Harley-Davidson Exhibits River Hills Native's Work

Sarah Koss, a River Hills Northshore native and current Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) student, recently exhibited her art work at the Harley-Davidson Museum’s first feature exhibit – The Helmet Project.

The Northshore native's project is a helmet made out of bandages, which was designed to provide the consumer the feeling of safety and security. The "guarantee safety" helmet makers provide sparked the idea to include bandages on helmets, allowing riders to feel safer.

The Helmet Project challenged all participating students to deconstruct the conventional notion of a helmet and re-envision its function and meaning through art and design that push visual and conceptual boundaries. In addition to Sarah Koss, the exhibit involved 100 art and design students, 10 MIAD faculty members and the Harley-Davidson Museum’s professional staff. The students were responsible for creating all aspects of the show – from exhibit fabrication and installation to exhibition graphics and marketing.

Under the project leadership of Harley-Davidson Museum Curatorial Director Jim Fricke, the dynamic history of helmets and the debate surrounding the helmet relative to motorcycling and other sports also comes alive through a display of Museum artifacts.

“Harley-Davidson is renowned for its iconic motorcycle designs – both the industrial design of the motorcycle and the artistic design of distinct paint, graphics, parts and accessories,” said Fricke. “The Helmet Project was expressly developed to create an ambitious college-wide project focusing on art and design – skills that are very important to Harley-Davidson. Our rewarding partnership with MIAD has resulted in an exhibition that is informative, bold and fun and will interest fans of art and design, history, motorcycling, and pop culture.”