Stephen Fleischman Lecture: Harper on Practice
- Artist Harper discusses his practice and recent work in the 2026 Stephen Fleischman Lecture. - 6 p.m. Thursday, April 23, 2026 at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (MMoCA). - Register or get details at the listing: isthmus.com.
Milwaukee artist David R. Harper is giving the 2026 Stephen Fleischman Lecture at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 23, at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. (mmoca.org) The museum lists the talk as free and says space is limited, with advance registration encouraged. A public reception follows at 7 p.m. in the Rooftop Lounge, with a cash bar. (mmoca.org) Harper’s lecture lands the same week as the opening of his solo exhibition, *Good Morning Sweetheart*, which runs April 22 through August 30, 2026, in the museum’s State Street Gallery and Lobby. The museum says the talk will focus on his practice and recent work. (mmoca.org; mmoca.org) The Madison Museum of Contemporary Art describes Harper as a Milwaukee-based artist who works across sculpture, textiles, ceramics, stained glass, and found imagery. The museum says his work examines how memory takes shape in objects and how viewers build meaning through movement and attention. (mmoca.org) That framing puts the lecture close to the exhibition itself: the museum says Harper builds environments instead of presenting a single fixed story. In that approach, looking changes with distance, angle, and the viewer’s own experience. (mmoca.org) The Stephen Fleischman Lectureship is an annual April talk series at MMoCA funded by an endowment for speakers who have made notable contributions to art and culture. The museum says admission is free as part of its access mission. (mmoca.org) MMoCA has folded the lecture into a larger public-facing event night around Harper’s exhibition opening. Visit Madison’s event listing repeats that the lecture is free, names Harper as the 2026 speaker, and notes that registration is recommended. (visitmadison.com) For Madison audiences, the clearest draw is the chance to hear an artist discuss new work on the same day it goes on view. By Thursday evening, the lecture hall and galleries are effectively presenting the same project in two forms: first in Harper’s words, then in the exhibition upstairs. (mmoca.org; mmoca.org)
