathering.

Wisconsin waysides have a long history as places for travelers to stretch their legs, picnic, and enjoy a bit of relaxation before continuing their journey. Inspired by that tradition, Wayside Days celebrates the rich experiences to be found along the detours and side roads in life’s journeys. Set at the Art Preserve, the world’s first museum to focus entirely on work from art environments, the event celebrates how stepping off the beaten path can lead to meaningful, unexpected experiences.

Wayside Days begins on Thursday evening, September 18, when the Levitt AMP Sheboygan Music Series brings its final concert of the season to the Art Preserve’s scenic outdoor grounds. The Art Preserve grounds open at 5:30 p.m., with opening singer Tiffany Xiong taking the stage at 6:00 p.m. and the evening culminating with a headline performance by Bizhiki at 7:00 p.m. — an Indigenous Indie Rock and Powwow band from Minnesota and Wisconsin known for their powerful energy and genre-blending sound. Guests are encouraged to bring picnic blankets or lawn chairs and enjoy food and drinks from on-site food trucks and a beverage tent while taking in the music under the stars.

On Friday, September 19, guests are invited to explore the inner workings of the Art Preserve during a special Behind-the-Scenes Collection Tour from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. This guided experience offers a rare opportunity to view artworks typically stored in collection drawers and to learn about the preservation practices used to care for these unique and immersive environments. Reservations are required. The Art Preserve will close at 6:00 p.m. following the tour. Earlier that day, an Open Singing Circle workshop will take place at the Art Preserve beginning at 4:30 p.m. This community workshop invites participants to learn and share traditional songs from a range of cultures—including Ojibwe powwow music, Hmong song poetry, and Appalachian folk—facilitated by The Hinterlands. Presenters will explore how oral traditions, language, and storytelling are being revitalized and sustained today, offering space for reflection, connection, and cultural exchange through song.

The weekend culminates with a lively Community Day on Saturday, September 20, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Visitors of all ages can enjoy an afternoon filled with opportunities to connect with the land, art, and one another. The day includes guided walking tours of the Art Preserve grounds, informal discussions about invasive plant species, and a hands-on Intentional Seed Bomb Making activity led by Native American educator Lucille Burr Grignon of Ancient Roots Homestead. In addition to these educational offerings, the afternoon will also feature hands-on artmaking, live music, and refreshments.

Whether you’re a regular visitor or discovering the Art Preserve for the first time, Wayside Days is an invitation to slow down, engage your senses, and celebrate the richness that comes from stepping off the beaten track.

Wayside Days is supported by the Kohler Trust for Arts and Education, Ruth Foundation for the Arts, the Mellon Foundation, Frederic Cornell Kohler Charitable Trust, Kohler Foundation, Inc., and the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts, and from the generous support of our members and donors.. For more information, visit jmkac.org.

About the Art Preserve

The Art Preserve opened in 2021 and is the world’s only collection space dedicated to art environments. Located a short drive from the Arts Center on 38 acres of land, the 56,000-square-foot, three-story building gives visitors unprecedented access and insight into the preservation, conservation, and interpretation of artist- built and artist home-based environments through tableaux and curated, visible storage. JMKAC’s permanent collection of more than 38,000 works includes complete and partial environments created by more than 30 artists, housed at the Art Preserve. Highlights of JMKAC’s collection include the largest institutional collections of Dr. Charles Smith and Eugene Von Bruenchenhein; the expansive home collections of Chicago Imagists Ray Yoshida, Roger Brown, and Barbara Rossi; Emery Blagdon’s “Healing Machine” art environment, housed in a reconstruction of its original shed; and a diverse collection of 20th- and 21st-century artworks and artifacts from China to Laos, Thailand, and the U.S. that reflect the diasporic experiences of HMong, Miao, and other cultural groups represented in JMKAC’s local community. In addition to those at the Art Preserve, JMKAC is site steward to several art environments including Mary Nohl’s lakefront home in Fox Point, Wisconsin, in which the artist transformed every aspect of the property into a comprehensive work of art.

About the John Michael Kohler Arts Center

Founded in 1967, the John Michael Kohler Arts Center (JMKAC) is a nonprofit creative hub that supports the work of contemporary artists through original exhibitions, commissions, residencies, publications, and community programming across visual and performing arts. The only institution in the world that collects artist- built and artist home-based environments, JMKAC is a leading center for the research, preservation, and presentation of artists with wide-ranging practices and backgrounds from academically trained to self-taught and folk traditions, championing long-term relationships with artists and elevating work that has often been overlooked or under-recognized. JMKAC is a vital cultural resource that responds to the needs of its local and regional communities, preserving artistic heritage by uplifting contemporary voices and empowering future generations.

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