Already considered by many to be the city’s hippest neighborhood, Bay View is about to add another feather to its hand-dyed, artisan-decorated cap, just in time for its annual Gallery Night and Jazz Fest on June 2.
The Kinnickinnic Avenue BID, a non-profit that supports development on the avenue, is launching Street Canvas, a mural project featuring works by five female artists. The artists – all locals living in or near Bay View – began installing large-scale murals along KK on May 30, and they’re inviting the public to watch them work on June 2, while enjoying the Bay View Jazz Fest and Gallery Night from 5-10 p.m.
The artists, and the locations of their murals, are listed here:
- Jenny Jo Kristan, Lulu Cafe, 2265 S. Howell
- Rozalia Hernandez-Singh, D-14 Brewery and Pub, 2273 S. Howell
- Dena Nord, Mr. P’s Tires, 2366 S. Kinnickinnic
- Jenny Anderson, Shape Up Shoppe, 2697 S. Kinnickinnic
- Nova Czarnecki, Rusty Sprocket Antiques, 3383 S. Kinnickinnic
Mary Ellen O’Donnell, chair of the BID’s Streetscape Committee, hopes that the project will foster greater appreciation for public art.
“Street art brings vitality to an area and is a great way to stimulate interest in a neighborhood and can transform an urban landscape with powerful and beautiful images,” she says. “We hope the Street Canvas project serves as a catalyst for other organizations, artists, building owners and sponsors to continue adding more mural art in Bay View.”
Wallpapered City, a new art agency led by Black Cat Mural Alley director Stacey Williams-Ng, is overseeing the execution of the project. The agency elaborates on the particulars of the project in a March 16 press release, noting that the decision to feature an all-female artist roster was as much practical as political.
“So many of the artists under consideration were great, and at some point we realized that an overwhelming number of them were women,” says KK BID Streetscape committee member Toni Spott. “We decided to make that the unifying theme of our mural project.”
Anyone interested in learning more about the artists working on the project can swing by one of the five locations listed above to speak with them in person on June 2.
