Bay View Gallery Night a Hit

More than 60 businesses across Bay View hosted art from hundreds of artists for Bay View Gallery Night, according to the official website. The event was held on Friday night, from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Adding to the festivities, Bay View Jazz Fest was held that same night, welcoming musicians to more than nine locations including Tonic Tavern, At Random, Colectivo and Morgan Park. Speaking of Morgan Park, Food Truck Friday was held there with Meat on the Street, Roll MKE and many more businesses serving food to guests. Meanwhile, a number of artists sold their wares at the Milwaukee Makers Market in the parking lot behind Colectivo. Colectivo is actually just one of the many stops for the market throughout the year, according to the official website. Their next stop is at Discovery World on June 16.

The Art School hosted the grand opening party of their new location at 2654 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. during Gallery Night. The Art School displayed artwork from their adult and youth students.

Co-founders Lisa and Andy Pilarski ran The Art School at a location half a mile away from their new one for the past four years. Lisa said that they moved to their new location to accommodate more students and classes. They also wanted to be more visible and feel like a bigger part of the community.

Lisa said the couple gets a lot of joy from art and love sharing that with other people while helping them reach their full potential as artists. She said many of the students that come to The Art School feel they can’t make art.

“No one is born knowing how to do this,” Lisa said. “And once you discover that you can, there’s really no limit to it and that’s the magic of it.”

Andy was taught about art at a space similar to The Art School when he was young. He said that his teachers didn’t talk down to him. He was getting real instructions and critique, and he brings the philosophy from that space to The Art School.

“I felt like I wasn’t just a kid making art,” Andy said. “I felt like I was a person making art and that’s what kept me wanting to be in a classroom – inspiring others and getting inspired by others. We go home from teaching art class and we’re energized to get into our own studio.”

You can learn more about The Art School and it’s classes here.

We also ran into Digital Artist Kelly Main painting a portrait of Samus Aran from the popular video game franchise Metroid outside of Via Fever, a shop specializing in pop culture-based gifts and clothing. She told Urban Milwaukee that she has been drawing ever since she was a kid and was taught at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. She loves pop culture and anything big, loud and vibrant, especially with monsters and aliens. She said that pop culture’s connection to the community inspires her art.

“It’s my way of showing my appreciation to characters that I love, but also I love seeing how people react to it,” Main said.

You can check out more of her artwork here.

88Nine Radio Milwaukee representatives were at the intersection of E. Lincoln and S. Kinnickinnic avenues developing custom playlists for guests. They asked them how they wanted to feel after listening to the playlist and created one right on the spot.

Check out more great art in our photos below.

Photo Gallery

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