When Yen Nguyen and An Tran started The Fruity Studio, it wasn’t just about making art but finding like-minded people. The two friends met as teenagers through a Facebook group for Vietnamese artists, while Tran was living in Vietnam and Nguyen in the U.S. Their friendship survived long-distance before Nguyen landed in Wisconsin in 2016 and Tran followed in 2021. Now both in Shorewood, they’re on a mission to build a creative community.
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Ask them where the name comes from, and they answer in unison. “Because we’re both gay,” they say, laughing. “We wanted something very on the nose but at the same time very cute, because we love pretty, cute, cool, aesthetic things,” Nguyen adds. Their art features colorful miniatures made by Nguyen that range from beaded jewelry to polymer clay charms to tiny paintings. They often stage pieces on small furniture sets for their Instagram.
It started with earrings. Nguyen made more than 100 pairs to sell at a local LGBTQ makers market in 2023. They sold out quickly and connected with fellow local queer artists. Soon after, Nguyen and Tran shifted their focus toward putting on inclusive artistic workshops. Together, they host events with local businesses, creating custom necklaces with handmade charms, painting matchboxes and designing gach bông – Vietnamese tile making.
“We want to keep learning and sharing these cool skills that the creative world has given to us,” Nguyen says. “We did not get to experience a lot of queer joy when we were younger. … But because of Fruity, we get the chance to build a community here.”
What brought you to Milwaukee?
Nguyen: We tried to do the long-distance friendship thing, and we would visit each other. He came to see me in Chicago, and then in 2020 he visited me in Milwaukee.
Tran: I was like, “This is kind of nice. It’s beautiful!” Of course the weather was really nice – it was September.
Nguyen: I asked him, “Do you want to move up here and live in Milwaukee?”
Tran: I graduated nursing school and said, “Yeah, let’s go.”
How did The Fruity Studio come to be?
Nguyen: We always had an understanding that we would create a studio together. When we were young, it was something we would talk about in passing – how we would have a shop or do a creative practice together.
Tran: And Yen had been doing calligraphy and hand-lettering for literally more than 10 years, so she was really good at it. And she can draw and paint, too. So I thought, Yen has something and I’m in STEM, so we could work something out.
What was your hope for The Fruity Studio?
Tran: It’s hard to find fellow Asian queer friends here (in Milwaukee). So part of our goal with Fruity Studio was to build a bigger Asian queer community and also find friends. And now I feel like we have been collecting them like Pokemon.
Nguyen: We love them so much. Every time we find one of them it’s like a shiny Pokemon moment.
How did you launch the studio?
Tran: Yen got good really quickly. Once she discovered polymer clay, she was like a master with it. She made, I kid you not, more than 100 earrings in different types of styles and techniques.
Nguyen: We set a lot of goals for ourselves, including meeting Asian queer artists, having this space for a creative practice and to hold ourselves accountable. Then we started with an Instagram account and we started posting tidbits of our work there. But it wasn’t until we applied for our first local market — the Falcon Fleas and Fruit Bowls — that we started to grow. It was hosted by Lonesome Bill Walker, a trans artist who is deserving of recognition within the Milwaukee community. He saw us and gave us the biggest chance of all time, and I feel like every Fruity success is all because of him.
What did Bill do that had such an impact on your growth?
Nguyen: At the time we had like 20 followers, and it was just our friends who followed the account. But Bill saw us and our work, and he said these kids deserve recognition and deserve to be out in the light, and he put us up in that light. We became so well-known because of that market.
What was next after you started to see growth for Fruity?
Nguyen: Due to the fact that we wanted to build community and relationships with people in Milwaukee, we wanted to do more workshops and events instead of us vending at markets. So last year we launched Chains and Charms, which is when people build their own charm necklace and I teach them. That was one of the very first steps for us to go in the right direction of building community.
Why is building community such a priority for you both?
Tran: We did not get to choose the family we grew up in or the social circles that we went to school with, and now we realize that we were not really supported. But now, because of Fruity, we have the chance to build our community.
