With national and local news media painting images of an increasingly violent Milwaukee, Gallery Night (and Day) offers a fine rebuttal to this negative portrayal. Sixty-two galleries are open for free until 9 p.m. Friday.
It is impossible to see all of them – even with the free shuttle that takes art lovers between the Third Ward, East Town and the Milwaukee Art Museum – so we have constructed a plan of action. The following galleries have either been of consistent high quality, promise fresh exhibit ideas or offer free food and refreshments.
Feel free to deviate from the plan or stay in one part of town, such as the Third Ward, which has the highest concentration of galleries. Five galleries exist in the Marshall Building alone at 207 E. Buffalo St., which was popular during the winter gallery night.
Free parking is available in Third Ward parking garages. For more information go to www.historicthirdward.org/events/gallerynight.php.
INSTITUTE OF VISUAL ARTS
Kenilworth Square East, 2155 N. Prospect Ave.
(414) 229-5090
www.arts.uwm/edu/inova
Exhibit Maximinimalist and its companion show, Paper Thin, explore the beauty of simplicity and repetition in the face of carefully crafted advertising images.
"Minimalists made one thing, then sought out logical variations on that one thing. Maximinimalists do one thing, then do it again and again," Nicholas Frank states in his curator's essay.
"Maximinimalists propose that the only thing holding back endlessness is a choice to end it, whether a wall, the edge of the paper, or hand cramps."
Maximinimalist will be on view in Inova/Kenilworth on the ground floor; Paper Thin, will be at Inova/Vogel, 3253 N. Downer Ave.
Friday: noon to 9 p.m.; Saturday: noon to 5 p.m.
MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM
700 N. Art Museum Dr.
(414) 224-3200
www.mam.org
Make like an impressionist painter and break from the norm with a sneak peak of Pissarro: Creating the Impressionist Landscape, which doesn't formally arrive at the museum until June 9. Museum curator of earlier European art, Laurie Winters, will speak at 6 p.m. about Pissarro seperating from Academic art traditions to incorporate short informal brushstrokes and a focus on lighting. The master also taught Cezanne, Monet and Renoir.
Friday: 5:30 to 8 p.m. (free); Saturday: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (admission fee)
MILWAUKEE INSTITUTE OF ART & DESIGN
273 E. Erie St.
(414) 276-7889
www.miad.edu
MIAD's 2007 Senior Exhibition provides the opportunity to speak to artists about their work. The work of the college's 11 majors "ranges from an award-winning water transportation and filtration device for rural Africa to documentary photography of Southwest Wisconsin's disappearing family farms, portraits of homeless and unsheltered men and women . and a collaborative cookbook with original recipes for sufferers of Crohn's disease," according to the college's Web site. Many of the works at the exhibition are for sale.
Exhibition runs through May 12. Opening Reception on Gallery Night Friday. Friday: 5 to 9 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
ARTASIA GALLERY & MUSEUM
181 N. Broadway Ave.
(414) 220-4292
www.artasiagallery.com
Breathtaking in both construction and scope, this gallery features unique and functional eastern cultural artifacts such as intricate beds, porcelain and ceramic temple jars and vases that reach up to seven feet tall. The price tags on many of the objects reflect the high quality. Upstairs, this family-owned establishment features bronzes and other sculptures.
Friday: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Saturday: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
THE ARTS BUILDING
133 W. Pittsburgh Ave.
(414) 272-4606
www.theartsbuilding.net
Off the usually treaded path in Walker's Point, the Arts Building provides a glimpse into the artistic process with its collective focus on creativity during the Spring Studio Art Crawl. The building's occupied rooms are labeled by studio, not apartment, numbers. Tenants open the doors to their galleries and 45 artists will display their work in the five-story building.
Friday: 5 to 9 p.m.; Saturday: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
PELTZ GALLERY
1119 E. Knapp St.
(414) 223-4278
www.peltzgallery.artnet.com
This museum is a Victorian-style house from 1885 that will feature the 17th Annual Remarkable Women Show.
Friday: 6 to 9:30 p.m.; Saturday: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free French breakfast 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
DARK STAR GALLERY
605 N. Broadway Ave.
(414) 765-9466
www.darkstargalleria.com
This gallery features pottery that doesn't look like your grandma made it. It also allows visitors to glimpse into the pottery studio and catch other media created by 15 different artists.
Friday: noon to 10 p.m.; Saturday: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
GNOAP GALLERY
714 N. Milwaukee St., 2nd floor
(414) 915-0657
www.gnoapgallery.com
Gnoap is only open four times a year for Gallery Night. Friday visitors can sample Asian fusion appetizers from Sake Tumi, imbibe with the cash bar and view multimedia artworks while DJ A provides the sonic atmosphere.
Friday: 5 to 10 p.m.