Roy Staab

Whirling Tennure

Roy Staab was born in Milwaukee and earned a BFA from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He spent most of the 1970s in Europe, where he conducted his own studies in drawing and painting. By 1980, he was living in New York, where he began creating outdoor installations using scavenged materials in his Brooklyn neighborhood. While aligned with early Land Art of the 1970s and 1980s in its use of natural materials found onsite, Staab's work is meant to be ephemeral, leaving no permanent mark on the land. Staabs sculptures transform as sunlight casts shadows onto the ground, adding complexity to the existing compositions of lines and forms. Many of Staab's installations, such as Whirling Tennure, utilize a carefully composed set of vertical posts that form the foundation for material to be drawn-in-space, floating above the ground. From a distance, these works form unified geometric patterns, while up close, they fragment into lines and spaces that frame and reconfigure the surrounding landscape. Staab has traveled the world installing his works in Brazil, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. Although some are documented through photographs and videos, many exist only in memory.

Sculpture Milwaukee is proud to partner with the Greater Milwaukee Foundation's Mary L. Nohl Fund Fellowship, a program of the Lynden Sculpture Garden with additional support from Joy Engine, to realize Roy Staab's outdoor installation at the Haggerty Museum of Art.

Roy Staab was born in Milwaukee and earned a BFA from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He spent most of the 1970s in Europe, where he conducted his own studies in drawing and painting. By 1980, he was living in New York, where he began creating outdoor installations using scavenged materials in his Brooklyn neighborhood. While aligned with early Land Art of the 1970s and 1980s in its use of natural materials found onsite, Staab's work is meant to be ephemeral, leaving no permanent mark on the land. Staabs sculptures transform as sunlight casts shadows onto the ground, adding complexity to the existing compositions of lines and forms. Many of Staab's installations, such as Whirling Tennure, utilize a carefully composed set of vertical posts that form the foundation for material to be drawn-in-space, floating above the ground. From a distance, these works form unified geometric patterns, while up close, they fragment into lines and spaces that frame and reconfigure the surrounding landscape. Staab has traveled the world installing his works in Brazil, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. Although some are documented through photographs and videos, many exist only in memory.

Sculpture Milwaukee is proud to partner with the Greater Milwaukee Foundation's Mary L. Nohl Fund Fellowship, a program of the Lynden Sculpture Garden with additional support from Joy Engine, to realize Roy Staab's outdoor installation at the Haggerty Museum of Art.

Roy Staab was born in Milwaukee and earned a BFA from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He spent most of the 1970s in Europe, where he conducted his own studies in drawing and painting. By 1980, he was living in New York, where he began creating outdoor installations using scavenged materials in his Brooklyn neighborhood. While aligned with early Land Art of the 1970s and 1980s in its use of natural materials found onsite, Staab's work is meant to be ephemeral, leaving no permanent mark on the land. Staabs sculptures transform as sunlight casts shadows onto the ground, adding complexity to the existing compositions of lines and forms. Many of Staab's installations, such as Whirling Tennure, utilize a carefully composed set of vertical posts that form the foundation for material to be drawn-in-space, floating above the ground. From a distance, these works form unified geometric patterns, while up close, they fragment into lines and spaces that frame and reconfigure the surrounding landscape. Staab has traveled the world installing his works in Brazil, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. Although some are documented through photographs and videos, many exist only in memory.

Sculpture Milwaukee is proud to partner with the Greater Milwaukee Foundation's Mary L. Nohl Fund Fellowship, a program of the Lynden Sculpture Garden with additional support from Joy Engine, to realize Roy Staab's outdoor installation at the Haggerty Museum of Art.

Roy Staab

Roy Staab

Whirling Tennure

Exhibition

Exhibition

Materials & Dimensions

Materials & Dimensions

Saplings, reeds, goldenrod

Dimensions variable

Year

Year

2025

Site

Site

Haggerty Museum of Art, Marquette University

Haggerty Museum of Art, Marquette University

Credits

Credits

Courtesy of the artist

Courtesy of the artist

Courtesy of the artist


Social Choreography Score

by Kim Miller

Social Choreography Score

by Kim Miller

Social Choreography Score

by Kim Miller

With each new season or cycle, something ends and something begins.
Think of a season in your life that is beginning.
Move around the sculpture while keeping this beginning in mind.
Move until you reach the place you started.
Raise your hands to the sky, then lower them when your thoughts drift.
With each new season or cycle, something ends and something begins.
Think of a season in your life that is beginning.
Move around the sculpture while keeping this beginning in mind.
Move until you reach the place you started.
Raise your hands to the sky, then lower them when your thoughts drift.
With each new season or cycle, something ends and something begins.
Think of a season in your life that is beginning.
Move around the sculpture while keeping this beginning in mind.
Move until you reach the place you started.
Raise your hands to the sky, then lower them when your thoughts drift.

Nat Pyper

Does Not Language Also Follow The Path of the River

Nat Pyper

Does Not Language Also Follow The Path of the River

Nat Pyper

Does Not Language Also Follow The Path of the River

Felix Gonzalez-Torres

"Untitled" (The New Plan)

Felix Gonzalez-Torres

"Untitled" (The New Plan)

Felix Gonzalez-Torres

"Untitled" (The New Plan)

Erin Shirreff

Dusk Form

Erin Shirreff

Dusk Form

Erin Shirreff

Dusk Form

thank you

To our generous sponsors, partners, collaborators, and supporters who make our work possible.

presenting

Founding & Sustaining
Sponsors

* indicates both Founding and sustaining founding sponsor

Anonymous
Donna & Donald Baumgartner*
Black Box Fund
Evan & Marion Helfaer Foundation
Susan & Mark Irgens*
Mellowes Family*
Sue & Bud Selig*
Julie & David Uihlein*

sculpture

Wayne & Lori Morgan

Visionary

George & Karen Oliver

Exhibition Partner

leader

Anonymous
Baird Center
Heil Family Foundation
Godfrey & Kahn

Collaborator

Betty Arndt
City of Milwaukee Arts Board
Kelli Gabel & Craig Karmazin
GRAEF
Guardian Fine Art Services
Hawks Landscaping
Mark Jungers
New Land Enterprises
Raymond & Barbara Krueger
ManpowerGroup
National Endowment for the Arts
Nonprofit Management Fund
Austin Ramirez
Syslogic Inc
Wisconsin Arts Board

Connector

BMO
Foley & Lardner
Imagine MKE
MajicPro
Milwaukee Magazine
Open Pantry
PNC Bank
PwC
Russ Darrow Group
Town Bank
US Bank
WeycoGroup
Woman's Club of Wisconsin Foundation

Sculpture Milwaukee is always free and open to the public thanks to our generous supporters.

We work with trusted community partners to ensure great contemporary art is accessible to all.

Sign up to receive news about our exhibitions and artworks, announcements, events and more

© 2025 Sculpture Milwaukee

thank you

To our generous sponsors, partners, collaborators, and supporters who make our work possible.

presenting

Founding & Sustaining
Sponsors

* indicates both Founding and sustaining founding sponsor

Anonymous
Donna & Donald Baumgartner*
Black Box Fund
Evan & Marion Helfaer Foundation
Susan & Mark Irgens*
Mellowes Family*
Sue & Bud Selig*
Julie & David Uihlein*

sculpture

Wayne & Lori Morgan

Visionary

George & Karen Oliver

Exhibition Partner

leader

Anonymous
Baird Center
Heil Family Foundation
Godfrey & Kahn

Collaborator

Betty Arndt
City of Milwaukee Arts Board
Kelli Gabel & Craig Karmazin
GRAEF
Guardian Fine Art Services
Hawks Landscaping
Mark Jungers
New Land Enterprises
Raymond & Barbara Krueger
ManpowerGroup
National Endowment for the Arts
Nonprofit Management Fund
Austin Ramirez
Syslogic Inc
Wisconsin Arts Board

Connector

BMO
Foley & Lardner
Imagine MKE
MajicPro
Milwaukee Magazine
Open Pantry
PNC Bank
PwC
Russ Darrow Group
Town Bank
US Bank
WeycoGroup
Woman's Club of Wisconsin Foundation

Sculpture Milwaukee is always free and open to the public thanks to our generous supporters.

We work with trusted community partners to ensure great contemporary art is accessible to all.

Sign up to receive news about our exhibitions and artworks, announcements, events and more

© 2025 Sculpture Milwaukee

thank you

To our generous sponsors, partners, collaborators, and supporters who make our work possible.

presenting

Founding & Sustaining
Sponsors

* indicates both Founding and sustaining founding sponsor

Anonymous
Donna & Donald Baumgartner*
Black Box Fund
Evan & Marion Helfaer Foundation
Susan & Mark Irgens*
Mellowes Family*
Sue & Bud Selig*
Julie & David Uihlein*

sculpture

Wayne & Lori Morgan

Visionary

George & Karen Oliver

Exhibition Partner

leader

Anonymous
Baird Center
Heil Family Foundation
Godfrey & Kahn

Collaborator

Betty Arndt
City of Milwaukee Arts Board
Kelli Gabel & Craig Karmazin
GRAEF
Guardian Fine Art Services
Hawks Landscaping
Mark Jungers
New Land Enterprises
Raymond & Barbara Krueger
ManpowerGroup
National Endowment for the Arts
Nonprofit Management Fund
Austin Ramirez
Syslogic Inc
Wisconsin Arts Board

Connector

BMO
Foley & Lardner
Imagine MKE
MajicPro
Milwaukee Magazine
Open Pantry
PNC Bank
PwC
Russ Darrow Group
Town Bank
US Bank
WeycoGroup
Woman's Club of Wisconsin Foundation

Sculpture Milwaukee is always free and open to the public thanks to our generous supporters.

We work with trusted community partners to ensure great contemporary art is accessible to all.

Sign up to receive news about our exhibitions and artworks, announcements, events and more

© 2025 Sculpture Milwaukee