Art Studio Opening in Former Cudahy Funeral Home

With her new art instruction studio in Cudahy, artist Madeline Glaspey is realizing a dream of helping others fulfill their creative potential.

Glaspey opened Find Your Light Art Studio at 3701 E. Layton Ave. in June in a former funeral home that her mother recently purchased. Find Your Light offers morning and evening classes for pre-teens, teens and adults in drawing and oil painting, as well as private art instruction.

Glaspey is not the first to open an art studio in such a space. Inspiration Studios in West Allis and Five Points on Port Washington Road also previously housed funeral homes.

“I’ve always been drawn to the poetry of it,” she said. “The space has so much potential.”

Born and raised in Bay View, Glaspey attended college in San Francisco, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2013. She returned to Milwaukee after graduation and got a job at Blick Art Materials on the city’s East Side, where she worked for five years. “I loved interacting with artists all day long, but there weren’t enough opportunities for growth,” she noted.

Glaspey’s mother Mary Jo, owner of The Cutting Table, a Bay View fabric store which closed in the mid-2000s, discovered that the Cudahy property was for sale. At first, Madeline was a bit put off by the thought of opening an art studio in such a venue, but quickly warmed up to it once she saw the space.  “My dream was kind of a one-room schoolhouse,” she added.

As a studio owner and art teacher, Glaspey had to learn some new skills, like marketing her business. “I’m excited now about it. The end game is a little bit different than working toward a career as a studio artist,” she added.

Glaspey feels that Find Your Light has been received well in the Cudahy community. “I’ve been surprised and pleased by people who want to come in and check it out,” she said.

In the future, Glaspey hopes to offer children’s art classes and open studio sessions, where artists can drop in the studio and work on their own projects. She also plans to teach art instruction classes for the Cudahy Recreation Department in a variety of mediums, such as pastels and acrylics.

Art News and Events

-The Milwaukee Artist Resource Network (MARN) will be moving to a new location October 14. The organization has signed a 10-year lease on a 5,200 square-foot storefront at the Lofts on Broadway, 191 N. Broadway, currently home to Elements East. MARN recently received a $3 million grant from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s Anonymous Fund, which has enabled the organization to increase its program and workshop offerings. According to president and CEO Mal Montoya, MARN’s new space will include a retail area, resource library, and coffee bar. “It’s very exciting for MARN to be in a position to introduce a truly unique brick and mortar destination that heretofore didn’t exist,” he noted in a press release.

-Eleven additional Milwaukee County Park maps, created by local and national artists, were unveiled at a gallery night Thursday at the Mitchell Park Domes. Map artists include Jordan Pintar, Zac Jacobson, Scott Schiller, and Melissa Lee Johnson. Posters of the maps can be purchased online at www.parksforgood.com, with sales benefiting the Greater Milwaukee Foundation parks fund.

Monday:

Water + Work, an exhibition organized by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Art History department, opens in the Emile H. Mathis Art Gallery, 3203 N. Downer Ave.

Friday:

Go Wild! A Study of Plants and Animals, an exhibit featuring work by nearly 50 local artists, opens at Scout Gallery, 1104 W. Historic Mitchell St.

Wednesday, 1:30 p.m. to 2:45 p.m.:

The Milwaukee Art Museum (MAM) will host a trolley tour of Sculpture Milwaukee, the outdoor sculptures lining Wisconsin Ave. For tickets, visit www.mam.org/sculptureMKE.

Thursday: 

Landfall Press: Five Decades of Printmaking opens today in the MAM’s Bradley Family Gallery.

Thursday, noon and 5:30 p.m.:

MAM visitors can drop in for a half-hour Nares: Moves exhibit Express Talk by a Museum expert.

Friday, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.:

The Riverwest Artists Association presents the 40th anniversary of ArtWalk 53212. The two-day event will kick off with a party at the Association’s home, 926 E. Center St.

Saturday:

ArtWalk 53212 continues, showcasing works by more than 20 artists in Riverwest galleries. Maps are available at the Jazz Gallery Center for the Arts, Bronzeville Collective, Woodland Pattern Book Center, and Art Bar.

Saturday, 11:00 a.m. to 3 p.m.:

The Grohmann Museum will host its 10th Annual Lost Arts Festival. Dedicated to professions of yesteryear that are captured in many of the Grohmann’s works of art, the event will feature live demonstrations by a lace maker, blacksmith, shoe carver, glass founder, spinners, weavers, and master painters. Visit The Grohmann Museum’s website for more information.

Last Chance: Galleries Closing

Nares: Moves closes Sunday at the Milwaukee Art Museum.

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