5Q
John Riepenhoff 5 Q
It’s not easy being green, which is why John Riepenhoff, owner and curator of the Green Gallery, established the third-floor Riverwest venue expressly for fresh, emerging artists in 2004. An art school graduate and painter himself, the now-25-year-old could relate. Riepenhoff is interested in social interaction between artists of all media. The space currently hosts a monthly Movie & Masala night for neighborhood filmmakers and sponsors a culturally conscious residency program to align local and global artists, launched by the Institute of Quotidian Arts and Letters this past spring. Between a hectic show opening and a weeklong trip to London’s Frieze Art Fair, John squeezed in our five questions. Keep up with him at thegreengallery.tk. What paved your way from art student to gallery owner/curator? Even as a student, I would question for what and for whom art was made, so exploring the gateway from the artist’s hands to the public arena was a natural progression. Running a low-maintenance space — using a model similar to DIY rock house venues — eased my start, and the playfulness of the artists I exhibited directly elevated the gallery. The more artists and gallerists I met locally and nationally, the more I realized the significance of the Milwaukee art community; that still motivates me to continue the Green Gallery project, and to experiment with methods of showcasing art and encouraging local artists. How do your personal tastes and values guide the Green Gallery cut? The artists who show are ones that surprise me; they are making art that says “things are exciting right now” in a new way, or they are creating interesting situations that don’t yet have a venue but should. They are commenting on the conditions of art and popular culture in a way similar to a writer by critiquing aspects of experience and history, and by offering some alternatives. I like these traits in people, too. I like the meta. What are the highs and lows of your role? I get to meet so many creative and amazing individuals, and get to be a part of their lives. Some of my all-time favorite artists are real people that I helped reach a broader audience! Supporting and empowering artists by stimulating discussion and exposing their ideas to receptive audiences is a real high. Building, sanding, painting, cleaning and fixing the space are all of the lows that make the highs feel better-deserved. What makes Milwaukee a good home for art? In Milwaukee, people can find time for their own projects without having to pay inflated rent that many of the (other) art centers around the country indoctrinate. The art community here is small enough that one can find help for his or her projects in friends and acquaintances, as well as find other projects that might be a perfect showcase of her or his talent. I like to think that we Milwaukeeans can commit to our own personal voices without being distracted by the pettiness of mainstream […]
Nov 1st, 2007 by Amber Herzog
Garrett Burton
Photo by Erin Landry Garrett Burton is somewhat of a rare breed. Not only is he a guitarist in the outfit General Jive and the Souldiers, but he is also a luthier; he builds and repairs guitars and he’s been hard at work at it for the past three years. After being certified in 2004, he moved back to Milwaukee where he found work restoring classical stringed instruments such as violins, cellos and violas. From there, he went on to work as a guitar technician for local guitar shops while opening his own shop in the process. Currently, he is doing repair work at Gearheadz Music while also restoring guitars out of his home. To hear more from Burton, check out myspace.com/milwaukeeguitarrepair or myspace.com/generaljiveandthesouldiers. 1. When did you know you wanted to build guitars? I took a couple of woodworking classes in high school and in physics class my teacher was really into sound and making his own speakers. So that’s when I thought about the two different worlds: one of science and one of wood-working. Being a guitar player, the two just merged together for me. I didn’t know what I wanted to study in college, so I decided to go school for luthrie at Bryan Galloup’s School of Luthrie in Big Rapids, Michigan. That’s where I developed an interest in the acoustic properties of instruments. 2. How has Milwaukee’s guitar luthier scene been? There’s definitely been appreciation for my work around here. Presently, I’m over at my friend Benny’s music store, Gearheadz Music, on National Avenue. I like the vibe of his shop; Benny’s super cool, and being a musician, he understands other musician’s interests in instruments. 3. How much has music influenced your life? Well, considering my occupation, it has completely altered my life, or kept it on its path. It has given me many tools to express my feelings. I remember the first time music hit me: shivers. This was junior high. I got the White Album and I needed to put a band together immediately. That’s when I knew I wanted to play music. I’ve been playing ever since. 4. How has building guitars deepened your understanding of guitar music? If you look at the timeline of the invention of different types of guitars, you can see [a relationship to] how the sound of the music changes, and the style being played. For instance, surf rock most likely wouldn’t exist without the Fender Stratocaster and some mad reverb, dig? But classical guitars brought my ear to Brazilian music. Arch-top guitars drew me to early jazz. Flat-tops introduced me to ragtime, country blues and country music. 5. What’s one of your favorite things about repairing guitars? The look on the customer’s faces when they play their fixed instrument and it plays the way they want it to play; they’re happy. I also really like to experience working on all sorts of stringed instruments, especially older ones. They tend to have more craftsmanship and detail or thought […]
May 1st, 2007 by Blaine Schultz
Cheryl Pawelski
Photo by Audrey Bilger Some people make mix tapes for fun, but Milwaukee native Cheryl Pawelski can list that on her resume. As far as music fans go, Pawelski’s 17 years beat most people’s lifetime of participation. As a young music maven she worked at the old downtown Radio Doctors learning record distribution. She moved to California and in 1990 began a 12-year run at Capitol Records, and in 2005 moved over to Concord Records to run their catalog development. In January of this year she began what many consider a dream job, heading up A&R at Rhino Records. Though music is what pays her bills, she remains a devoted fan. In her words, the whole trip “…only took 17 years. I’d do it all again, too – it’s been a ball.” 1. What is your dream project? Well, I’ve been fortunate enough to work on a couple dream projects. In fact, at this point, I’d have to say I’m working on my dream project in that I’m heading up A&R at Rhino and the catalogs under the Rhino umbrella are some of my favorites. That having been said, I would indeed drop everything to go and work as Bruce Springsteen’s archivist and special project producer. 2. Is there any Milwaukee-related artist or project you’d like to work on? Yes. For years I’ve wanted to cut out enough time to put together a double CD release I’d like to call The Real Happy Days. It’s not a single artist anthology but a Wisconsin-based one. I’ve long been a fan of the single and by that I mean the 45 rpm or 7” vinyl slab. I started collecting records on local labels from the ‘50s and ‘60s a long time ago – Cuca and Raymond among others. I would like to pull together a nice collection of those but just haven’t had the time. 3. What project so far do you think reflects your own personality? The Band box set, A Musical Journey, certainly reflects my detail-oriented, “everything must be right” kind of work ethic. The rockabilly box, Rockin’ Bones, is four discs of really fun and sometimes surprisingly absurd early rock & roll and there’s an earlier compilation I did at Capitol called Rebels & Outlaws, which is basically filled with all kinds of songs about carryin’ on and makin’ a racket, so those all collectively add up to something. I guess sometimes projects can be an extension of a personality but only a small fraction, and at that, the fraction may be based in fantasy or wishful thinking. 4. What do you like best about California? I like everything in California between about Big Sur and Point Reyes (just north of San Francisco). LA for me has been something that I put up with as a trade for getting to do what I do. The best parts of LA seem to be hidden and certainly not advertised – so uncovering the history of LA is a lot of fun. […]
Apr 1st, 2007 by Blaine Schultz
