On a brilliantly sunny June day, artist Jennifer Anderson was painting monumental faces on the side of a building.

Perched on scaffolding in a parking lot adjacent to Sven’s Coffee and the Shape Up Shoppe in Bay View, she worked in view of the busy intersection and pedestrians.

Anderson was accustomed to working in public as a plein-air artist working canvas, but the scale here was daunting.

And this was her first mural.

Bringing out the blue

When asked how she does it, she replied with a laugh, “I’ve no idea.”

Well, that’s not entirely so, as Anderson was crafting her mural based on a smaller painting she had done.

Faces in patches of red and green emerged from the blue background, their features shrouded except for their eyes.

While they are distinctly present, they also are obscured.

There isn’t a formal title, although Anderson is considering “Fade Into Blue.” The azure wall of the Shape Up Shoppe was part of the influence for the color palette and, on that, Anderson worked with pure primary colors and white outdoor latex paint, blending them to create varied tones and abstract passages.

Anderson’s painting is part of an ambitious larger project, and her spirit of enthusiasm fits right in as one of five artists selected for the Street Canvas installation, now decorating Bay View.

Taking it to the streets

Bay View is a neighborhood that is continuing to undergo transformation — and that includes an eye toward aesthetics. Inspired by the Black Cat Alley murals unveiled last year on the East Side, the Kinnickinnic Avenue Business Improvement District board voted to allocate a portion of its streetscaping funds to street art.

Stacey Williams-Ng, who was involved as program director for the Black Cat Alley project, was brought on as a consultant.

The way the site selection process started was informal, as Williams-Ng explains: “Well, believe it or not, we as a committee just hopped in a car together, and drove up and down KK Avenue on a cold February day, pointing at nice walls and taking notes. We made a list of desirable walls, and color-coded them as first choice, second choice, third choice. Then we started the very awkward process of knocking on doors and saying, ‘Hi! Who owns this building? We’d like to paint a mural on it.’ And we proceeded from there.”

Ultimately, five sites were chosen and five artists from Bay View selected by the KK BID:

  • Nova Czarnecki, whose work is seen at Rusty Sprocket Antiques, 3383 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.
  • Jenny Anderson at the Shape Up Shoppe, 2697 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.
  • Dena Nord at Mr. P’s Tires, 2366 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.
  • Rozalia Hernandez-Singh at D-14 Brewery and Pub, 2273 S. Howell Ave.
  • Jenny Jo Kristan at Lulu Cafe, 2265 S. Howell Ave.

Empowering art

Kristan’s mural at Lulu Cafe features a line of women who represent diversity and strength. She says, “I like the idea of a unifying female piece” — and cites The Women’s Building in San Francisco as an inspiration. It’s a nonprofit art and advocacy center decorated with monumental and empowering images.

Kristan describes her figures as a celebration of women, sisterhood, solidarity and healing the world.

It is a bold and positive message, which is in keeping with the intentions of Street Canvas.

Chair of the BID’s Streetscape Committee and board director Mary Ellen O’Donnell states, “Street art brings vitality to an area and is a great way to stimulate interest in a neighborhood and can transform an urban landscape with powerful and beautiful images. We hope the Street Canvas project serves as a catalyst for other organizations, artists, building owners and sponsors to continue adding more mural art in Bay View. “

Williams-Ng is of a similar opinion.

When asked what she hopes for with the project, she said, “We think the end result speaks for itself. These murals are like an outdoor art museum, with no door and no tickets. Street art is accessible to everyone, beautifies the neighborhood, and invites people to slow down and take a closer look. It’s a very low-cost, high-impact project that almost any village or neighborhood can take on to bring life and color to a place.”

On exhibit

Moments & Markers: An Adolphe Rosenblatt Retrospective

Jewish Museum Milwaukee

1360 N. Prospect Ave.

June 16–Aug. 27

This exhibition celebrates the life and accomplishments of Milwaukee artist Adolphe Rosenblatt, who for years chronicled the people of Milwaukee in drawings, paintings and expressionistic sculptures. His large-scale installations capture elements of daily life forever through their thoughtful and sometimes whimsical interpretations.

Lakefront Festival of Art

Milwaukee Art Museum

700 N. Art Museum Drive

June 16–18

Summer festival season is here and that includes plenty of art to see on the Milwaukee Art Museum grounds. This year’s event includes 180 jury-selected artists showing everything from painting to pottery, garden decorations, furniture and fashion, plus much more.

Rashid Johnson: Hail We Now Sing Joy

Milwaukee Art Museum

700 N. Art Museum Drive

June 23–Sept. 17

Working in monumental fashion, Rashid Johnson addresses issues of society and identity while using familiar materials, such as ceramic tile, oak flooring, shea butter, black soap and wax. Fourteen large-scale pieces will be on view by this artist, acclaimed as “one of the four or five most important contemporary American artists.”

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