Rafael Francisco Salas’ artwork to be showcased in Trout Museum of Art in Appleton with opening reception Jan. 24

Installation view of "Everyday Heaven," Portrait Society Gallery. Image: Daniel McCullough. Courtesy of Portrait Society Gallery.

Ripon College is pleased to share information about Everyday Heaven, a transhistorical exhibition exploring rural Wisconsin through the work of two artists: Ripon College’s Rafael Francisco Salas (b. 1973) and Charles Van Schaick (1852–1946). Spanning more than a century, the exhibition brings together historical and contemporary perspectives on rural life in Wisconsin.

Charles Van Schaick lived and worked in Black River Falls, Wisconsin for over 60 years. His photographs gained international recognition with the 1973 publication of Wisconsin Death Trip by Michael Lesy, which paired Van Schaick’s images with newspaper accounts of illness, farm accidents, violence, and loss. While the accompanying narratives are often stark, Van Schaick’s portraits are formal and theatrical, reflecting the dignity and care with which individuals presented themselves to the camera.

Installation view of “Everyday Heaven,” Portrait Society Gallery. Image: Daniel McCullough. Courtesy of Portrait Society Gallery.

Rafael Francisco Salas grew up in rural Wisconsin and now lives and works in Ripon, WI. His paintings examine both the beauty and tensions of rural life, drawing on histories of colonization, agriculture, and his family’s experience with seasonal farm labor. This new body of work centers on the county fair as a site of cultural memory, labor, and community gathering.

Although created more than a century apart, the works of Salas and Van Schaick share resonant visual and conceptual qualities. Salas frequently interrupts imagery with blocks of color or pixel-like patterns that foreground the act of painting, while Van Schaick’s glass plate negatives sometimes reveal expressive distortions when the photographic emulsion fails. These formal interruptions highlight the constructed nature of images and histories alike.
“I examine the contemporary Midwestern county fair as a nostalgic yet politically charged microcosm of America—where innocence, polarization, cultural diversity, and historical continuity collide—linking past and present through an artistic lineage that reveals the complexities of rural life often glossed over,” said Rafael Salas, Professor of Art and Director of Caestecker Gallery.

Together, Everyday Heaven challenges assumptions about rural America—who belongs, whose stories are preserved, and how dignity and daily life are represented across time. The exhibition offers a nuanced and poetic record of rural Wisconsin and the people who have shaped it. Everyday Heaven is a traveling exhibition created in collaboration with Portrait Society Gallery of Contemporary Art in Milwaukee. The exhibition will travel to the Wright Museum of Art in Beloit, WI in November, 2026.

Save the Date
Member Opening Night | January 24 | 6–9 PM
A member-exclusive evening celebrating new exhibitions, including Everyday Heaven.

“Parade (Dusk).” Artwork by Rafael Salas