WPCA Volunteer Exhibition, Party and Critique

Installation view with the fraction of the work by Roy Staab, three pieces by Paula Schulze (two drawings and a mezzotint), and encaustics by Keith Nelson.


At our Volunteer Appreciation bash, artist Roy Staab arranged im promptu artists' talk/critique. It was a lot of fun, since most of the wonderful artists who helped us out knew little about one another.

Roy Staab questions COPA's William Zuback about his photographs.


COPA member and Alverno professor Jill Moore explains her interest in the portrayals of horses as historically and symbolically powerful subjects.


Paula Schulze and Jean Sobon exchange remarks about their works. Good, sharp questions bring out the laughs...


Paula is withstanding Roy's scrutiny...


Emiliano Lake-Herrera and his tradition-inspired pieces.


Roy talks about his process and materials with Jose Alfredo Chavez.



And the party continued late into the night...

"In the Balance" by Amanda Gerken, Josie Osborne and Heather Wiedeman.

Installation views of the exhibition.
South wall: mixed-media untitled miniatures by Heather Wiedeman, threee groupings of the "Core" series by Amanda Gerken and Josie Osborne's assemblage installations further in the back. Heather's mixed-media print collages complete the exhibition on the rear wall.

















Heather Wiedeman and her guests.


Amanda Gerken and friends.


Josie Osborne with artist Evelyn Patricia Terry.

A whole bunch of new photo-posts for you!

Spring and the early summer have been incredibly exciting time at WPCA and have kept us extremely busy. If you have visited, you know we are tremendously excited about our new space and thrilled to see the excitement it generates. We are currently on the exhibition number two at our new gallery and the education program upstairs is in the midst of Summer Art Camp 2010.

Following a successful opening of the new gallery on Spring Gallery Night with In the Balance featuring the work of Amanda Gerken, Josie Osborne and Heather Wiedeman as well as a small group show featuring the work of our amazing volunteers, we are continuing the season with Sailing the Barbarous Coast, a two-person show by Colin Matthes and Anthony Smith, Jr.

For your enjoyment, in the following posts, we are sharing with you a number of pictures photo-documenting our recent activities.

WPCA to feature artist members for Gallery Night and beyond!

WPCA has always enjoyed an extraordinary support of the local community. Our artist members and volunteers have been the life and blood of our organization and recently, have had ample opportunities to prove their loyalty.


Jean Sobon, Gravitation, collage, 10" x 13"

For the past three months we have been working extremely hard moving the Center, cleaning up the old space (imagine what a job it was after 17 busy years) and renovating the building at 839 South 5th Street. Working with a shoestring budget we created two galleries, changed configuration of the walls, laid down and finished new floors, painted the entire space and are about to install spiffy track lighting. These are just the big projects – it is hard to account for all the mundane and detailed tasks that have also been completed. We would have never been able to accomplish all this without the help and contribution of our artist-friends. They dedicated a lot of their time and talent and we will never be able to fully pay back our debt. Over 70 people spent uncountable hours cleaning, hauling garbage and ripping out old tile. It’s been a truly extraordinary effort. We are thankful to them all!


Richard Knight, Studio Heap, mixed media on paper, 36" x 48"

With our sparkling new facility, we can showcase the work of our members on a regular basis and we are looking forward to curating them into a variety of exhibitions. On the Spring Gallery Night, April 16th, we will start by featuring the work of our special friends who have been essential in our recent endeavors.

We are proud to display works by:

• Sean Cairn
• José Alfredo Chávez
• Emiliano Lake-Herrera
• Richard Knight
• Jill Moore
• William Mueller
• Keith Nelson
• Paula Schulze
• Jean Sobon
• Roy Staab
• William Zuback

Keith Nelson, untitled, encaustic on panel

Vibrant Afternoons with Art!

While the downstairs spaces have been buzzing with electric sanders, squeaking with paint rollers and smelling of polyurethene and latex, our gorgeous classroom spaces welcomed the sunny spring with the first installment of AFTERNOONS WITH ART.

Nearly 30 young people descended on WPCA to explore color and its expressive impact through visual art and movement exercises. We are sharing here some records of their joyful presence in our space. Look for more soon, as our friend, member and amazing volunteer, Jose Alfredo Chavez is currently assembling a video documentation of this fun project.













If you know any young people, keep your eye for our Drop-in after School sessions that will be resuming very shortly! And, remember that the Summer Art Camp starts June 22 - it is not too early to save your spot, for just one week, or all seven of them.
More fun times to come!

WPCA's busy art education programs!

This fun mandala that is going to be on display at Barnes and Noble bookstore at Mayfair Mall for the month of April as a part of MPS Afterschool Programs Art Show. It was created by the talented Kagel Elementary students at the Latino Community Center.

This project was produced as a part of Dare to Dream curriculum developed in partnership between Walker’s Point Center for the Arts and Arts@Large to provide quality art programming to Milwaukee’s youth. This program combines art and movement. Students learn a choreographed piece from Puerto Rico named bomba. Students also study the meaning of mandalas, cultural and historical contexts and how mandalas can be used as tools to visualize and achieve their dreams and aspirations.

The beginning of the piece is a photograph of the students in bomba formation taken from above. Then the photograph is enlarged and transferred to canvas so that students can paint and embellish it.

Students are taught elements and principles of art and dance for deeper understanding and meaningful art making process.

Dance Vocabulary: movement, space, time, level, direction, beat, duration...
Art Vocabulary: line, shape, symmetry, color, repetition, rhythm, balance...

The artist instructors for this project were Kate Bradley and Miriam Levie.

Spring Break Afternoons with Art!

It's spring (yes, yes – believe it or not, but theoretically we are IN the spring already), so our first official educational program to kick off at the new location is all about the wonderful, sensuous world of color! Afternoons with Art start on April 5th and run throughout MPS Spring Break. If you know youth aged 6 – 12 encourage them (and their parents) to sign up and check out our sparkling new, bright and sun-filled classroom space.

After weeks of packing, moving, unpacking, cleaning, mopping, tearing tile and other fun activities, our new home is finally beginning to look like an inhabitable space. And, it is looking VERY nice, if you haven’t seen it yet. Kate and Kristin made a lot of little miracles happen to turn the upstairs rooms into two gorgeous, cozy and friendly classrooms. Not only do we have separate art and movement areas, but also a lot of small, fantastic perks: as a cozy reading nook, an observational drawing site, and a puzzle table to account just for the main attractions.

When I peaked upstairs yesterday, Kristin was working on a giant, movable color wheel. How I wish I could put my hands on it… Well, chances are I will not, but hey, the device is perfect for the hands somewhat smaller than mine. I am also sure that Kristin could find a learning project for me too. We are all very excited to have her here as she brings to our table a wealth of experience in the arts, working both with children and adults.

In any case, Kristin awaits a bubbly group with a score of fun activities planned for the Break. Through visual art, dance, movement and group activities each student will create their own color portfolio, including their own pocket guide to color. This is a FUN way to teach color theory. All projects focus on this crucial element of art, but exploring the artistic principles has never been more exhilarating. All the works created during the week can be taken home on the last day of class in students’ own hand-crafted WPCA portfolio!

SPRING BREAK Afternoons with Art
WALKER’S POINT CENTER FOR THE ARTS
New classroom: 839 South 5th Street
Milwaukee, WI 53204

Monday through Friday, April 5–9th, 1–5pm; for children ages 6–12.

Class size is limited.
Call Kristin to register: 414-672-2787
$ 35 per week, includes all art materials and healthy snacks!
Free for the students of Bruce Guadelupe.

PLEASE JOIN US!