TED BRUSUBARDIS

Education
BA in Digital Imagery Visualization and Sound – University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2011.
BS in Economics – University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2011.

 

Experiences and Exhibits
Ted Brusubardis is a trained percussionist working with recording and sound engineering equipment for twelve years. For seven years, he has been producing sound for theatrical productions and multimedia exhibits. For the past five years, he has been linking sound and video. In 2008, Brusub

ardis created the audio collage “The Right to Vote?” It focused on the evolution of voting rights in Wisconsin and was played outside at two City of Milwaukee polling locations for November Election Day. The project received local and national attention. In 2009, he was involved with IN:SITE’s 2009 Park East Corridor Project. He installed a series of sound and video pieces. Brusubardis recently left the Milwaukee Public Museum where he worked at the IMAX and currently runs the AV Department at the Milwaukee Art Museum. In addition to installing equipment in major exhibitions at the MAM, he has also produced and edited content used in exhibitions including “Art in Clay.”

 

Sound is my art medium. When I use sound, I treat it as language. When I use language, I treat it as sound. When I weave these two together, I compose what I consider music.

My work consists of site-specific radio stations. Each highlights a unique portion of this dynamic neighborhood. One focuses on the planters on 27th Street, and another, at Ned’s Pizza, focuses on the industrial landscape and the citizens who define the area. The audio pieces include interviews with people, their stories, and local sounds woven together to create cohesive narratives.

 

 

COLIN DICKSON

Education
BFA Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design

 

 

Experiences and Exhibits (select listing)
Colin Dickson has been a studio assistant for Jill Sebastian LLC since November of 2009. This has included foundry work and model making. He has also been an assistant at the Milwaukee Art Museum, MIAD, and Flux Design.

  • Dickson has an upcoming 2011 show at Walker’s Point Center for the Arts, Milwaukee WI.
  • “Irradiance in an Empty Space,” solo installation, 2010, Vetter Denk Architects Inc., Milwaukee WI.
  • “Milwaukee’s Own Exhibition,” 2009, The Armoury Gallery, Milwaukee WI.
  • “MIAD 2008 Juried Senior Exhibition,” 2008.
  • “Art in the Parking Lot,” 2008, Lincoln Warehouse, Milwaukee WI.
  • Hank Aaron State Trail Public Art Commission, Milwaukee WI, 2006.

 

My intention with this work is to beautify preexisting structures while drawing attention to the necessity of water filtration.

Community is one impetus of the work. The art is about the planters on 27th Street and the function of them within the context of a concerned community. I hope my “Double Arrows” help to foster community pride and investment in the neighborhood.

I do not intend to define the neighborhood with the work, but ask that the community use the work to help redefine itself.

 

 

MARLY GISSER

Education
BA in Sociology, State University of New York at Buffalo
MA in Landscape Architecture, State University of New York at Syracuse

 

Experiences

  • Designer for the 2010 IN:SITE Century City project
  • Currently art director and co-owner of Necessary Arts LLC: Art direction, design, and production of magazines, books, newsletters, special advertising sections, annual reports, brochures, marketing materials, and identity systems.
  • Designer, Quad/Creative and Milwaukee Magazine: Magazine redesign, editorial design, special advertising section design, plus concept, design, and art direction for catalogs, brochures, ads, and logos.
  • Graphics Chief, Dane County Regional Planning Commission, Madison WI: Management and art direction of in-house graphics department providing concept through production for maps, posters, brochures, newsletters, reports, and other publications.
  • Landscape Architect, Village of Oak Park IL: Design and working drawings for sidewalk/public space improvements.

 

As the graphic designer for the project, my job was to synthesize the project’s messages and amplify them through communication design. Beyond graphic design, the work calls on principles of landscape architecture, community engagement, and teaching. Interacting and consulting with the other artists in a collaborative way served to enhance the experience and the results.

Students and senior citizens in the area created colorful chains using recycled vinyl. The chains are like the ones youngsters make with gum wrappers, but vastly larger in size. The links of these chains represent to me the variety of individuals in the community who, by working together, created a strong and beautiful thing.

 

 

JESSE GRAVES

Education and Website
BFA – University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Graves is currently student teaching.
http://jessegravesart.com/

 

Experiences and Exhibits
Much of Jesse Graves’ work addresses environmental and material issues. Graves is nationally and internationally recognized for his mud stencils, a form of environmental street art he has brought to numerous cities. Images of his metalsmithing have been published in Art Jewelry magazine. Graves has exhibited at the Milwaukee Art Museum Lakefront Festival of the Arts. He has been awarded multiple scholarships.


I focused my efforts on the Capitol Drive railway underpass. I repainted and reused vinyl wrappings which were used in 2010, stenciled a flock of birds on the underpass piers and sidewalls and created a fence weaving that imitates a river.

In this installation, water is a symbol for the connections within community and a reminder of the importance of conserving fresh water. The flock of birds represents a strong, unified community. The fence weaving, birds, and wrappings are visually connected through color and flowing rhythm. The work is intended to visually enhance the area and provoke thoughts regarding water issues such as stormwater runoff and pollution.

 

 

FAITH PURVEY

Education and Website
BS-Art University of Wisconsin and MFA Otis College of Art & Design
http://www.somewhere-land.com

 

Experiences and Exhibits
Faith Purvey is currently living in Minnesota. She studied with Sara Daleiden in Los Angeles, an IN:SITE advisor. Faith has done a series of social projects in transitional neighborhoods that animate underused spaces.

  • Between October of 2009 and July of 2010, she set up a “fort” on a bus stop island in Los Angeles. The outcomes there included a display of artwork by area children, conducting a sculpture workshop, erecting a “Fort Hauser Monument,” and music performances.
  • For three months in 2008 and 2009, Purvey worked in Laton in the San Joaquin Valley in California. Her engagement with eight youths there resulted in the creation of a temporary sculpture park.

 

My work is situated in the 29th Street Park and an empty lot “pop-up” gallery at 24th Place and Locust Street. I will be spending four days a week between these sites during the month of July.

My intention is to re-occupy these areas by organizing activities and performances. The first step will be making sculptural shelters with kids who are in summer camp and neighbors of all ages. I want to create sculptures with people that reflect what they are thinking. By filling the space with multiple tents, bursts of color, and singing, the park and empty lot will be re-activated.

My goal is also to create a “Sister City” relationship between the park and the empty lot. People will be telling stories and making artwork for each other’s neighborhoods.

 

 

CHRIS SILVA and LAUREN FEECE

Websites
http://chrissilva.com
http://laurenfeece.com/blog/?p=49

 

Experiences and Exhibits (select listing)
Chris Silva is an experienced installation artist. Sliva lives in Chicago with his wife and collaborator, Lauren Feece. They recently returned to Chicago after spending three years in Puerto Rico, where Silva was born.

  • “Church of Wife, Wuv & Waughter,” solo show at Shooting Gallery’s “Gallery 3,” 2009, San Francisco, CA. (Silva and Feece)
  • Steel sculpture commission, Sound Transit System, 2008, Seattle WA.
  • Received $7000 Illinois Arts Council Fellowship Award in 2007 based on merit of past work.
  • Installations featured in Tactile published by Die-Gestalten Press, 2007.
  • Exhibited with Allegoric at Bridge Art Fair, London, 2006.
  • Temporary mural installation for IN:SITE, 2006, Milwaukee WI.
  • “Public Display Of Affection” Solo show at Walker’s Point Center For The Arts, 2006, Milwaukee WI.
  • ”Typewriters” group show at Redletter, 2006, Tampa FL.
  • California Station Mosaic featured in Public Art Review, 2005.
  • “The Natural Low,” 2005 group show in Victoria, BC Canada.
  • “Two Steps Back” traveling group exhibition, 2004 in Berlin, London, Barcelona, Rome, Paris, and Zurich.

 

We are passionate individuals trying to live lives that give priority to contributing positively to the evolution of the collective good. We see art as a way of thinking and acting in the world, rather than merely a stylistic or material practice. We are concerned with how people relate to the self, to each other, and to their environment. We believe that collective consciousness is infinitely more important than individual ego, and our priority as artists is to help to create a just and beautiful world.

We made a large mural that spells out the profoundly simple wisdom of Arthur Ashe: “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” Additional text reads, “Plant seeds.” We see this text as a meditative reminder that slow, focused actions are the essential building blocks of growth. Even though things may not change overnight, it is still worth it to work for what we want to see in this world…as well as to appreciate the beauty that is here regardless of the imperfections we perceive.

 

 

ALLISON WESTBROOK

Education and Website
BFA in Music Composition and Electronic Instruments – University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
http://alssecrethideout.blogspot.com/ <http://alssecrethideout.blogspot.com

 

Experiences
Allison Westbrook is an illustrator, animator, and composer. He has installed two public art pieces in collaboration with his wife, Jenny Plevin. One was in Washington Park, Milwaukee, near where they live.


Having grown up in the Century City area, I am keenly aware of the surrounding neighborhoods. My intent with this project is to create a sculptural utilization of parking zones. The goal is to create the artistic equivalent of a wildflower growing up through the cracks of paved-over nature symbolizing rebirth, and something to catch the attention of the people who drive past these places day in and day out. My hope is that ideas of rebirth can flower in the minds of the viewers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHRISTOPHER WILLEY

Education and Website
MFA in New Genres, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco CA
BFA Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design
http://www.christopherwilley.com

 

Experiences and Exhibits (select listing)
During college he studied abroad at the Studio Art Center International in Florence, Italy, and at the Burren College of Art, County Clare, Ireland.

Willey has exhibited both nationally and internationally. His solo shows include “Community” at the Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis, MN, and “Again, Again, & Again” at Mode Art Gallery in Davenport, IA. Willey has also had the opportunity to travel to Zurich Switzerland on the Mary Nohl Suitcase Travel Grant to install work for “Contained” at Gallerie Sei-un-do. Selected national group shows include: “To Here Knows When,” at Untitled Gallery in Sausalito, CA; “BULK” with Tony Labat at Queens Nails Annex in San Francisco, CA, and the 25th National Print Exhibition at the Silvermine Arts Guild in New Canaan, CT. His work can also be seen in New American Paintings, issue #65.

Willey is an adjunct faculty member at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Peck School of the Arts.


I looked to the community for my inspiration.

“IN:terruptions”
Working closely with the community, I had the opportunity to positively affect the impression of boarded-up houses. Dumping and squatting are two of the actions I wanted to interrupt. My responses to these boarded-up houses feature colorful, highly-patterned images with a bright silhouette of the animals that litter entices, mixed with messages to counteract illegal dumping. My aim is to interrupt these unwanted actions through beauty.

 

 

 

“People Trees”

Trees are a fantastic symbol of strength. They are deep-rooted, and they get stronger over time. Hands are a symbol of action. This project depicts the transformation of the lines in a hand into the branches of a tree, or a combination of strength through action. This community holds strength in their very own hands. These are the hands that…form a community.