Frank Juárez
Last year the Peninsula School of Art piloted its artist-in-residence program with 6 artists from across the country. I came across this program by accident via social media. Last year around this time, I was in Door County for a weekend of relaxation. I happened to look through Instagram and saw that Sheboygan-based artist, Sara Willadsen, started her residency. I knew right there that I wanted to go see her, check out her new studio space and hear what she was planning to work on.
This new addition was added to its campus to provide the artists with a dedicated studio space that is accessible 24/7. Each 6-week residency period welcomed two artists. The 2022 roster that were invited as part of their pilot program were Zeja Copes (Pittsburgh, PA), Diana Noh (Chicago, IL), Angela Johnson (Madison, WI), Wendy Turchan Martin (Sheboygan, WI), Heather Nuber (Bloomington, IN), and Sara Willadsen (Sheboygan, WI).
Fast forward to today.
Once again I stumbled upon this year’s residency program through Instagram and noticed that Milwaukee-based artist, Maeve Jackson was one of two artists selected for the first round of residencies. I am quite familiar with her work and I knew that I wanted to see her and hear about her ideas. You might of guessed it, I was in Door County…again.
When I do studio visits I try to give myself a time limit because I know how valuable time is for the artists. What I thought would be a half hour visit easily turned into two hours with one studio visit becoming two. Boy, was I lucky. On the other side of the dividing wall was Philadelphia-based artist, Natalie Woodlock, with her dog, Nelson.
Both artists are working on multiple projects with the goal of continuing them after their residency is over. Being able to be in the same space with these artists was inspiring and motivating. Hearing the way they talk about their ideas, their work, and their craft opened the door for questions, curiosity, and connections.
Maeve Jackson (Milwaukee, WI)
Maeve Jackson is a Milwaukee based artist with a nomadic sensibility. As she travels her making-space shifts based on where she resides. Maeve is resistant to being limited to any single medium though she prefers working with the platforms of video, photography, and site-specific installations. Her work has been shown in numerous group exhibitions in Milwaukee, as well as Brooklyn, NY; Greensboro College, NC; Chicago, IL; Barcelona, Spain; and southern Austria. She has been featured in exhibitions at John Michael Kohler Art Center (Sheboygan, WI); and at (the once) Dean Jensen Gallery, VAR Gallery, and Saint Kate – The Arts Hotel; with solo exhibitions at The Alice Wilds and Lawrence University’s Wriston Art Galleries. Maeve has attended artist-in-residence programs at Hotel Pupik in southern Austria (2016 and 2019) and Cow House Studios Open Residency Program in Wexford, Ireland (2019). Her film, “the beautiful”, screened across the United States after its 2017 premiere. Maeve is currently working on her next film, a non-traditional documentary about her family’s farmland. Source: peninsulaschoolofart.org/current-air
Natalie Woodlock (Philadephia, PA)
Natalie Woodlock is a printmaker and artist currently based in Philadelphia. She explores queer temporality and subculture in her work, creating heraldic and commemorative silkscreened portraits of queer friends on satin banners. Her work has been exhibited most recently at SPACE (Portland, ME) and The Front (New Orleans, LA). In 2021 Natalie was the Print Fellow at The Wassaic Project. She has been awarded residencies at The Ellis Beauregard Foundation (Rockland, ME, 2021), Women’s Studio Workshop (Rosendale, NY, 2022), and Stoveworks (Chattanooga, TN, 2023). Natalie has been involved in running many community printshops and collectives, in both the US and Australia. Source: peninsulaschoolofart.org/current-air
For updates, connect with these artists via Instagram.
Celebrating 10 Years (2013- 2023) 