MARN is pleased to present a panel, “What Does Support and Mentorship for Artists Look Like?”, on Wednesday, April 24th from 5 - 8pm at the MARN ART + CULTURE HUB.
Join us for a panel discussion with Milwaukee arts leaders about what support and mentorship for artists looks like. Leaders from local arts organizations will discuss what support and mentorship opportunities exist in Milwaukee, and how we can expand our support for artists.
Panelists include:
Alayna N. Pernell (Milwaukee Artist Resource Network + University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)
Symphony Swan, Manager of Public Initiatives at Ruth Arts
Jason Yi (Plum Blossom Initiative + Hawthorn Contemporary + Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design)
Nomka Enkhee (The Open Fund)
Rew Gordon (Mitchell Street Arts)
Rachel Hausmann Schall (Grilled Cheese Grant)
This event is free and open to the public. Donations are kindly accepted in support of the MARNmentorship Program.
This event is free and open to the public. This program is presented by the MARNmentorship Program and gener8tor Art x Sherman Phoenix.
We are located at 191 N Broadway Suite 102. The main entrance does not have automated front doors off the sidewalk of Broadway. However, once entered into our corridor, a wheelchair lift is available.
About
Rew Gordon is the Founder and Co-Director of Mitchell Street Arts. Their professional life falls at the intersections of arts, education, and community organizing. Previous engagements include a city-wide directorship for Biden’s 2020 campaign in Milwaukee through Progressive Turnout Project, and at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago’s performance department. Rew has also been a regular volunteer facilitator for the Effective Altruism fellowship. They enjoy hiking, chess, adventuring, and talking with strangers.
Alayna N. Pernell (b. 1996) is an interdisciplinary artist, writer, and educator from Heflin, Alabama. She is currently the Associate Lecturer of Photography and Imaging at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the Program Director for the Milwaukee Artist Resource Network. She is also a contributing writer for Lenscratch, an online photographic arts publication. In May 2019, she graduated from The University of Alabama where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art with a concentration in Photography and a minor in African American Studies. She received her MFA in Photography from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in May 2021.
She has provided lectures about her work at various spaces including Texas Tech University, Colorado Photographic Arts Center, The Sheldon, and Syracuse University, among others. Her work has been exhibited in various cities across the United States, including FLXST Contemporary (Chicago, IL), Refraction Gallery (Milwaukee, WI), JKC Gallery (Trenton, NJ), RUSCHWOMAN Gallery (Chicago, IL), Colorado Photographic Arts Center (Denver, CO), Griffin Museum of Photography (Winchester, MA), among several others. Her work is currently held in private collections at the Museum of Contemporary Photography and the Illinois State Museum.
Pernell was named the 2020-2021 recipient of the James Weinstein Memorial Award by the School of the Art Institute of Chicago Department of Photography, the 2021 Snider Prize award recipient by the Museum of Contemporary Photography, and a 2023 Mary L. Nohl Fellowship Emerging Artist recipient. She was also recognized on the Silver Eye Center of Photography 2022 Silver List, Photolucida’s 2021 Critical Mass Top 50, and a 2021 Lenscratch Student Prize Honorable Mention, among others.
John Riepenhoff was born in 1982 in Milwaukee, WI where he lives and works. He earned a BFA from the Peck School of the Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, founding The Green Gallery while still a student there. His artistic practice and roles curating and directing projects were intertwined from the beginning, each role informing the others. Riepenhoff currently runs The Open Fund and the Beer Endowment to create revenue streams for artist-run projects. He co-founded the Milwaukee International and Dark Fairs, advises collections, and is an inventor of artistic platforms for the expression of others. He is the Executive Director of Sculpture Milwaukee and curator of this year’s exhibition Actual Fractals, Act II. His exhibitions and curatorial projects have been presented at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Tate Modern, London; Crystal Bridges, Bentonville, Arkansas; Poor Farm, Wisconsin; Lynden Sculpture Garden, Milwaukee; Inova, Milwaukee; Minneapolis Institute of Art, MN; Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, Atlanta; and John Michael Kohler Art Preserve, Sheboygan, Wisconsin among others. He was the 2015 Milwaukee Arts Board Artist of the Year and is a frequent collaborator on food and design projects.
Symphony D. Swan-Zawadi (she/her), epitomizes the essence of an interdisciplinary artist, archivist, educator, and community advocate. Her professional journey, distinguished by a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a graduate degree in Educational Leadership from Cardinal Stritch, has been shaped by profound relationships and a profound conviction in the capacity of creativity to navigate intricate societal issues.
In both her professional capacities and artistic pursuits, Symphony's unwavering commitment revolves around the intersection of art, education, and community. Having served in roles ranging from a K-8 art educator/ school administrator to a senior executive in a non-profit arts organization to now working in arts philanthropy, Symphony's trajectory is marked
by her fervent dedication to cultivating environments where art can deeply resonate with individuals' lives. A crowning achievement in Symphony's career is her latest initiative, "The CR8TV HOUSE." This visionary project, born as a result of losing both her parents, breathes new life into her childhood home, transforming it into an art gallery, studios, and community archive. The CR8TV HOUSE serves as a beacon for Black and Brown artists, offering a sanctuary where they can freely dream and envision radical possibilities, all while harnessing the power of art to address complex societal challenges. This emerging community third space will also curate and honor the stories of Black and Brown families by the building and maintaining of a community Family archive.
In 2023, Symphony's remarkable contributions were honored when she was named the Shepherd Express Milwaukeean of the Year, a historic milestone as the first Black woman to receive this recognition. Beyond this accolade, Symphony's service extends to her roles on the boards of trustees for esteemed institutions such as the Milwaukee Art Museum, Signature Dance Company, and Life Redefined. Symphony is also the founder and executive director of THE CR8TV HOUSE INC.
Through her steadfast dedication to her family, art, and community, Symphony D. Swan-Zawadi stands as a testament to the transformative potential of art and advocacy, leaving an indelible imprint on all those she touches. Her legacy resonates as a beacon of inspiration, urging others to harness their creativity for positive community change.
Jason S. Yi is an artist working in photography, video, sculpture, drawing, and site-specific installations. His work is conceived through a bi-cultural lens and interrogates the notion of perception’s equivalence to reality.
He has exhibited in national and international galleries and museums, including an upcoming exhibition in Vienna, Austria. His awards include the Joan Mitchell Foundation Fellowship, two-time recipient of the Mary L. Nohl Artist Fellowship, both in the established artist category, Milwaukee Artist of the Year, and the Kamiyama Artist in Residence Fellowship, sponsored by the Japan Foundation. His sculptures, photographs, and video works are included in the permanent collections at the Milwaukee Art Museum, Museum of Wisconsin Art, Kamiyama Museum of Art in Japan, Korean Cultural Center in Los Angeles, Dennos Museum Center in Michigan, and the Edward F. Albee Foundation in New York.
Aside from being one of the founders of Plum Blossom Initiative, running the Bridge Work Professional Development program for the last nine years, Jason is a professor at Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design and a gallery director of Hawthorn Contemporary. He also serves on various committees and boards, including the Museum of Wisconsin Art, West Bend Friends of Sculpture, and Charles Allis Art Museum.
Rachel Hausmann Schall (she/her) is a born and raised midwestern artist, writer, and educator living and working in central Wisconsin. She received her BFA from the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) in 2015 has exhibited nationally at a variety of museums, galleries, and artist-run spaces. Her work takes shape in many forms, although currently, she is interested in exploring text, language, and mark-making through collage, painting, sculpture, and printmaking. Hausmann Schall is one of the co-organizers of the Grilled Cheese Grant, an artist-run project that raises funds for emerging artists. Rachel is also a contributing writer for both the Chicago-based publication Sixty Inches From Center and the Wisconsin-based publication Artdose Magazine. Her written pieces highlight the work of underrepresented artists and arts-related projects in the midwest. Rachel Hausmann Schall works as Artist Residency & Adult Program Manager at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausau, Wisconsin.
The Grilled Cheese Grant is an annual community-funded emerging artist grant based in Milwaukee, WI
learn more: https://grilledcheesegrant.com/
Follow the contributors on Instagram: @mitchellstreetarts @johnriepenhoff @jason_s_yi @gener8torart