Vessels
June - October 2023
Vessels is a project from Studio Seiche that explores a reciprocal relationship with Lake Michigan through design. We experiment with environment-driven fabrication methods by crafting cups and pitchers using local, hand-harvested wild clay and forms shaped by Lake Michigan’s shores. Community members are invited to a free public opening and workshop where participants will work with wild clay to make their own vessel, learn about threats to our local watershed, and take action to protect it. Our hope is this is an opportunity for all of us to build a stronger relationship with the land and commit to its care. We’ll offer connections to the fight to Stop Line 5 and the evening will end with an optional ride to Bradford Beach for a beach clean up.
Abundance and Minimalism in Nature - Urban Ecology Center Photography Club
Artists’ Statement for Abundance & Minimalism in Nature Exhibit:
The Urban Ecology Center Photography Club, is made up of beginning, intermediate, and professional photographers who share a love of capturing the world around us. Our intention with this exhibit is to present nature’s beauty and resilience. Some of us have focused on capturing images of nature with an abundance of detail, the sweeping panoramas of dramatic sky and landscapes. Others have taken a minimalist approach with the lens trained on a single image revealing its essence with only the minimum detail necessary. Have an interest in photography? We invite you to join us. Meetings, at 6:30- 8:00 pm, the first Thursday of every month, are a great mix of learning, sharing and the celebration of the art of photography. There are opportunities to learn from seasoned and professional photographers who present programs and, on occasion, critiques of members’ photos. Club activities include participating in exhibits, monthly photo challenges, field trips, and connections with other statewide photography clubs and associations. There is a sense of camaraderie and fun among the members, a kind of abundance in itself! We are proud and grateful to be the Urban Ecology Center’s official Photography Club and we appreciate its welcoming support and opportunities to exhibit our members’ photographs. The Urban Ecology Center hums along on the incredible diversity of skills, talents, passions and gifts of hundreds of volunteers and its talented and dedicated staff. This is abundance, too! * The Urban Ecology Centers, Riverside Park, Washington Park, and Menomonee Valley, are global models of community-based environmental education with a mission to connect people in cities to nature and each other. Consider volunteering. Learn more about how you can share your skills and passions at the Urban Ecology Center’s website - urbanecologycenter.org *Edited excerpt from Urban Ecology: A Natural Way to Transform Kids, Parks, Cities and the World by Ken Leinbach, UEC Executive Director.
Four The First Time
Miriam Sushman, Adria Rose, Bev Richey and Jonathan Ellis.
May-July 2022
Opening Reception: Wednesday, May 18th, 5-7 pm at Riverside Park
Four artists are showing their work together for the first time. Each has their own distinct style. Their unifying theme is nature displayed through stained glass, paintings, mosaics, and more.
These four artists have gotten to know each other through their involvement in the Jewish community. Our work has two main themes –nature-based representationalism and abstract expressionism.
Miriam Sushman:
Miriam Sushman will be showing a series of stained glass mosaic stepping stones of Wisconsin birds and abstract designs. She will also be showing mosaics for the wall inspired by her house plants, local flowers and flowers that she has encountered on her travels.
“I have always been in love with the natural world. My early years were spent playing in the woods surrounding my suburban Baltimore neighborhood. I tried to save baby birds and played with tadpoles in the nearby creeks. By age ten I had convinced my father to dig up our backyard so I could have an organic garden. I saved stones, leaves and fossilized wood and used some of these materials in my artwork. From an early age I have also been a collector of objects that I would find while playing. As an adult I still collect discarded objects either bought or found and incorporate them into my work. As a mosaic artist most of my work is inspired by nature. Many of my ideas have come to me during daily walks in nearby Kadish Park in Milwaukee. Not only is nature a source of inspiration but it also has been a healing presence for me during stressful times. While looking at the prairie that overlooks the Milwaukee River I meditate on the flowers, birds, and insects and feel a sense of calm. My childhood love of gardening continues as I grow annual and perennial flowers. These flowers often appear in my work. I am always looking forward to the next flower that I will render in stained glass.”
Adria Rose:
My artwork is inspired by nature and the natural world. I find daily inspiration which greatly influences my work. Throughout the years, I have enjoyed working in many mediums including watercolor, oil, acrylic, and textile. 
"Since my childhood, I have had a deep appreciation for nature which has served as a constant theme throughout my artwork. As I live on a partially wooded lot within walking distance of Lake Michigan, I find daily inspiration which greatly influences my work. Throughout the years, I have enjoyed working in many mediums including printmaking, acrylic, textile and currently watercolor. I grew up in a multi-cultural home and have been surrounded by artwork from many different backgrounds particularly that of a great uncle, a Chilean printmaker. The vibrant colors, attention to detail, and stories behind each painting have had a huge impact on my artwork. Another theme reflected in my artwork deals with diversity. Given the diverse landscape we live in, I see nature as a unifying theme because nature is something that everyone can appreciate and like art can be a unifying force in people's lives."
Bev Richey
Richey will be showing a sampling of her project "The First Hundred Paintings"; her process of becoming a painter.
New to Milwaukee, in 2014 Beverly Richey became a member of the Midwest Jewish Artists Laboratory. This unique program provided and required a fairly demanding commitment to studying with other artists and creating new work for regularly scheduled annual exhibitions. Richey thrived in this structured environment and remained a part of this regional program from 2014-2021. She used this project to develop herself as a painter. After decades of working in a range of materials best known for the feminist medium CAKE, Richey used the laboratory project to reinvent herself as a painter. In 2016 she launched the “First Hundred Paintings” series (FHPS).
“For The First Time”, Richey will exhibit a sampling of works that when shown together represent the development of her new practice. She accepts the need to continue to make changes, begin again and commit to the awkwardness required for doing new things. “Four the First Time” takes you on a small piece of the journey Richey has taken to be able to recognize and identify herself as an artist who now engages with paint, brushes, and flat surfaces.
Jonathan Ellis
A devoted visual artist, educated at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), Jonathan Ellis has a prolific body of work and unpredictable contemporary style rooted in emergent truth, love, humor, and theory. His drawings, paintings, and sculptures are reflective of a refined artist exploring identity, materials, and life itself as art. Self-portraits, landscapes, conceptual abstracts, and surreal floral pieces. The work is often transformed over many years, as stories evolve in the course of a lifetime. What is to be found in all is a vibrant confirmation of life and beauty, a joyousness that has been revealed out of profound struggle. Jonathan nurtures community building through exhibitions and painting events that are both healing and inspirational at Gallery 1033, on Historic Mitchell Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
