The Wisconsin Council of the Blind and Visually Impaired (WCB&VI) is pleased to announce the selection of a new Executive Director.  Loretta A. Himmelsbach, of Oregon, WI, was invited to accept the top leadership position after a national search.  She succeeds Karen Majkrzak, who will retire in August.  Loretta is only the 6th Executive Director of the organization since it was founded in 1952.

“She has excellent credentials including organizational development and management expertise which she brings through her professional experiences to the leadership post of our Council,” said Chris Zenchenko, president of the WCB&VI.  “We are very confident she has the skills and determination to meet the challenges of the future,” he added.

Loretta Himmelsbach brings more than twenty-six years executive management experience in non-profit organizations to the Council. She served as CEO of the Girl Scouts of Black Hawk Council in Madison, WI, where she was recognized nationally with the Francis Hesselbein Award of Excellence, and is an active member of the Downtown Rotary Club in Madison. A graduate of Bradley University in Illinois, she has extensive graduate certificates from Harvard Business School, Yale University, and the Wharton School of Business in leadership development and nonprofit management. Loretta demonstrates successful community collaboration skills which will enhance the Council’s mission and vision.

Loretta has personal family experience related to the vision impairment of her brothers and her late father and is committed to working with the Wisconsin Council of the Blind and Visually Impaired as it continues and expands its excellent service to Wisconsin residents who would benefit from the wide range of services the Council offers.

The Wisconsin Council of the Blind and Visually Impaired is a private, non-profit agency. Its mission is to promote the dignity and independence of people in Wisconsin who are blind and visually impaired by providing services, advocating legislation and educating the general public. It is completely funded by an annual drive, private grants and bequests. The Council, founded in 1952, is celebrating its 58th year of providing programs and services to Wisconsin residents.

Anyone who reads or listens to the news regularly knows that, from time to time, issues arise about which you would like to contact a lawmaker to express an opinion or champion a cause.  Do you write a letter, send an e-mail, or make a phone call, or do you decide that someone more important or knowledgeable than you will be contacting that lawmaker to express your point of view?

Freshman civics class taught us that legislators are sent to the state or federal capital to do the people’s business, and they work for us. Consequently, they welcome our input and encourage contact from constituents.  In my experience, legislators encourage contact from voters, and they do their best to respond to and/or express their appreciation that you care about an issue enough to take the time to get in touch. Everyone has the right to contact his/her local, state, or federal lawmakers, and it is surprisingly easy to do.

First, become familiar with the names of your local, state, or federal legislators. If you don’t already have this information, your local public library is a great resource.  Simply call and request the reference department, and they will provide you with this information. The reference desk can provide the name, phone number, e-mail address, and mailing address of city, county, state, and federal officials.  Each city and county in Wisconsin has its own web site, complete with a directory of personnel, which allows access to contact information for city and county government office holders.

On the state level, both the Wisconsin Assembly and the Wisconsin Senate have web sites through which you can find contact information for each legislator.  These sites also link to each legislator’s home page. The web address for the Wisconsin Assembly is: www.legis.state.wi.us. The web address for the Wisconsin Senate is: www.wisconsin.gov/senate.    

Contact information for our Wisconsin Congressmen and Senators is   readily available by contacting the reference department of your public library. Again, you can access this information when you visit the House and Senate web sites, where you will find links to the home pages of our U.S. Representatives and Senators. The web address for the U.S. House of Representatives is: www.house.gov. The web address for the U.S. Senate is: www.senate.gov.  Each U.S. Congressman has local offices throughout his/her district, and each U.S. Senator has offices in larger cities in Wisconsin.

Now that you have all this contact information, what is the most effective way to contact a legislator?  All contacts are important when advocating for an issue.  In general, the effectiveness of any contact is roughly proportionate to the effort you put into it. Effectiveness often results from a combination of e-mails, letters, phone calls, and personal contacts.

It’s not as hard to make personal contact with legislators as you might think. On the Federal level, attend listening sessions or events where the Congressman or Senator is present. Don’t be afraid to speak up regarding issues that are important to you. Show up often enough that the Congressmen know your name!  

Wisconsin assemblymen and Senators spend the majority of their time in their districts, so it is easier to speak with them on the phone or in person. Come to Madison and visit them at the State Capitol, or attend public hearings on proposed legislation which are often held in various locations around the state. Provide testimony for or against proposed legislation and speak out on important issues. Make enough noise or contacts so your state Senator or Assemblyman knows your name!

Don’t underestimate the value and influence of legislative staff at both the federal and state levels.  A major responsibility of legislative staff is to educate individual lawmakers regarding all kinds of issues and legislation. Particularly true at the Federal level, these staff members can relay your message and educate your representative or senator.

When it comes to issues of local importance, remember your local alderman or County Board member. These elected officials are often readily available for a phone conversation or face-to-face meeting.  Attend City Council or County Board meetings as well as local public hearings, all of which include opportunities for you to provide testimony.   Remember: individual citizens can most readily influence the course of local politics and legislation compared to making changes at the state or national level!

As Chair of the Council’s Legislative Committee, I encourage you to advocate for issues and causes that are close to your heart. As people who are blind/visually impaired, we are interested in numerous legislative initiatives. If possible, learn the bill number of relevant legislation when you e-mail, call, or write to lawmakers. Do your best to organize your message beforehand to make your advocacy or testimony concise and to the point.

You may find this whole process nerve racking at first, but practice and repetition will bolster your confidence and effectiveness. We have a right and a responsibility to add our voices to the legislative fabric of our city, county, state, and national legislatures!  Let’s make our voices count.  Start today, and take an active role in contacting your legislators.

Thomas Ferella - Borderlander

Each year in early December, we invite the Madison-area community to visit the Council so they can learn about our work, meet staff, and view a new art exhibit.

Last Friday, December 4, approximately 50 guests joined us.  This event often draws new faces.  We love it because it’s an opportunity for us to talk about the people we serve and raise awareness of the Council.

Our new exhibit is titled “BORDERLAND…where worlds arise out of touch.”  It is the brainchild of artist and Meriter Hospital emergency medicine physician, Thomas Ferrella.

Thomas created a nine-piece collection of photographic portraits.  What makes them so unique is that he asked members of Madison-based Lake Effect Poets to write poems to accompany each piece.  Then, Council staff member Virginia DeBlaey painstakingly brailled each poem directly onto each photograph to create a stunning effect. As part of the exhibit, viewers are welcomed and encouraged to touch the pieces.  Alongside each photo is the poem in print for those who are sighted. Read the Wisconsin State Journal article by clickng here.

Our evening included a poetry reading during which most of the nine poets read their poems, while standing by one of the Ferrella photographs.  You could have heard a pin drop in the room!  Before reading their poems, each poet described the process of creating a poem to match one of the photos. It was clear that they were deeply touched by the experience.

Some of the portrait subjects, including Thomas’ son, joined us, and this added an extra nice touch.

In addition to being a photographer, Thomas has written musical scores for several films.  “Divine Unrest” was nominated best soundtrack at the 2008 debut of Indie Film Fest USA in Anaheim, California.

Lake Effect Poets are all Madison poets.  This group and its variations have met over the past 20 years as a writing group, and they have read in public forums, including the Wisconsin Book Festival and the grand opening of the Overture Center for the Arts.  All the members are award-winning poets and are widely published, including more than 36 books.

Thomas created a booklet that contains each of the nine portraits and their companion poems.  They’re available at the front desk of the Council for $15.

As a gift of hospitality, the Council is offering a free CD with the recorded poems.  Please contact us if you would like a copy.

We are grateful to the Business Enterprise Program who so generously provided many of the refreshments for our special event.

BORDERLAND runs through February 14, 2010.  Stop by the Council offices soon to enjoy this unique collaborative collection!

Origin of BORDERLAND

where worlds arise out of touch

(As explained by Thomas Ferrella to Kathi Koegle, art exhibit coordinator)

“The idea really came from working with braille paper in some other collage projects.  My Mom is an artist, and she was also doing some things with braille paper, so we had been brainstorming a bit.  There were also some other minor subconscious stimuli…the fact that I grew up with a second cousin who is blind; the Council building is in my neighborhood (so I see it often as I go by); and I’ve done other projects with poets before.

I think the true impetus for the idea originated from a graphic standpoint, but other factors helped make it resonate.  Once the idea became more tangible, I started to really understand the power of the project for those who are visually impaired.”

Biographies of Poets and the Artists

Robin Chapman is the author six books of poetry, including The Way In and Images of a Complex World: The Art and Poetry of Chaos (with J.C. Sprott’s fractals), both winners of the Posner Poetry Award; The Dreamer Who Counted the Dead, winner of a WLA Outstanding Poetry Book Award, Smoke and Strong Whiskey, and Abundance, winner of the Cider Press Editors’ Award, and five chapbooks, including The Only Everglades in the World (Parallel Press). She co-edited the anthology On Retirement: 75 Poems (Univ. of Iowa Press), with Judith Strasser.

Susan Elbe is the author of a full-length poetry collection, Eden in the Rearview Mirror (Word Press), and a chapbook, Light Made from Nothing (Parallel Press). Her poems appear or are forthcoming in many journals and anthologies, including Blackbird, MARGIE, North American Review, and A Fierce Brightness: Twenty-five Years of Women’s Poetry (Calyx Books). Among her awards are the Lois Cranston Memorial Poetry Prize (Calyx), the 2006 Lorine Niedecker Award, and fellowships to Vermont Studio Center and Virginia Center for Creative Arts. Susan has served on the Wisconsin Poet Laureate Commission and currently serves on the Council for Wisconsin Writers Board. Learn more about her and her work at http://www.susanelbe.com/.

Thomas Ferrella:  A self subscribed sensualist, why leave touch out of the equation, hence BORDERLAND.

Rasma Haidri is a former Madison area resident now living on the Norwegian arctic seacoast. Her writing has appeared in journals including Prairie Schooner, Nimrod, Fourth Genre, Kalliope, The Sycamore Review and Fine Madness and been widely anthologized, most recently in Poem, Revised (Marion Street Press), Not a Muse (Haven Books), Eating Her Wedding Dress (Ragged Sky) and Lavanderia (City Works Press). Among recognitions for her writing are the Southern Women Writers Association Emerging Writer Award in creative non-fiction, the Wisconsin Academy of Arts, Letters & Science poetry award and finalist in the Barry Hannah Prize for fiction and the Elinor Benedict Prize for poetry.

Catherine Jagoe holds a PhD in Spanish literature from the University of Cambridge, England and is a former Associate Professor of Spanish at the UW-Madison. Poems from her chapbook, Casting Off (Parallel Press, 2007), have been featured on Garrison Keillor’s The Writer’s Almanac and on the website Poetry Daily. Her poetry and essays have appeared in Rattle, Kalliope, Wisconsin Academy Review, Poem, Red Wheelbarrow, Isle, Ninth Letter, diode and other journals. Her books include translations of a novel from Spain, That Bringas Woman (Everyman, 1996) and another from Argentina, My Name Is Light (Bloomsbury, 2003).

Jesse Lee Kercheval is the author of 11 books of fiction, memoir and poetry including The Alice Stories, connected short stories set in Madison and winner of the Prairie Schooner Prize in Fiction, and Cinema Muto (Crab Orchard Open Selection Award winner), a collection of poems about Italy and silent movies. She is the Sally Mead Hands Bascom Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin where she directs the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing.

Sara Parrell was awarded first prize in the 2008 Poetry Center of Chicago’s Juried Reading; Dancing Girl Press published poems from her winning manuscript in an accompanying chapbook.  She won second place in the Wisconsin People & Ideas magazine’s 2007 poetry contest and her work has been published in the Lake Wingra Morning anthology, the Wisconsin Academy Review and other journals.  As a pediatric nurse she has practiced and taught at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and more recently works with children in the public schools.

The late Judith Strasser, who was a member of the Lake Effect Poets and author of two published collections of poetry, Sand Island Succession: Poems of the Apostle Islands, and The Reason/Unreason Project, winner of the Lewis-Clark Expedition award, left a last poetry manuscript, Limited Warranty, that is now available on her website http://www.judithstrasser.com/ for downloading as a PDF or reading online. She also wrote the memoir Black Eye: Escaping a Marriage, Writing a Life and the non-fiction book Facing Fear: Cancer and Politics, Courage and Hope.

Alison Townsend is the author of two collections of poetry, The Blue Dress (White Pine Press), and Persephone in America (Southern Illinois University Press), which won the Crab Orchard Open Poetry Competition and was published in spring 2009.  She also has two limited edition chapbooks, And Still the Music (Flume Press) and What the Body Knows (Parallel Press).  Her work appears in many literary journals and anthologies and she has won awards and fellowships from the Wisconsin Arts Board and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, among others.  She teaches English, Creative Writing and Women’s Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Images from the Borderland Exhibit