BY EVAN MUSIL AND JULIA WATT
Beyond ecstatic worship, the Shakers were known for, to put it simply, “simple living.” The Christian sect, an offshoot of the Quakers, were pacifist egalitarians who lived and worked on communal settlements in New England, reaching peak membership in the mid-1800s. That austere lifestyle included plain, utilitarian furniture – the largest collection of which will be on display at the Milwaukee Art Museum this fall.
In “The Shakers: A World in the Making,” rarely traveled artifacts and folk art meet in conversation with contemporary pieces inspired by those values of mutuality, purpose, equality and faith. Visitors can expect domestic objects and tools, as well as works by present-day artists. They also can wander through a life-size reinterpretation of a Shaker meetinghouse, constructed by Amie Cunat.
Nominate Somebody Now!
“MAM has a long history of exhibiting and interpreting the best American craftsmanship the field has to offer, and I see this exhibition as part of that tradition,” says MAM design curator Shoshana Resnikoff. “At the same time, we also have a very strong contemporary art program, and this project represents an opportunity to bring those two strengths into conversation with each other.”
Other contemporary artists featured include David Hartt, Finnegan Shannon, Christien Meindertsma, Kameelah Janan Rasheed, Reggie Wilson and Fist and Heel Performance Group, Chris Liljenberg Halstrøm and Furnishing Utopia.
In an age of sensory overload, the exhibition is a reminder that sometimes human handiwork is best when it’s least complicated. “So much of what we want is available to us instantly and relatively affordably, which doesn’t give us the time or space to ask: How was this made? Who made it, and were they properly paid for their work? Do I need it? What role does it play in my life?” says Resnikoff. “The Shaker approach to making can inspire us to ask those questions.”
See: “The Shakers” at MAM, Sept. 25-Jan. 31.
Robert Blackstone: Crystal City | Sept. 12-Feb. 7 | J.M. Kohler Arts Center
This kaleidoscopic miniature metropolis of found materials, toys, glass and electronics was the passion of late artist Robert Blackstone. This is its first showing outside of his hometown of Dayton, Ohio.
Building Bronzeville: Milwaukee’s Black Arts Movement | Sept. 24-Feb. 26 | Bronzeville Center for the Arts
The Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and ’70s emboldened Black artists to create their own space. This exhibition examines Milwaukee’s role, through archival prints and works.
Bernard Gilardi: Renew | Oct. 9-Nov. 13 | Portrait Society Gallery
After 17 years in the Third Ward, Portrait Society is moving to Walker’s Point (900 S. Fifth St.). Christening the new space is a showing of works by Bernard Gilardi, whose paintings went unseen before his death in 2008.
Small Space Big Ideas
Tina Schinabeck doesn’t see herself as a curator, just someone who invites artists to show off their ideas. After her gallery The Alice Wilds closed last year, she opened One-Off Exhibitions in a 13-by-14-foot room inside Real Tinsel (1013 W. Historic Mitchell St.). The tiny space grants artist lots of freedom: Upcoming shows include giant wall-mounted body piercings (Hannah Smith, through Sept. 26) and an arm-wrestling tournament (Lilly Dyer, Oct. 3-11).
What’s the goal of One-Off Exhibitions?
I wanted to show more women, more queer artists, whether they’re up-and-coming or established. Is there something that you’re working on, and it’s not quite there yet? Maybe you only have two pieces. Well, two pieces is great for the size of this gallery. You can experiment a little bit more and test out rather than doing a big show right away.
What did you bring from your time at The Alice Wilds into this gallery?
You would almost have to go further, because I was an intern at Dean Jensen for over a decade. And that’s where I met John Sobczak, then we started The Alice Wilds. Of course, Dean’s is different than The Alice Wilds; The Alice Wilds is different than One-Off. I think the majority of that – going from that space to this space – it is just the size. It is more of a freedom, and maybe kind of being unknown, you have an ability to experiment a little.
Do you lean into the size of the space?
For sure, having Dawn Springer Dance Projects. She had done an event at The Alice Wild. It was just a one-night, and that was great.
I called her one day and was like, “So, exactly how small of a space could you do a show?” And she’s like, “I can dance in a chair.” I’m like, “Great! Would you like to have a performance in a basically 13-by-14 room?” And she reworked one of hers to fit the space, and we utilized the hallway by coming in and out and changing things. It was a lot of this movement, and I think to see dance so close is really magical for people. I don’t know if you’ve been to the ballet, but I’m not buying tickets that are in the prime. It’s so amazing; you see and hear every breath. Maybe they make a mistake, and you see that, and you see how they recover from it. That was a real dream – to have a performance for an entire run of a show and not just have it as an event.
How have artists approached the small space?
I’ve had a lot of lights-off shows. Tara Bogart had this prismatic light that roamed around the room, and that was the light source. We have the spotlights, like “Teddy’s Christmas Exhibition,” where we had a Christmas tree and a train in the space just lit by a chandelier because it was like a chandelier similar to his memory of his grandmother’s. … It doesn’t have to be a standard show. I think it’s fun, and sometimes you just want to have fun.
What does it take to manage a gallery?
If you have a larger space, you’re definitely focused on sales. You have to make those sales or have some other outlet. Dean was a writer, so that helped. He wrote books, and I’m sure that he self-financed. With The Alice Wilds, it was strictly on sales, which carried up. Here, yes, obviously sales would be great, but the rest of it I’m self-funding. I know that budget and know that I can do it, right? Not to call it a hobby, but I always think about if I was really into cycling and I bought a $4,000 bike every year. Well, that can fund a gallery.
Is the motivation simply being able to show off unique works?
If I’m trying to highlight people who don’t necessarily get a show, or something that is different and new and doesn’t belong in another space, that right there is a win, right? Having people see it.
Clear Skies
Does one painting reshape your notion of an artist? The Wisconsin-born Georgia O’Keeffe is known for vibrant, organic shapes – think her sensuous floral blooms, plentiful fruits or arid cow skulls. But In the Patio IX (1950), on loan to the Museum of Wisconsin Art, stands apart. “It’s so architectural,” says MOWA deputy director Jane Aspinwall. Or is it? The title may indicate we’re looking at the corner of a terrace, with a spotless sky casting a deep shadow, but the cropped composition renders the subject more ambiguous – maybe a view of a valley between two mountains, like some scholars suggest. O’Keeffe painted In the Patio IX as the last in a series of paeans to the starkly beautiful landscape of New Mexico, where she made her home. The previous paintings, with sandy colors and simple geometry, still show clear resemblances of clouds or buildings. But this piece presents O’Keeffe at her most abstract. “If you look at it intensely for a while, it just becomes this play of shape and color,” Aspinwall says. “It’s not an object anymore.”
Milwaukee Arts Questionnaire
What’s your ideal creative environment?
KIM SAJET, DIRECTOR OF MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM: Creative people enrich our lives by helping us better understand ourselves, one another and the world around us. My ideal creative environment is one that brings all kinds of artists into conversation with one another, creates opportunities for them to work in and with our community and invites them to help all of us see the world in new ways – ideally at the Milwaukee Art Museum.
What’s your favorite thing you’ve seen in Milwaukee?
MICHELLE GRABNER, ARTIST: Recently, it’s Joel Otterson’s Voluptuous Desire, installed at the Bradley Symphony Center as part of Sculpture Milwaukee’s 2026 edition. It’s an enormous iron amphora that somehow feels as buoyant as lace. Made at Kohler in its Arts/Industry program, it perfectly captures ornament, craftsmanship, while welcoming disregard for false distinctions between “high” and “low” culture.
