Spring into Gallery Night

The weather is finally changing, and so is the art on the walls of Milwaukee’s galleries and exhibition spaces.  Spring Gallery Night is upon us, and like the first colorful blooms of springtime, we here at TCD have hand-picked a bouquet of fresh shows for you to enjoy.

If  spring fever has got you itching for even more places to go and art to see, be sure to peruse our events calendar for  more exciting Gallery Night (& Day) happenings.

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Third Ward

Bradford Washburn, photographed by Jim Herrington.

Hanson Dodge
220 E. Buffalo St.
Jim Herrington: Legends of Climbing
5-9 pm

Hanson Dodge hosts the debut exhibit of some of the world’s most iconic rock climbers and mountaineers from world-renowned photographer Jim Herrington. An explorer in his own right, Herrington’s path has led him from the darkroom to a 15-year journey photographing many of the most legendary climbers in history, and finally to the walls of Hanson Dodge Creative.

Luckystar Studio
207 E. Buffalo St. , Suite 311 (Marshall Building)
INK INC
6-10 pm

Luckystar’s new show will feature new work by Kristopher Pollard, silkscreen posters by Von Munz, and the sculpture series “Food Fight” by Chris Andrews.  As an added bonus, the reception will also future home brew from Milwaukee’s own Mike Brenner!

CoPA
324 N. Water St. (Mayer Building)
6th Annual Members Show
4-10 pm

The Coalition of Photographic Arts is comprised of approximately 200 fine art photographers, over 90 of which will have work featured in this year’s Members Show.  The diverse exhibition of several hundred photographs will be on display in a new venue this year–the main floor of the Mayer Building.

135 artists will have their thesis projects on display at the MIAD Senior Exhibition, the state’s largest annual show. Projects will be in areas covering the spectrum of degrees that MIAD offers, and the artists will be on hand to talk about their work.  Some highlights will include an interactive mixed-media installation by Gallerie M curator Danielle Rosen, a line of women’s underwear that “approaches the female form with honesty” from Industrial Design major Alexis Napier-Short, and a customizable iPad application to help children with autism by Communication Design major and longtime Special Olympics volunteer Kate Bonar.

SPiN Milwaukee
233 E. Chicago St.
Brewcity Bruisers Gallery Night Exhibit
4-11:30 pm

The Brewcity Bruisers will be displaying artwork created by members of Milwaukee’s amateur flat-track, all-female roller derby league, as well as work created for or in honor of the Bruisers, work created with the theme of roller derby, and items of historical relevance to the sport itself.

Safi Studios
207 E. Buffalo St., Suite LL8 (Marshall Building)
Walkthrough
5-9 pm

Walkthrough showcases new experimental video work by Milwaukee artist Scott Johnson in collaboration with Virginia-based noise musicians Ancient Noir.  The exhibition will also feature new contemporary abstract paintings from Tom Kovacich, Dianne Soffa and Jane Gates.  The show will be supplemented with ambient collage music by ATMOS Spheres–a collaboration between KasjaNoova of Antwerp, Belgium, and Scott Johnson.

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Downtown/East Side/Riverwest

Dean Jensen Gallery
759 N. Water St.
Murmurings of the Trees: An Installation by Joan Backes
10 am-9 pm

The centerpiece of this installation is a “small, but habitable cottage, that glows with the mysterious light of the moon.”  It is surrounded by “artist-made trees, paintings, and Lilliputian-sized houses,” transforming the gallery into a whimsical woodland.  Backes, a Boston-area resident and Milwaukee native, has done installations exploring similar themes all over the world, this being her second solo show at the Dean Jensen Gallery.

“Multi-Species Tree” by Joan Backes.

Pfister Hotel
424 E. Wisconsin Ave.
Artist in Residence: Shelby Keefe
5-9 pm

Shelby Keefe is the Pfister Hotel’s newest Artist in Residence, and her first Gallery Night show will feature some of her modern impressionist oil paintings.  Keefe, who works from her own photographs or “en plein air,” specializes in urban and architectural landscapes.  She is a Milwaukee-educated Whitewater native who, in 2005, left her career in graphic design to focus on painting.  Following the show, a reception will be held in the hotel’s Rouge Ballroom from 9-11:30 pm.  The reception will feature a cash bar, complimentary snacks, and a performance by Keefe.

Jackpot Gallery
825 E. Center St.
22 Trumps
April 16, 6-9 pm

The Tarot is a deck of 78 cards containing various figures and symbols, which date back to the 14th century. The widespread perceptions consider it to be a means of fortune-telling with overtones of superstition. However, a much more accessible view of the Tarot suggests that it can instead function as a tool for self-analysis and self-realization. In some ways, Tarot is comparable to a Rorschach test. With a Rorschach, an individual is shown an abstract composition comprised of amorphous ink blots. The individual projects onto the ink blots whatever feelings and ideas the arrangement suggests.

For 22 Trumps, 21 participants were given two randomly selected Tarot cards and then prompted to create a piece based on their conversation with the cards.

INOVA/Arts Center
2400 E. Kenwood Blvd.
MA/MFA Exhibition II
5-7 pm

This exhibition will showcase visual art and design pieces from students receiving an MA or MFA from UWM’s Peck School of the Arts this spring.  Like the MIAD Senior Exhibition, this show allows the opportunity to see work from up-and-coming local talent.

arrangement suggests to her. Her answer does not define what the ink blots are, rather, the blots serve as a mirror in which the individual finds aspects of herself. Likewise, each Tarot card i

Walker’s Point

Great Lakes Distillery
616 W. Virginia St.
Amerique 1912 Poster Art
8 pm-Midnight

Great Lakes Distillery recently held a poster art contest inspired by Bohemian art from La Belle Epoque and in honor of their Amerique 1912 absinthe. Guidelines specified that the poster must include 2 short-haired fairies with elven ears and feathered wings.  The show, which will take place in the tasting room of the distillery, will display all contest entries for judging and view by the public. Winners will be announced at 11 pm.

Print by Carlos Cortez

Walker’s Point Center for the Arts
839 S. 5th St.
Carlos Cortéz and Allied Artists
5-9 pm

WPCA’s newest show is an exhibition of prints based around the life of the revolutionary artist Carlos Cortéz.  A former Milwaukee artist who moved to the Pilsen area of Chicago, Cortéz produced prints that focused on human rights, immigration issues, celebrations, poetry, and the plight of workers.

Some of Cortéz’s work will be featured, as well as work from artists influenced by him, including a handful from the World War 3-illustrated and Just Seeds collectives.

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Bay View

BYO Studio Lounge
2246 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.
A Portrait of Cuba: a Photographic Essay by Jennifer Janviere
6-10 pm

During her spare time on a recent educational research trip to Cuba, local creative Jennifer Janviere snapped up pictures of the local life.  A Portrait of Cuba offers a unique glimpse at the lives of people inside the country, which remains largely isolated from the United States after five decades of economic embargo.

“Kochinko” by Stacey Rozich

Sky High Gallery
2501 S. Howell Ave.
Paintings by Stacey Rozich
Noon-10 pm

Sky High Gallery is extending its hours for last-minute viewings of Stacey Rozich’s solo exhibition, which has been on display since March 4 and ends April 17.   The show features 14 framed watercolor and gouache paintings that “conjure feelings of spiritual folk tales and ritual.”  Rozich, a Seattle-based artist, studied illustration in San Francisco and now sometimes works as an illustrator, a fact that is evident in her work.

Of note:

The Milwaukee Artists Resource Network (MARN) is hosting its Art Treasure Hunt during Gallery Night and Day. The Art Treasure Hunt offers artwork at selected venues by some of the Greater Milwaukee Area’s top visual artists. Designed to entice new art collectors to the market, the event challenges people who have never thought to buy original art work to think about collecting art by local artists.

Though the works are valued from $50 to $600, each piece will be offered for the affordable price of $25 to $75.  In this way, MARN breaks the number one barrier to collecting : “I can’t afford it”.

For more information, click here.