Woodland History
35+ Years Of Creative Services

"Feels like we never worked a day in our life!"

Award Winning Agency
Beta Site for Photoshop
1st Computer Graphics Agency
1st Kraft Foods Web Agency
1st Kraft Foods Intranet
National Sales Conferences
Workgroup Database Development
Launched BizDat Startup
Retail Print / Frame Shop
Founder 14 South Artists

About our Logo...
Using stylized paint strokes, our logo represents the 'W' in Woodland, but also signifies the 3 original owners.

Here's our story...

1980 - Daniel Bitton & Associates, Inc. - It all began as a small advertising agency owned by Daniel Bitton and Jack Ferreri. Client accounts included Chi-Chi's, Elaine Powers and others.

In 1982, Gary was hired as Art Director. But by unfortunate coincidence, within days after he arrived, the company lost most of its major accounts and the staff was notified they would be laid off. Within a day, Jack Ferreri made a deal to buy out Bitton and Jack took over the company. Still, most employees were laid off, but because of Gary’s agency background experience Jack asked him to stay on and offered to grant him some ownership if he would stay to help turn the company around. Gary likes to say “The only job I ever got fired from… is the company I now own!”

Then two things happened that changed the course of the company…

• First, Gary meets Cindy - Realizing we would need more resources, Gary began interviewing freelance artists. After over a dozen interviews, Cindy turned out to be the only artist who measured up with the caliber of talent and skill levels Gary was used to having back in the Detroit art scene. Unfortunately, since the interview happened in concert with the changes in the business, Gary was not able to hire Cindy for any projects until sometime later.
  
  
• Second, Oscar Mayer - Gary began calling on accounts and started picking up some projects from Madison’s largest employer… Oscar Mayer Foods.
  
  

1983 - Woodland Advertising, Inc. – After Jack took over, the company name was changed to Woodland Advertising. We chose this name because we didn’t want it to be something like ‘AdCo’ or ‘So and So Marketing’ etc… so we struggled with the name until one day Jack said, “Well, we all like nature right? So, how about Woodland?”. So we changed the name and continued growing our business with Oscar Mayer and added a few other small clients. As we got busier, we needed more help, and Gary kept trying to hire Cindy. Unfortunately, she was always busy with other clients.

1984 - Woodland Marketing, Inc. – By 1984 we realized we were less of an advertising agency and more of a promotion agency so we changed our name to Woodland Marketing. Also by now, we’d built a reputation for highly creative new product sales brochures and were doing larger projects featuring expensive die-cuts. We also began working with Oscar Mayer’s consumer promotions department and started doing many of their in-store, point-of-sale projects.

At this time, Gary was granted 5% of the company. Also, we finally succeeded in hiring Cindy for the first time to work on a die-cut Oscar Mayer Bacon brochure… she likes to say, “I came to help on one project… and never left!”.

For awhile, we did things the traditional way. Doing layouts by hand with magic markers and presentation boards, finished art was prepared on keylines, type was spec’d and ordered from typesetters, 4x5 & 8x10 film photography was done in photo studios, film was processed by labs, color separations were made from marked up mechanicals, using Scitex scanners and film strippers… and finally burned to plates for printing on huge presses.

1985 – Cindy / Gary Take Over –
By now, Cindy had been granted 1% ownership and hired as full time art director. Gary was getting busier handling Oscar Mayer accounts and together they began managing more of the day-to-day business responsibilities.
We built a super creative team! By now we had a staff of about 12 people and were working with some of the best artists, designers, photographers, food stylists, retouchers and illustrators in the business from as far away as Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis and Miami. We created sales brochures, in-store point-of-sale displays, merchandisers, sales videos and four color newspaper inserts.

Here’s some of our projects…

• Die-Cut, Pop-Up Sales Brochures We created award winning, die-cut brochures & sales kits for products like, Oscar Mayer Hot Dogs Zip Pak, Pizza Lunchables, Zappetites, Louis Rich Carving Board, Oscar Mayer Bologna, Claussen Pickles and Lois Kemp Seafood.
  
  
• In-Store Point-Of-Sale Materials – Including danglers, motorized shelf talkers, island displays, and demo displays for every Oscar Mayer Brand
  
  
• Product Merchandisers –
  We designed & fabricated prototypes for permanent and semi-permanent product merchandisers including a patented, spring loaded display for Stuffin’ Burgers ( product never launched ).
  
  
• Four Color Newspaper Inserts – We’ve been printed more than a billion times! Mostly because we produced dozens of full color, full page FSIs each with distributions of 50-75 million.
  
  
• Statue Of Liberty / School Program – Developed and produced a K-12 educational package from Oscar Mayer to support renovation of the statue. We joined Oscar Mayer at a meeting of sponsors and partners of the Statue Of Liberty National Education Advisory Committee at the Executive Office Building in Washington DC. The meeting was chaired by former cabinet secretary Eliot Richardson and reviewed our program with the National Geographic Society.
  
  
• Eco 2000 – We developed a tie-in sponsorship, educational program to build environmental awareness. Because our favorite American artist is Peter Max, who himself is a dedicated environmentalist, we wanted to use his work as the creative theme. This led us to an incredible opportunity to meet Peter and visit his studio in New York. There was interest at Kraft Foods for the program… but unfortunately, it got bumped for other priorities.
  
  
• Consumer Promotions – Produced sales brochures & in-store promotion materials for tie-in sponsorships with companies like Nickelodeon, NFL, NBA, Olympics, Subway, Skittles etc. plus corporate consumer promotions including Talent Search and the Wienermobile.
  
  
• Sales Videos – Produced & directed sales force videos about tie-ins with organizations like the NBA, NFL… we even produced an NFL video with Walter Peyton!
  
  
• Louis Kemp Consumer Promotion Agency – Worked with brand management on strategic planning, marketing plan development and provided creative production on all consumer promotion ads, point-of-sale and sales materials.
  
  
• Negotiated Subway / USA Team Sponsorships -  Oscar Mayer provided luncheon meats to Subway restaurants and they proposed a tie-in promotion with for the Olympics. Woodland was hired to create concepts for in-store displays, interview / make recommendations for USA Teams to sponsor, and negotiated  contracts with the USA Ski Team.
  
  

1986 – Cindy / Gary Buy The Business - Jack began to see growth in the business required more employees and a greater investment in technology. Things were heading in a direction he was not interested in going… so, he sold the business to Cindy and Gary.

And then, computers changed us forever…

In August 1985, Cindy & Gary attended the first ever Macworld Expo in Boston where Steve Jobs presented the Macintosh computer and his vision for desktop publishing and communications. Also PostScipt, the first ever vector based application, was released about this time. We knew this would revolutionize the creative services business, so we purchased…

• First Computer Hardware - 
  A couple of Mac Plus computers. These were the original versions that even contained the names of the developers engraved inside the case. We also bought the first ever 24 bit 18x24” flat bed color scanner, a 24-bit 35mm slide recorder plus several of the first SCSI hard drives & tape backups.
  
  
• First Computer Software -  
  These include practically every major business and graphics application like… Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Pagemaker, Quark, Persuasion, Cricket, Director and FileMaker, to name just a few… and of course every Apple & Microsoft operating system since their first release.
  
  

Over the next few years we continued buying hardware including dozens of computers, the first color monitors, color printers, scanners, projectors and first color laptops ever released. Also, we bought the first ever consumer digital camera from Kodak ( which we still have ) that included adapters for the first panoramic capabilities.

Did I mention…
about a year before all this, we hardly even knew what a computer was?!!!

Also, it’s interesting to note...
Apple & Microsoft were just startup companies… and so were we!!! 

Pioneers of Desktop Publishing…
Woodland was among the first marketing agencies in the entire country to fully embrace creative technologies. Years ahead of others in our industry we began to blend our high quality creative services with expertise in graphics technologies… we became known as pioneers in creative technologies. Largely because we had clients who shared our enthusiasm and supported our efforts to experiment.

Here’s a few of our desktop ‘firsts’…

• Beta Test Site For Photoshop – Well, maybe we’re not the ‘official beta team’… but prior to its public release it was offered for pre-release trial use. So, we are among the first adopters and have worked with every version of Photoshop since before it was first publicly released.
  
  
• First Page Layout Mechanicals – Among our clients, we became known as the only agency working with computers. Using Pagemaker, and later Quark Xpress, on little black & white Mac Plus computers, we began creating all of our mechanicals entirely on the computer. It would years later before our competitors, and Oscar Mayer’s graphics department, would begin doing the same.
  
  
• First Computer Oscar Mayer Logos – Using Illustrator we created the first ever postscript versions of the Oscar Mayer logo. We built it by scanning the original hand drawn artwork of the logo, and then creating a vector version of the logo on the computer. To test its accuracy, we output it to film, and overlaid it on the original art, which actually revealed a flaw in the original hand inked version that we were able to correct. We also created logos for other brands like Louis Rich, Claussen and used them for years, on dozens of projects, before even their art department finally started using the technology.
  
  
• First 3D Artwork – Built 3D wire frame models of point-of-sale displays and integrated the rendered images with in-store product photography scenes.
  
  
• First Digital Photo Sessions – We became known for doing digital photography before most professional photographers. Our first digital photo session was done for Oscar Mayer. We set up the shot in the photo studio and used a webcam to remotely share what was happening on set with our clients at the corporate office.
  
  
• First Desktop Color Separations – We produced our own desktop color separations before any of the professional color separators in our area. Local ‘separation houses’ doubted we could match their quality… so to compare… we output our film, they output their film, and when no-one could tell the difference between the color proofs we proved our point. This was a faster, cheaper, better way and ultimately changed the ‘film house’ business forever.
  
  
• First Digital Printing – It’s quite likely we were the first ‘agency’ to offer clients digital printing in the entire country. The first commercial printer was in California and they were providing the service to copier franchises like Kinko’s. They called us a ‘store’ because they told us, although we were the only marketing agency using their services, they referred to all of their customers as stores. The first project we did was a sell sheet for Oscar Mayer Bologna… which marked the beginning of doing digital printing for everything

First Computer Slides / Videos...
For several years, Woodland was the only company in our area capable of producing desktop computer generated slides and video. We began producing A/V for national sales conferences…

• National Sales Conferences – Produced dozens of sales presentations for Presidents, Vice Presidents, Brand Managers & Sales Managers and also provided on-site staging with backup computer systems, sound, lighting and teleprompter at resorts in places like San Diego, Orlando, St. Petersburg, Dallas and New York.
  
  
• First Desktop Slide Productions - Using Persuasion, Powerpoint and Cricket presentation software, in combination with other graphics software, and by using our 24 bit, 35mm film recorder we were able to output slides. Traditional slide companies weren’t capable of doing this right away because there were limitations in the software that prohibited them from outputting slides with vector based logos. By combining the graphics capabilities of a variety of software programs we were able to solve the problem… which made us the first company able to offer this faster, better, cheaper capability to our clients.
  
  
• Desktop Digital Video Production We didn’t do a lot of this, but enough that it’s worth mentioning. When Macromedia Director first came out we were itching to try something. So, we produced several animated videos to be used during opening ceremonies at some of the national sales conferences we produced. As I remember, back then there was only one company in the nation ( Pacific Title ) with computers powerful enough to render the frames to video tape. We had to send our desktop productions to Hollywood for processing!
  
  

Workgroup Database Development –
Oddly enough, databases were the beginning of another new era of our business. For a number of years, we had been building our own custom databases to manage projects, provide estimates, invoices and billing reports for our clients. Our reports provided so much detail that clients began asking how we were able to generate the information. When they learned of what we could do, we were hired to develop custom workgroup databases for a variety of projects...

• Kraft Trade Relations Databases – Every quarter, Kraft Foods participated in National & Regional promotional events. Each district had specific promotions running at different times that needed to be tracked and reported by headquarters in Chicago. Woodland created the databases plus managed quarterly updates for about 20 district sales centers.
  
  
• Philip Morris Invitational Database – The Phillip Morris Invitational is an annual golf event that brings together celebrities, politicians and food business executives. The database managed profiles for about 300 customers to help PM executives identify & respond to specific needs and interests… and to help the committee plan event functions like dinner seating etc.
  
  
• BizDat Creative – Installations at Miami Herald, Springs Industries graphics departments. By now, we evolved our creative workgroup database into a product that could be used by other companies. We had also developed a system for how desktop publishing creative processes flow within a workgroup network. Woodland was contracted by graphics departments to setup the network system, setup / install the databases and process training.
  
  
• BizDat Doctor – Co-developed with Dr. Paul Harari, Professor of Head & Neck Oncology, UW Hospital & Clinics. Because it is a teaching hospital, most doctors are doing research in their specialties and write medical papers based on their research. Most had to track progress using manual notes and/or spreadsheets. Dr. Harari recognized this as a cumbersome way to evaluate and report research. And also, to make studies more consistent, he knew standard reporting conventions needed to be agreed upon. He spent several years designing a system that doctors in his field could use… and contracted Woodland to build it. Ultimately we partnered on development. Dr. Harari on content, Woodland on technology. We began to implement at the UW and even expanded to another specialty, however, about that time HIPPA laws came into play that prohibited doctors from removing medical information from the facility… which stopped development of the project.
  
  
• BizDat Meetings – This product began as a result of our Kraft Foods meeting management work. Its purpose was to be a workgroup database meeting planners could use to manage events offline… but could also remotely collect reservation data from participants online. By now we had also been experimenting with web site development so it also represents one of our first steps toward data driven internet projects. We developed a Filemaker workgroup database as the host back end, and began connecting it with a web front end. Building this system led us to other new evolving web technologies. We never launched the product at Kraft because we wanted to take it the next step into a branded product of our own.
  ( more on BizDat later )
  
  

1994 - First on the Web,
changes our world again…
It’s exciting to say we were part of the beginning! Woodland’s first web site was launched the same year Netscape ( first commercial web browser ) was launched on the world wide web. We became the only known agency to have our own web web server with dedicated T1 connection to the internet and began hosting our own websites. We loved this technology and were extremely excited to pursue its creative possibilities!

Here’s a few Woodland web ‘firsts’…

• First Oscar Mayer Website – Created, developed and hosted the Oscar Mayer Cybercinema… making them the first Kraft brand to ever be on the web. We created the ‘World Wide Wiener’ to teach people about the internet. Using our panoramic camera, we produced a virtual tour of the inside of the Wienermobile. We also featured the ‘Hotdoggers Diary’ posting updates of their experiences on the road. It was a fun and informational web site featuring games, trivia, products and recipes… and was picked as Yahoo’s ‘Cool Site’ of the week.
  
  
• First Super Bowl Half Time Show Super Bowl 31 was the first time the NFL featured live scores of the game on the internet. That year, Oscar Mayer was a corporate sponsor of the half time show. Since the NFL had nothing planned on the web for half time, we proposed the idea of OM also sponsoring the half time show on the web. We negotiated with the NFL and hosted the first ever Super Bowl Half Time show on the web featuring interactive games.
  
  
• First 3D Interactive Games / Lunchables – At the time, ASP web development technology was brand new… and these were the first interactive web games we ever produced. Each quarter, we built 3D models and database back ends and hosted interactive games built on the Lunchables web site.
  
  

1995 - Woodland Communications, Inc. By now we were more than a marketing company so we changed our name to Woodland Communications. In addition to creative projects, we began doing consulting and building our own internet products. Only one additional project is mentioned here because there is overlap from the continuation of the aforementioned web projects, plus ongoing sales collateral projects, database management projects and the initial development of our own BizDat projects that follow.

• First Kraft Sales Intranet GUI – Up until now, Kraft had a network, but not an intranet. Our client realized there was a great opportunity to leverage intranet / extranet communications with the district offices. Because of Woodland’s capabilities with web / database development, expertise in web navigation, understanding of ASP technologies and because of our experience in designing sales force communications… our client hired us to develop the content strategy and GUI ( Graphic User Interface ) of the first Kraft Sales Intranet. We also built an online working model of the ‘Trade Relations’ section to present the idea to management. The design was accepted and later extended to incorporate brand sales communications from brand management.
  
  
• Developed Oscar Mayer University ( OMU ) – Over the years, due to sales force consolidations, Kraft realized a need to educate the sale force about OM products because selling to the meat manager can be very different than selling to other departments. Because of Woodland’s long history with OM, our understanding of their brands, and our print, audio / visual and web capabilities they chose us to develop ‘Oscar Mayer University’ ( OMU ), a sales force education package about Oscar Mayer brands and best sales practices. We developed a series of brochures for each of their product categories, produced training videos, and a web site. One of the highlights of the project was an opportunity to interview Hal Mayer ( Oscar Mayer’s grandson ) and hear him talk about his memories as a child of his grandfather and the founding days of the company.
  
  

Our world is about to change forever…

By now many things were beginning to change. Kraft Foods had been undergoing huge changes that involved consolidating all creative services for all brands in-house at the corporate office. This meant we were no longer working with the consumer promotions department. Also, their national advertising agency ( JWT ) had been vying for the web site work we had been doing and finally convinced brand management that it should be part of the media plan and controlled by them as part of the advertising strategy. This meant we also stopped working with their website. Faced with losing a lot of revenues we were faced with making some big decisions about ‘what’s next?’. Do we want to expand our efforts to get more corporate marketing / web services work… or pursue another direction?

1998 - Introducing Bizdat, Inc.- We chose to go full force on our own BizDat products! We had a connection to a Silicon Valley technology investor so we created our first BizDat business presentation and sent it to him. He provided strategic comments, encouraged us to continue, outlined some next steps, and offered to serve as an advisor as we pulled together our business plan for venture funding.

• BizDat PowerGroups – PowerGroups was the first Facebook ( only better )... and about 10 years ahead of its time!  Back then, the internet was so new, we had to convince investors that ‘people want to interact in groups’ on the internet! PowerGroups included public / private groups, Contacts, Meetings, Discussions, Documents, Polls, Links and more. We assembled a tremendous team, an incredible advisory board, the best legal team, raised almost $500k and launched the company and beta version of the product. We were chosen to be part of the UW Weinert Applied Venture Entrepreneurship program. We were in trials by the Wisconsin Perinatal Association, and United Way of Dane County considered PowerGroups a ‘critical’ application for their organization when it gets fully released. Unfortunately, the Dot.Com crash hit and funding dried up for startups. We were forced to reduce to skeleton staff… and put a halt on funding so we couldn’t continue development. But unlike many others, we didn’t go out of business… we decided to hold on by providing marketing & consulting services to keep things going until timing improved to try again.
  
  
• Kraft eWork GUI & Introduction Kraft Foods was developing the first launch of ‘eWork’ their company-wide intranet. The Director of the Kraft Strategic Initiatives Group recognized the need for a Change Management strategy to introduce the technology and encourage adoption by employees. BizDat was hired to develop ‘eWork’ branding and an introductory online campaign for the launch. We were also used as technology consultants, primarily from a GUI perspective.
  
  
• BizDat Freedom Networks – Presented to the White House, ‘Freedom Networks’ was a modified version of PowerGroups designed to serve as an extranet for service organizations and state / national government departments. First presented to Cabinet Secretary Tommy Thompson, we were assigned to Dr. Howard Zucker, White House Fellow for evaluation. After multiple conferences he forwarded us to the Presidents USA Freedom Corps for review. They liked the idea and contacted us to find out if, since they didn’t have any funding, could they use it for free? Well, we said ‘no’… probably the biggest mistake we ever made! In hindsight, that would have led to funding!

At any rate, this marked the end for BizDat PowerGroups.-
The administrative costs for continuing the company were no longer sustainable so we merged it into Woodland. That said, still today it’s a better conceived product than Facebook… and I’m pretty sure everyone ever involved with it knows what I mean and would agree! The idea is still great!

So, what’s next? – BizDat had forced us to take a bit of a sabbatical from Woodland. So, we needed to make some decisions about where to take the business from here. Do we fire up the ‘agency’ business again… or do something different? What intrigued us most was the idea of focusing on marketing our own artwork and potentially selling it to corporate clients.

2003 - Woodland Studios, Inc. –
By now, the first 35mm digital cameras came out, Epson released the first giclee printers, and computers now had gigabyte RAM. These technologies made it possible for us to do large format photography, apply digital painting effects and print our own large versions of our own artwork, with archival inks on acid-free canvas and fine art papers. With nothing more than point-n-shoot cameras, our computers, and a small 13x19 Epson printer we started making hundreds of images.

• Parade Of Homes – This was our first project. We had an opportunity to get our artwork in the Madison Area Parade Of Homes. At the time, we working out of our homes, didn’t have a large printer, had never printed a large version of our work, and didn’t even know where to buy framing. Even so, we committed to do all of the artwork for 5 Parade Homes, which amounted to about 125 matted and framed pieces… and we had about 90 days to get it done! We scrambled to find printing & framing resources, worked with the interior designers to create unique art for each house, matched framing / matting to the décor… and got it all hung in 5 houses by the night before the show. Several of our pieces were sold to the designers and builders… and we were asked to do 3 more homes the next year.
  
  
• Woodland / Oregon – We wanted a studio space, so we rented a storefront in downtown Oregon. We bought a Canon Rebel 35mm digital camera, an Epson 44” printer, large format Epson scanner and started doing giclee printing on canvas and fine art papers for other artists. We also set up our first retail gallery featuring our own art, along with the art of artists we printed for, and added jewelry, pottery and sculpture by local artists.
  
  
• Founded ‘14 South Artists’ – After opening our Woodland / Oregon gallery we began meeting lots of local artists, so we started an art group to generate awareness and promote local arts. We formed an advisory board, established committees and executed events including Monthly Meetings, Fall Art Tours, Holiday Art Shows, Membership Dinners and more. To promote events we created and produced quarterly 12-16pg, full color, tabloid size newspaper inserts, 4/c Posters, Flyers, and Post Cards. We also created a website and membership database. Membership grew to 80+ members. Gary served as president and marketing director for the first 7 years.
  
  2024 20th Anniversary of 14 South
  Here are some links (click link) to videos from ocamedia.com about the 20 year celebration and Fall Art Tour
  > Fall Art Tour
  > 20th Celebration (part one)
  > 20th Celebration (part two)


• Founded ‘DOIT Committee’ –Also after opening our Woodland / Oregon gallery we formed ‘DOIT’ ( Downtown Oregon It’s Time ) a committee to work with other local business owners to promote revitalization of our historic downtown. We created a “Light Up Oregon” campaign, installed lighting across tops of all buildings, partnered with 14 South Artists to host a Holiday Art Show, plus horse & buggy rides and featured Miss Wisconsin as a special guest. Also, DOIT worked with the Chamber Of Commerce and the Landmarks Commission to raise funding for period lighting, etc. Marketing included a 12 page, full color, tabloid newspaper, posters, flyers, postcards and TV interview.
  
  
• Lodge At Cedar Creek – A marketing project that evolved into our first corporate art project. Our client was the builder of LCC, the largest waterpark resort in northern Wisconsin. Because of our marketing background we were hired to develop a marketing plan, plus branding, advertising, website and also their theme park mascot character, ‘Chip’ the beaver. In the process, our client became aware of our custom art, printing and framing capabilities. We were then contracted to create artful portrayals of area attractions and provide all of the art for entire resort including rooms, lobby, bar, etc. We spent several days photographing all area major tourist attractions. From over 2000 photos, we chose about 2 dozen images, created digital artwork, and made over 500 giclee prints for the hotel.
  
  
• Horizon Development – Our client was a general contractor, owned many assisted living facilities, and the developer of Lodge At Cedar Creek water park resort. Because of our work on LCC, our marketing background with Kraft Foods, plus our business plan development with BizDat, we were hired to help with branding, sales materials and website development.
  
  
• Woodland / Stoughton –
  We bought a building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, located on Main Street in downtown Stoughton. Our goal was to provide quality creative services in a ‘studio like’ environment along with a retail gallery to promote local art.
  
  We focused on 4 areas…
  
  The Gallery – Displayed the work of artists & photographers who print with us, along with other local jewelry, pottery, sculpture, fabric and glass artists.
  
  Print Shop – We offered giclee printing, with archival inks on acid free canvas and fine art papers for artists and photographers. We also provided digital capture and retouching services.
  
  Frame Shop –We had the largest collection of frame choices in Dane County and provided custom, conservation framing services for fine art, heirloom, fabrics, shadowboxes, etc.
  
  Yarn Shop – Featured fine yarns, books, accessories and hosted a weekly open knitting night.
  Classes – Mostly in Knitting, Felting & Digital Painting.
  
  
• Founded ‘Historic Stoughton Business Alliance’ – We organized a group of downtown business owners to develop a continuity marketing message and campaign to promote our historic downtown. We called it HSBA ( Historic Stoughton Business Alliance ) and agreed to promote the ‘arts & cultural assets’ by leveraging relationships with 14 South Artists, the Stoughton Opera House and groups like the Chamber and Arts Council. We produced quarterly 16 page, full color tabloid newspaper inserts, ads, flyers, post cards, website and TV commercials. We also produced a Marketing Conference featuring the Lieutenant Governor, marketing professionals and Landmarks Commission. Since Stoughton is designated a Preserve America Community… the mayor designated us the Preserve America Committee, appointed Gary as committee chair and wrote two grant proposals to the National Park Service.
  
  

April 1st, 2016 –
We sold Woodland Studios -
We sold the assets and building of Woodland Studios in Stoughton. The new owner was a big Investment Art and Scandinavian Folk Art collector. He envisioned having his own gallery and offering conservation custom framing services. He liked Woodland Studios for its quality focus, framing services and print shop services. He liked Stoughton for its Norwegian heritage. He wanted to carry on the Woodland Studios name, framing and printing services… but wanted to expand the focus on selling fine art and Scandinavian Folk Art. So he took over as Woodland Studios LLC… and we changed our name once again... we are now Woodland Creative, Inc.

2016 - Woodland Creative, Inc. –
Now we’re focusing on our personal art, collaborations with other artists and small businesses and property management services for our vacation rentals. Our web site is our new storefront and we work out of our home studios. We also provide on-site creative, marketing and training services to individuals and groups.

• Consulting Services – Think of us as your personal Creative Directors. We offer creative, marketing and business consulting products & services for artists, small businesses and associations. Products & services include marketing plans, sales collateral, promotional materials, web site / store development, social media and workgroup database management.
  
  
• Custom Art – We can design it, create it and install it. Creative services include photo retouching / restoration, custom digital paintings from photos, and producing corporate and institutional art installations including special commissions with multiple artists.
  
  
• Woodland Art – Over the years, we have created thousands of images. We have an online store where you can view favorites from our portfolio, order images online, or to contact us regarding custom orders. The initial store features the work of Gary & Cindy… future additions may include other artists.
  
  
• Art Collection – Woodland’s Art Collection of investment art is for sale! Images and information can be viewed on our website. The collection includes original paintings and prints from… Rembrandt, Disney, Peter Max, Karrel Appel, Salvador Dali, Hanna Barbera and more.
  
  

2014 Woodland Mountain Retreat LLC - Vacation Rentals – We no longer own these properties! In 2014 we started purchasing vacation properties in Maggie Valley NC. We've owned three awesome cabins in the Smokey Mountains for vacation rental! For 10 years we rented them out as vacation rental homes. Image galleries are featured on our website as a presentation of this significant and very enjoyable part of our history.

• 2020-23 Raven Ridge HOA Board
  One of our cabins was located in the Raven Ridge Homeowner Association. Gary served on the board as the chair of the Governance Committee. In that role, he assembled a committee to create a website, write the Rules & Regulations, Declaration, Bylaws, Board Handbook and create the color standards for the association. 

 In 2024 we sold the last of our cabins! 
________________________________________
Special Acknowledgement – As a bit of a sidebar, it’s important to acknowledge the amazing people who have worked with us over the years! Although the company started with Cindy & Gary ( and still is just us ), if it weren’t for the dozens of people who helped us along the way, we couldn’t have done most of the things mentioned here. See our Acknowledgements page for a complete list but we'd like to highlight here a couple key people...
(1) Hilary Nelson, computer artist / developer / network / tech genius. 
(2) Bob Ratta, Creative Director, GUI and 3D virtual game developer (3) and Matt Snyder, developer ASP & SQL server technologies.

Click here to visit our...
Acknowledgements Page!

Acknowledgements...

https://youtu.be/rs7Fqzna1p0?si=A2ugDQQKjQPR-V8a