Career Highlights 1997 - 2020

Select projects showcase Druecke’s work with vernacular materials and the poetics of familiarity. For a complete list of work, see Project Index. For an entertaining dive into studio archives: Ephemera and Rarities. For more information on projects send us a note. Certain works are available for purchase.

Bronze plaque at the entrance to the former Whitney Museum reads "In commemoration of the bronze plaque given to Sylone Brown who retired from being Head Guard of the Whitney Museum on June 28th, 1975 after 39 years of service."

24 x 36” bronze plaque located on 96th and Broadway, NYC with a hole through the center for viewing.

Flier inviting contributions to “A Social Event Archive” reading “A Social Event Archive invites you to contribute a social occasion photograph.”

This is Not A History 2014
A Suite of three plaques produced for the Whitney Biennial. The work responds to Marcel Breuer's quote stating his building should “translate the vitality of the street.” The piece was featured in Blake Gopnik’s Daily Pic. Additional Information.

96th Street Aperture 2014
A bronze sculpture in the form of a double-sided historical plaque installed at 96th and Broadway, NYC. The piece was part of Marlborough Gallery’s Broadway Morey Boogie. Additional information. Video documentation.

A Social Event Archive 1997-2007
ASEA foreshadowed social media’s now-familiar blurring of personal and public history. Andrew Goldstein, writing on Artspace.com, says, “A Social Event Archive is viewed as having prefigured social sites like Instagram by inviting people to give him personal snapshots that [Druecke] then displayed.” Solo exhibition at Milwaukee Art Museum 2017. Additional information.

Milwaukee Kitchen 2018-ongoing
Milwaukee Kitchen is a made-for-Youtube cooking program with the motto: always staged, never rehearsed. The program has been described as, “. . . the antidote for modern cooking shows (and everything else).” by M. Wild, The Milwaukee Record. Additional Information.

America Pastime 2020-ongoing
America Pastime is a story of upcycling that highlights litter’s complexity and hints at its potential. Photographs documenting momentary, staged dramas are posted to social media where the project is evolving to include an online auction, how-to-videos, and epistolary seduction. Additional Information.

Garden Path 2014
Multifaceted exploration of landscape, private and public property, commemoration, and class. Installed at Lynden Sculpture Garden as part of their Inside/Out series. Additional information.
Photo Credit: Wes Tank and Patrick Lichty.

Blue Dress Park 2000
Blue Dress Park marked a significant development in Druecke’s life-long interest in public inscription and naming rights. The park was christened on June 30th, 2000 without any alteration of the physical space. Located on the northwest corner of Holton and Reservoir, Milwaukee, WI. Additional information.

Collage featuring images of guests from season one of Milwaukee Kitchen during their time in the kitchen.

Pile of litter collected by Druecke featuring a lighter, a cigarette pack, plastic water bottles, and other non-descript trash.

Dirt path weaving through the lawn and trees in front of the tan and white Lynden Sculpture Garden gallery building.

Invitation to christening of Park depicting small concrete area enclosed by black fence with text “Blue Dress Park.”

72 x 78" painted aluminum and cedar plaque featuring text affixed crookedly into the ground in front of Milwaukee Art Museum.

96 x 84" painted aluminum and cedar plaque in front of a red barn and small farmhouse featuring no text.

Installation of "Between Sleep and Awake in Milwaukee, WI. Foreground features self-portrait of young girl awakening.

Shoreline Repast 2017
Shoreline Repast continues Druecke's exploration of the ways in which culture inscribes itself into the landscape, what Druecke refers to as “public inscription.” The plaque's two texts blur the distinction between public and private while commemorating the act of sharing a meal near water's edge. Additional information.

The Poor Farm 2012
The Poor Farm is installed in Manawa, WI., on the site of a historic Poor Farm recently transformed into a contemporary cultural center. The piece is featured in Wiley and Blackwell’s Companion to Public Art. Additional Information.

Between Sleep and Awake 2001-2005
A series of self-portraits orchestrated by Druecke in an attempt to capture the hazy, fleeting transition from sleep to awake. The project’s inclusion in Amalgama at the Contemporary Art Museum Houston was Druecke’s first museum exhibition. Additional Information.

The Migration Series 1997-1998
The Migration Series documented plastic bags in trees through four seasons. The resulting images, along with the day’s wind speed, were produced as postcards and a self-financed billboard. Additional Information.

The Brightest Stars Shine But Briefly 2008-2009
The project explores the politics and ceremony of the entrance by rolling out the red carpet and paparazzi for everyone who enters. The second iteration took place in conjunction with the Dark Fair at Kölnishcer Kunstverein, Cologne, Germany. Additional information.

Near Here Milwaukee 2010-2011
In collaboration with poet Donna Stonecipher. Installed as part of Flowers of Situation, Druecke's exhibition in conjunction with his Mary L. Nohl Individual Artists Fellowship. Near Hear uses the familiar marker to rethink our relationship to space and time. Additional information.

Billboard image of plastic bags caught in tree branches. Text reads “Specimen 3-2-97.15a, Wind: W-NW 25-30 MPH, Park and Downer, Milwaukee WI”

People entering The Dark Fair, Koelnishcer Kunstverein, Cologne, Germany on red carpet with photographers.

24 x 36" bronze plaque with black lacquer featuring text located on the wall of INOVA in Milwaukee, WI.

Bonus tracks. Click on image for brief background information.

Future History 2010

The Lone Blogger 2008

Are Keys To The City 2019