feature image: Tenth Annual Grilled Cheese Grant at Vanguard Sculpture Services. Photo: docMyArt.
Written by Rachel Hausmann Schall
In a state where funding for the arts has been struggling for many years, programs like the Grilled Cheese Grant play an integral role in putting unrestricted funds into the pockets of visual artists. As a team member of the Grilled Cheese Grant for the past 10 years, I have had the privilege of co-organizing this annual community event and fundraiser for emerging artists in Wisconsin–and it all happens with one of the Midwest’s most loved sandwiches: the grilled cheese.
Since 2023, fine art foundry Vanguard Sculpture Services in Milwaukee has hosted the Grilled Cheese Grant. With a donation at the door, attendees receive a ballot and a sandwich ticket. Community members can peruse the galleries and determine which one of the five artist finalists they will vote for. They can place an order for a gourmet grilled cheese sandwich (including toppings like pickles, tomatoes, or onions!) made from high-quality local ingredients as they enjoy the ambiance of the foundry surrounded by in-progress sculptures. Attendees can take a tour of the space, participate in a raffle, and engage with other community members before a public announcement of the results at the end of the event. The money raised through donations acts as grant funding for the five artists, who are ranked first through fifth place based on the public vote. Each artist receives money to support their creative practice based on the total amount of funds raised. The more grilled cheeses there are, the more money is awarded!
In 2025, Siren Harris was named the first-place winner of the Grilled Cheese Grant and received over $2,700. Siren’s work blurs the lines between fine art and wearable sculpture. Using cast-off materials or leftover scraps from bronze pours, Siren welds wearable objects that would be impossible or painful to wear. She says, “My work is meant to be a form of therapy. The ability to take off and step away from the wearable piece, and in turn, the discomfort caused by it, is the point. In this way, it’s like armor, providing the healing I need by means of alleviating the very pain it reflects.”
Creating impossible objects means that Siren’s work lives between two worlds: a white-walled gallery space and being worn on a body as an accessory. It’s this dichotomy that made her work a popular choice for attendees of the Tenth Annual Grilled Cheese Grant. Siren explains, “I don’t want to make things that I’ve seen before. I’m trying not to be repetitive. I want to make something that’s new and brings people to life.” With a striking installation in Vanguard Sculpture Services’ gallery space, Siren wowed visitors with her specificity and authenticity, taking home the first-place trophy. This grant comes at an integral time in Siren’s career as she enters her senior year at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design in the New Studio Practice program. The Grilled Cheese Grant has funded Siren’s important welding gear and supplies for a future project, proving that all types of emerging artists in Wisconsin can benefit from a much-needed slice of cheese.
Visit grilledcheesegrant.com to learn more and connect on Instagram at @grilled_cheese_grant.
Ten Years of Cheese is published in Vol 39. Purchase a copy here.
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 and has exhibited nationally at a variety of museums, galleries, and artist-run spaces. Rachel is co-editor of Artdose magazine and has contributed writing to publications like Sixty Inches From Center, Dovetail Magazine, and Flat Rate Contemporary. She is co-organizer of the Grilled Cheese Grant, an artist-run project that raises funds for emerging artists in Wisconsin with grilled cheese sandwiches. Hausmann Schall also works as the Artist Residency & Adult Program Manager at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausau, Wisconsin.