And we're back!

June was an incredibly busy month at WPCA and it might seem like our online presence has diminished greatly. This is only because the Center itself was bustling with activity. While our Director of Education, Kate, was gearing up for our annual Summer Art Camp, the gallery was filled floor to ceiling with the work by our artist members.

This year the Annual Member Show represented a truly unprecedented number of artists, which did not remain unnoticed by observant Mary Dally-Muenzmaier, of CricketToes. You can see her post about the show here. Yet, as a matter of fact, the exhibition was even larger than Mary had estimated. It featured 73 artists and over 140 works.

As always, the show brought together old and new members; those who had been supporting WPCA for the past 20 years and artists who had just recently joined. The exhibition also put together artists very young, just at the beginning of their education and careers, like Lance Orr, who is heading off to MIAD in the fall to begin his BFA studies there, and artists who had been the most esteemed staples of Milwaukee art community, like Suzanne and Adolph Rosenblatt. In the same gallery space we showed artists who received MFAs from the most prestigious institutions and the artists who did not receive formal training. We were also fortunate to represent all the rich ethnic and cultural diversity of our community.

Our exhibition is also a rare occasion, in which the judgment of what actually makes one an artist is completely suspended and we rely solely on self-identification to determine the participants. This is a rare opportunity for us to reveal different "art worlds" and present them all together in one space. Sometimes these worlds are clashing, sometimes they work in harmony, but one thing for sure, they are many, varied, and often absolutely, rivetingly unexpected.