[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 78 (Friday, May 23, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1068-E1069]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            HONORING THE CITY AND PEOPLE OF SUN PRAIRIE, WI

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. TAMMY BALDWIN

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 22, 2003

  Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of the city and 
people of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, and their celebration of the life and 
work of one of the most important artists of the 20th Century, Georgia 
O'Keeffe.
  Georgia O'Keeffe was born on a small dairy farm right outside the 
city of Sun Prairie-- near Highway T and Town Hall Road--on November 
15, 1887. She grew up on the farm together with her parents and six 
siblings. While growing up she received art lessons both at home and at 
school, and she was certain she wanted to be an artist by the age of 
nine. As Georgia's artistic ability grew, she began to receive more 
advanced training in art, and it eventually became an important part of 
her life.

[[Page E1069]]

  Her work was first exhibited in 1916 at the avant-garde gallery, 291, 
of Alfred Stieglitz. Initially, the famous gallery included only ten of 
Georgia O'Keeffe's charcoal abstractions, but within a year the gallery 
stopped showing any other artists and was devoted to exhibiting all of 
O'Keeffe's works. Not long after Georgia O'Keeffe moved to New York, 
she and Alfred Stieglitz fell in love and then married in 1924.
  Georgia O'Keeffe wanted her art to express as she said ``the wideness 
and wonder of the world as I live in it.'' Today, everyone can 
instantly recognize the paintings with intensely colorful large-scale 
flowers, sun-bleached animal bones, and the dramatic landscapes of the 
Southwest as Sun Prairie's own Georgia O'Keeffe. She became the most 
famous American woman artist and an influential modernist, receiving 
many awards, including medals from two U.S. presidents and ten honorary 
doctorates.
  As a historical marker is dedicated on the spot where Georgia 
O'Keeffe spent her formative years, I join Sun Prairie in its 
celebration of the life and contributions of the pioneering artist 
Georgia O'Keeffe.

                          ____________________