Faythe Levine - Assistant Curator Statement

“Florence’s Fabric”

Lending my assistance in weaving together the life of Florence Hasard led me to connecting dots between her life and a plethora of female-focused driven history in Wisconsin. I facilitated interviews with Wisconsin historians and experts, and researched local archival materials, then laced together that supported Häussler’s vision of Hasard’s life.  A highlight was discussing Florence with Dr. Sarah Anne Carter- Curator and Director of Research, Chipstone Foundation and she summarized what I was feeling at my core about the Tale of Two so eloquently “I think about the relationship between history, narrative, and historical fiction. How we can combine those fields to tell stories that can reveal hidden patterns and bring to life peoples stories you might not be able to read about in a traditional history book.”

Faythe Levine is the assistant curator at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center. She also a filmmaker and author, over time her work has accumulated into a large portfolio centered on themes of community, creativity, awareness, process, empowerment and documentation. Levine’s two most widely known projects, Sign Painters (2013) and Handmade Nation (2009), both feature length documentaries with accompanying books, have toured extensively in formal and renegade outlets. All of her work aims to communicate honesty, authenticity and quality of life. She has made it a priority that her projects stay approachable and accessible to a large audience, interacting with people in a way that establishes creativity as a vehicle towards personal independence.