Artwork featuring images of home and neighborhood life appear in the Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission's new desktop calendar, available for purchase at four downtown Madison museums and twenty-eight Dane County municipal halls.

The 2004 "Close To Home" theme highlights paintings and prints by Wisconsin artists Kathy Armstrong, Bonnita Budysz, Leslie DeMuth, Steven Kozar, David Lenz, Dagny Myrah, Bonnie Paruch, Georgene Pomplun, John Sayers, Marsha Tuscherer and Art Werger. UW-Madison graphics professor Phil Hamilton designed the 6 1/2" x 7 1/2," stand-up, spiral-bound edition, which is the fifth in an annual series.

The small calendars stand on a cardboard easel. Notes Dane County Cultural Affairs director Lynne Eich, "Because of their size, they tuck nicely into small spaces. People love placing them on desktops, computer tables—even kitchen counters—where they function as miniature galleries, with the artwork changing from month to month."

Calendars may be purchased for $5 each ($10 each for mail orders) during weekday hours at the Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission, Room 421, City-County Bldg., 210 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Madison, 608-266-5915. Copies are also available at the gift shops of the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, the Elvehjem Museum of Art, the Wisconsin Historical Society and the Wisconsin Veterans Museum. Income from calendar sales provides critical support for the commission's ongoing programs.

The Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission is a county governmental program, created by ordinance in 1977 to support public participation in local arts and historical activity and to increase public access to the cultural resources of Dane County. It annually awards over 100 grants to area schools, nonprofit groups, municipalities and individuals for cultural activities. The calendar and an annual art poster have become signature products of the agency. For more information, call 608-266-5915.