Chippewa Valley Times

Charles Matson Lume, a professor of studio art at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, spent his 2024-25 sabbatical engaging in exhibitions and collaborative projects across the country. The university supports faculty sabbaticals as part of its focus on applied learning and research.

During this period, Matson Lume held solo exhibitions and artist talks nationwide. He received a 2025 Minnesota State Arts Board Creative Individual grant, which enabled him to work with three UW-Stout alumni—Darren Tesar (’08), Galilee Peaches (’18), and Beck Slack (’21)—to publish “at the fountain, at the fountain,” an artists' book distributed for free featuring their artwork and texts.

Two launches for the book are scheduled: one at FOGSTAND Gallery & Studio in St. Paul, Minnesota on October 4, and another at the North Shore Readers and Writers Festival at Grand Marais Art Colony in Grand Marais, Minnesota on November 6.

Matson Lume’s artistic practice centers around light as a medium. He explained that his exploration began with painting but evolved into experimenting with translucent materials to create shadows more prominent than the objects themselves. “Their ‘thingliness’ and sense of light liberated something ineffable and true,” he said. “Over time, I realized each thing had its own image — its shadow. I didn’t need to paint the thing; it had its own painting it carried around with it.”

He described a turning point in his work in 2008 when he started placing objects on the floor to use light’s reflection or refraction to generate images. Poetry is also central to his process; he reads poetry to students at every class session as a way to spark creativity.

His sabbatical included two showings of “lacuna (for Gustaf Sobin)”—one at the Minneapolis Institute of Art and another at Jack Olson Gallery at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois, where he also gave an artist talk titled “that which you fear.” The installation drew from themes of light, poetry, beauty, mortality, presence, absence, and space. According to Matson Lume: “The exhibit invited viewers to reflect on the interplay of presence and absence, the ephemeral nature of light, and the poetic resonance of space.”

He was also artist-in-residence at Bloedel Reserve in Bainbridge Island, Washington where he presented “Flowers Before Bread,” as well as delivering an artist talk at Grand Marais Art Colony.

Matson Lume has been recognized internationally with a 2025 Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant and regionally with a 2025-26 McKnight Visual Artist Fellowship.

Collaboration was central during his sabbatical year while working on "at the fountain, at the fountain." Darren Tesar now serves as program director for UW-Stout’s studio art as well as arts administration and entrepreneurship programs. Peaches lives in Brooklyn while Slack resides in Glasgow; Matson Lume called it "truly an international collaboration."

“While Darren and I live in St. Paul, Peaches lives in Brooklyn, New York, and Beck lives in Glasgow, Scotland. It’s truly an international collaboration,” Matson Lume said. “Although I have made four artist books over the last decade, I have never made one with three visual artists, let alone with three former students. I am very excited about this collaboration and believe it will provide future vitality for all.”

He added: “It is an honor to see their artistic maturation flourish. As much as I have helped to shape my former students’ artistic sensibilities, I look forward to how their art and ideas will recalibrate mine. I am inspired by their insights, wit and poetic sensibilities. I love working with them.”

A group exhibition celebrating this collaboration is planned for spring 2026 at FOGSTAND Gallery & Studio.

UW-Stout’s School of Art and Design remains one of the largest public art schools in the Midwest offering degrees across animation/digital media; game design; graphic design; illustration; industrial/product design; interior design; studio art; arts administration/entrepreneurship; fashion design/development; video production; plus an M.F.A. in design.