Photo by Will Eikenbary

For some, Labor Day weekend evokes the thought of outdoor barbecues, parades and spending time with family. 

For others, particularly those in Milwaukee, Labor Day weekend is prime time to celebrate the Third Ward Art Festival, the city’s annual multimedia art showcase in the historic Third Ward district. 

This past Labor Day weekend, 143 artists from 21 different states lined up in booths along Broadway Street to display their artwork for the 11th year of the festival. Their tents featured everything from oil paintings and collages to jewelry and photographs. 

Amy Amdur, founder and president of Amdur Productions, the company that produces the Third Ward Art Festival, said the artists featured in the event were from all over. 

“In the fall, we do a ‘Call for Artists’ where we let anyone submit images of their work as well as an image of their booth,” Amdur said. “A group of art professionals review their work and score that and the top scoring artists are invited into the show.”

Amdur said she was inspired to produce the festival after visiting the Third Ward district a few years back.

“The way [the festival] started was that I had been to the Third Ward and it was, head to bones, so to speak, exactly what we look for in a show,” Amdur said. “By that, I mean, it had restaurants and stores and an interesting atmosphere. We look for those kinds of things so that when the public comes they end up supporting the local businesses.”

Conhg Lopez, a painter featured at the festival, said getting to be a part of the festival this year was an honor.

“Many talented artists want to be in this show because it’s so well known,” Lopez said. “This is my first year but it’s a really good show [to be a part of].”

Amdur said one of the main focuses for the festival is accessibility and inclusivity, demonstrated through its wide variety of art shown, as well as the festival’s free admission and handicap accommodations. Amdur said the diversity of art featured in the show is due to the diverse backgrounds of all of the artists included in the festival. 

“We have artists of all different identities,” Amdur said. “Some of the art is traditional but there’s a lot of the art that is very cutting edge and current in terms as far as making statements about where the world is today.”

Bruce Furlin, a sculptor and assembler at the festival who creates art out of recycled garbage, said his art is created with a specific purpose in mind. 

“I like to try to save as much stuff from the landfill as I can,” Furlin said. “I don’t like seeing stuff get thrown away. I’d [rather] put stuff together and make something useful out of somebody else’s trash.”

Furlin said his unique style of mixed media sculpting comes with its own brand of problem solving.

“I take the eyes out of all of the dolls that I use, so at some point I had all of these doll eyes and I had to figure out what to do with them,” Furlin said. “So that’s when I came up with this little ‘eye-pod’ thing. I figured Apple wasn’t using the word iPod anymore, so I could.”

Similarly to Furlin, Lea Alboher, a collage artist from San Francisco who has been attending festivals for almost 30 years, said she uses her art as a means to look on the brighter side of life.

“My art is just light-hearted pieces that make you smile,” Alboher said. “I just think that lately we need to have things that are more fun. We don’t have enough nowadays.”

Alboher said a specific theme of her artwork didn’t stand out until she saw all of her pieces together. 

“It’s funny, I use a lot of animals in general, but I use a lot of animals in the tub for some reason,” Alboher said. “I really like two pieces [I’ve made], the ‘panda in the tub’ and the ‘zebra in the tub.’ They look very nice together as a couple.” 

Regardless of the reason behind the art, Amdur said the most important goal for the festival is to allow citizens of Milwaukee the opportunity to interact with artists themselves. 

“We’re all hungry for experiences,” Amdur said. “Whether [you] have an interest in making art or just looking at it, it’s a really great experience to be able to talk to the original makers of art and find out what their inspiration was.”