As the Saint Kate artist in residence, Anwar Floyd-Pruitt uses the studio as his canvas. Along with covering the walls in his colorful, iterative portraits, he invites others to make their own art. A table of construction paper, glue sticks and scissors allows passersby craft unique faces to leave behind on a tall curtain of paper circles. “When you start putting them in combination with other faces,” Floyd-Pruitt says, “you start to create conversations, or families.”
Floyd-Pruitt also takes instant camera photos of each guest to put on a wall, and he frequently practices his “Hip Hop Puppet Party” – a whimsical beatbox show with puppets made of paper and rubber bands. The residency runs through August, and his studio is open to the public.
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
How did this residency come about?
I have developed a relationship with the (Saint Kate) hotel from having a show here. And certainly, working at the Museum of Wisconsin Art since we curate a space here.
And I would say that my years of working in the liquor industry, in marketing, just always required being audience-facing, or audience-engaging. I think so many artists would handle the residency differently and use this space in different ways. Because I’m so used to being people-engaging, it’s actually difficult for me to be in the space for someone to walk in the door and not engage them.
People have a lot of questions about the art. And I have some guests that stay for two minutes, and I have some guests that stay for two hours. And those become really interesting interactions – when this person is firmly planted here for two hours, and then another 50 guests come through, and they’re just like, “Oh, so are you – which one of you is the artist?” That wouldn’t be possible if I weren’t a conversationalist.
Why are portraits such a common form for you?
I can’t remember if I started seeing faces first or if I started drawing them first. And this would have been a relatively recent development – the last 10 years. There’s something about faces, because I almost see them in motion sometimes. When you start putting them in combination with other faces, you start to create conversations, or families. How are they similar, and how are they different? And what’s influenced by what?
Tell me about “Hip Hop Puppet Party.” How did that carry over into the residency?
In 2018, I performed “Hip Hop Puppet Party” for kids in the rotunda at the Overture Center in Madison. And since then, I haven’t performed it live, though, in this residency space, I’ve been practicing.
As an artist, if you’re making something, it’s always vulnerable to a certain extent … And I think it’s mid-process where most of the vulnerability exists, at least for me. Everything in (the studio) is done. Instead of making physical objects here and having those be mid-process, I’ve used the puppetry as an opportunity to do that – test out jokes, rehearse some old songs.
I think that’s where I have the most growth to do as an artist, is in puppetry. To find the broadest audience in puppetry has kept me motivated. I’ve done a number of workshops in the past couple of years teaching puppet-making. I will say that being so close to the (Pabst Theater) has also inspired me.
What’s it like to have other people create in your space?
When people sit and collage, I’m happy because I know the space is working, even if I’m not sitting with them. Sometimes I leave the door unlocked, and when I get back from a bathroom break, there are people sitting and collaging. I’m inspired by that. I’m also grateful for that type of energy. It helps me understand (the space) is self-explanatory. But also, when I get to sit and collage with people, I really enjoy that as well, and being able to watch a person’s process and how they go through it.
(On the wall of collaged faces), people’s approach to hair is one of the things that I found most interesting. I made a dozen of these, and none of mine have hair. So, I’m always learning from other people.
