MKE Studio Tour Returns End of September

MKE Studio Tour hosted by Wisconsin Craft.

MKE Studio Tour will return at the end of September, opening up 22 independent artist studios to the public.

The event is organized by Wisconsin Craft, a statewide organization that supports craft makers. Members will showcase their handcrafted art including “jewelry, ceramics, glass, woodwork, metalwork, fiber, mixed media, painting and photography,” the organization said in an announcement.

“We’re now in our fifth year and are extremely excited to have 57 participating artists,” says Jean Wells, president of Wisconsin Craft. “Since we have a full slate of artists, you could take two days to visit the studios and see where our local artists create their pieces.”

The event runs from Saturday, Sept. 30 through Sunday, Oct. 1, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. Many of the studios opening up will be in Milwaukee, but also River Hills, Glendale, Shorewood, Cudahy, Wauwatosa and South Milwaukee. In total, 57 artists are participating in the public studio tours.

Some of the Milwaukee artists participating in the event include Rosy Petri, Janelle Gramling and Philip Ankney.

Petri is a fiber artist making contemporary iconography based on Black history, music and culture. Her work employs a fusion of printmaking, photography and multimedia storytelling.

Grambling is a fiber and ceramics artist. “Every season, she pulls work from her experiments in fiber, found objects and ceramics to curate a collection of home decor and wearable adornments revolving around a theme,” Wisconsin Craft said. She will be hosting artists Ann Wydeven from Milwaukee and Adam Lefebvre from Dousman at her studio during the event.

Ankney is a craftsman with experience in the construction industry whose work “focuses on sustainable and intentional design build remodeling and furniture.” During the MKE Studio Tour, he will also host Kate Marotz, a ceramic artist from Marshfield, and Christian Franczyk, a Milwaukee wood artist at his southside studio.

Additional details on the event are available on the MKE Studio Tour website.