Look alive! Spring’s (much-needed) renewal is bringing budding trees and verdant lawns, not to mention fresh vitality in Milwaukee’s art galleries. Spring Gallery Night MKE on April 17 and 18 offers a thorough peek at what’s blooming in our city’s art scene, including new works and unearthed classics.
Over 60 galleries in the Third Ward, Walker’s Point, East Town and beyond are participating this weekend with opening receptions, artist talks, live music and more. We picked just a few of the can’t-miss exhibitions during this art-filled event.
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
30x30x30 Exhibition
VAR GALLERY, WALKER’S POINT
Every year, Var Gallery proposes a challenge for 30 artists: Make 30 small works in 30 days. This exhibition presents the results. The artistic marathon held in January is meant to stoke creativity through limitation and give viewers chances to collect works from many artists in different mediums. This year’s participants include Emma Daisy Gertel, Kira Straub and more. Friday’s opening reception will also feature floral arrangements from Marius Bell’s Bobby Simonsen. (Closes June 7)
“A Catalog of Inquiries”
PORTRAIT SOCIETY GALLERY, THIRD WARD
Curated in response to the Milwaukee Art Museum’s Gertrude Abercrombie exhibition, this show gathers works by contemporary women artists that dabble in the realm of Surrealism. Many of the pieces use familiar and fantastical elements in strange, dreamlike scenarios, much akin to Abercrombie, but follow their own vein of ambiguity. Featured artists include Meg Lionel Murphy, Diane Levesque, Geornica Daniels and eight others. Artists Demitra Copoulos and Lillian Supanich will speak on Saturday at 1 p.m. (Closes April 18)
“Art That Keeps on Singing” by Anne Kingsbury
WOODLAND PATTERN, EAST TOWN
Woodland Pattern co-founder and 2021 Milwaukee Artist of the Year Anne Kingsbury continues to stitch together an artistic process she describes as “a form of slow improvisation.” She crafts with beads, clay, deer hides and other materials to create pieces whose final forms only become clear after years of work. Some pieces on display are still unfinished. Kingsbury will be in attendance on Friday to talk about her work. (Closes May 28)
“Flock” by Hattie Grimm
ARTS @ LARGE, WALKER’S POINT
Milwaukee artist Hattie Grimm channels the beauty of birds to connect people with nature and one another. Her painted wooden works merge avian and human forms, with outstretched wings/arms conveying joy in the freedom of moving with one’s own flock. To open her residency at Arts @ Large on Friday, Grimm will invite guests to play with small bird puppets in an interactive installation. (Closes July 1)
“Here’s Looking at You” Portrait Show
TORY FOLLIARD GALLERY, THIRD WARD
What makes a good portrait? A commitment to reality, or a distortion to reveal deeper truths? Artists in Tory Folliard Gallery’s portfolio have taken many approaches to the timeless form, and guest curator Fred Stonehouse helped sample some of these striking works in this group exhibition. (Closes May 30)
MIAD Senior Exhibition
MILWAUKEE INSTITUTE OF ART AND DESIGN, THIRD WARD
The culmination of four years of study, practice and discovery, MIAD’s flagship Senior Exhibition presents the works of over 200 soon-to-be graduates across the school’s Bachelor of Fine Arts majors. This year’s theme is “Challenging Expectations, Finding Awe.” Projects include a gothic fashion collection, a women’s sports publication, paintings expressing Black joy and many more. All artists will attend Friday’s opening reception to present their creations. (Closes May 9)
For more student creativity, the Charles Allis Art Museum is running a concurrent exhibition of works from MIAD’s Fine Art + New Studio Practice programs, closing April 18.
“No Place for Self-Pity, No Room For Fear” by Ahmari Benton
MITCHELL STREET ARTS, WALKERS POINT
Through paintings, collages and textile works, Milwaukee artist Ahmari Benton advocates the power of pushing on. With a title inspired by a Toni Morrison essay, her show explores identity as it’s shaped through the political lens of gender and race, and how endurance is a practice that requires reflecting on the past rather than running away from it. (Closes May 23)
