[media-credit name=’BRYAN FAUST/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]When Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton took office four years ago, she wanted to add something unique to the walls to offset the antique furniture she was not allowed to remove. Taking her chance, she covered the walls with the work of a local artist who took a "deeper look at one of the most photographed buildings in Wisconsin."

Lawton unveiled Jim Barnard's "Capitol Glances" exhibit Monday, which consists of 12 black and white photographs of different areas inside the state Capitol, from the rotunda to the state Supreme Court's inner chambers.

"As lieutenant governor and chair of the Wisconsin State Arts Board, I had the opportunity and incredible gallery space with a lot of flow of traffic … to show an archetype of who we are in Wisconsin," Lawton said at the Capitol Monday.

She added that she hopes to help people understand the "high sophistication of artwork" that is created in Wisconsin and notice the detail and symbolic value of the Capitol that people often miss.

Barnard, who has had his photographs on exhibit in numerous galleries across Madison and throughout the Midwest, said it was his intent to give the Capitol a new angle, as he took photos throughout the building for 18 months.

"When the idea first came to me of photographing this building, I knew there was something here, but not until I really started looking hard did I see how much was really here," he said. "Everything that has a function, whether it's a baseboard or a radiator or a cornice, has beauty and artisanship embedded in it."

And Barnard — a 27-year Madison resident who makes his living by designing and building children's furniture — took all of his photographs on film rather than digitally and said the physical process helped him feel a connection to the people who first built the Capitol.

"For me, each one of these 12 little compositions is kind of a window into the minds and hands of the artisans, designers and craftspeople that created them," he said.

The photographs, which Barnard's wife, Barbara, helped name, are being sold for $195 each.

One photograph titled "Fanciful Footwork" features "a group of school kids kind of in their glee [who] came running by in front of the camera." Barnard said he shot the photograph at a slow shutter speed so "their feet were planted but their bodies were kind of swirling."

"I hope by looking at these images you will see your own images in this wonderful place," he added.

Other Capitol news
While Lawton celebrated Barnard's artwork, there was more action in the Capitol Monday, as state Sen. Judy Robson, D-Beloit — who will take over as Senate majority leader in January — and Assembly Minority Leader Jim Kreuser, D-Kenosha, announced their appointments to the Joint Finance Committee.

Robson's appointments include Sens. Dave Hansen, D-Green Bay; Bob Jauch, D-Poplar; Mark Miller, D-Monona; Lena Taylor, D-Milwaukee; and John Lehman of Racine, who was elected Nov. 7. Kreuser re-appointed Reps. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, and Pedro Colon, D-Milwaukee.

The budget-writing committee is being reshaped because Democrats gained a majority in the Senate and because the Assembly, which remains in Republican control, has a new speaker.

The majority party leaders in each house appoint six members to the 16-person committee, while the minority receives two seats each. After the past election, the composition of the committee will be split between Democrats and Republicans 8-8.

Robson already appointed Sen. Russ Decker, D-Schofield, as committee co-chairman. And Sen. Scott Fitzgerald, who will take over as minority leader in January, appointed Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, and Sen. Luther Olsen, R-Ripon, to the committee last week.

Assembly Speaker-elect Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, has not yet made his appointments.