Garden features crop of local artists, works as generations graft together

photo by Julian Morris

Local photographer David Schuhart proudly poses with his second place ribbon and certificate. Winners went home with awards as well as monetary prizes.

What better way to spend the weekend than admiring local art while supporting a good cause? Between April 11-12, the Altrusa International Foundation of Oshkosh hosted the Art in the Garden Event at the Hilton Garden Inn. The event featured a variety of local artists selling and displaying their work, with some products auctioned to fundraise for the foundation, as well as an arrangement of art from Oshkosh West, North, and Valley Christian High Schools. 

Altrusa of Oshkosh is a specific branch of an organization sporting global locations including New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Canada, the United States, and more. The organization focuses on promoting literacy, with one of its major contributions in Oshkosh being the Winnebago Literacy Council. Co-chair of the Art in the Garden Event Carleen Christianson has been a member of the Altrusa foundation for 13 years.

“We do a lot of service. We’ve done a lot of different things, like the Lucas Heart Machines. It is a machine that the firemen and the EMTs put right on someone’s chest when they’re having a heart attack, and it pumps automatically,” she said. “People have also probably heard of, at West, the Brewing Futures truck. We support that.” 

The Art in the Garden Event has been a recurring exhibition at the Hilton Garden Inn for the past 20 years, with a break for two because of COVID. The event was originally brought to Oshkosh by late Altusa member Beverly McCarthy. Proceeds to Art in the Garden are then used to fundraise for various projects throughout the year. 

“Beverly had gone to this art show somewhere where the public did the voting. So now that’s what we have here, the public votes, and then monetary awards are given out, even for the high school,” Christianson said. “When we first started this, we could only give gift cards for the high school students, and now we can give them money.”

While McCarthy passed away in 2013, Christianson recognizes and respects the legacy that she has left behind. Christianson had the opportunity to work under McCarthy when she first joined. 

“I used to be a florist—that is how I got into the club. I’ve been decorating ever since day one, and I met Beverly. She used a lot of her own money to pay for things that the club back then could not really afford, but she was a generous woman and died way too young,” she said. “I love the art, the creativity, because every year it’s different, and I just love seeing people that I see once a year when they come to the art show.” 

A major part of the Art in the Garden event is the vendors that are brought in from throughout the community. While the majority of vendors are local, from the area around Oshkosh, some come from as far as out of state. 

Chris Jensen, owner of C3 Designs, was featured as a vendor at the Art in the Garden event. His store, located in South Milwaukee, is home to his and his husband’s made-from-stratch gemstone jewelry designs. Jensen has been a vendor at Art in the Garden for all but the first two years of its existence in Oshkosh. 

“Altrusa is a wonderful organization. I know that they do a lot of charity work that helps out the Oshkosh area, and they’re just a wonderful bunch of ladies,” Jensen said. “It’s easy enough to spend a little bit of time, an hour or two, at this event, or you could certainly spend the entire afternoon. There is so much to see in such a small little space, and it’s nice that it has the high school artwork here on display as well.”

The most unique aspect of the Art in the Garden event is its public participation, from voting to auctioning. Voting was open on Saturday and winners were announced on Sunday, with three from both the adult and high school galleries each, as well as for photography. 

West sophomore Addie Coe was featured as an artist in the high school section of the art displays. 

“Being featured makes me feel proud, because of the fact that there are so many other talented artists from our school, and not even just our school but around the district,” Coe said. “It just makes me feel proud to be selected amongst all of these other amazing artists.” 

Public events like Art in the Garden provide a perfect opportunity to not only see the talent from throughout the community, but also develop empathy and gain understanding about issues affecting people in the area. 

“I think these events are important to show everyone else’s art, so there are other people who can get inspired and also express their feelings through their artwork,” Coe said. “So if there’s, like, a common anger or frustration in the community, it gives people the chance to go and feel safe and secure in knowing that other people feel the same way as them.” 

Art has long been known for bringing people together, and the Altrusa Art in the Garden Event is no exception. 

“I also just think it’s a really good way to bring people together because there’s a lot of division in our country. I feel like events like this just bring everyone together and show that there are still good things happening, even with all the negativity in the world right now,” Coe said. 

by Kathryn Scheivert and Dania Mian

Published April 27, 2026

Oshkosh West Index Volume 122 Issue VII