The historic Pfister Hotel, 424 E. Wisconsin Ave., has chosen its next Artist-in-Residence. Painter Stephanie Barenz will begin working in the hotel's studio space in April.

"The Pfister is the perfect stage for my work, which deals with how travel affects one’s relationship to place," said Barenz. "The hotel carries thousands of stories from over a hundred years. The Victorian art collection, the antiques, and spaces have served as silent witnesses to all of it."

Barenz is the fifth Artist-in-Residence to be chosen by the Pfister and primarily paints and draws on wood panels using a variety of media including acrylics, sumi ink and pencil.

She says that she plans to create 20 to 30 paintings over the course of the next year which will be compiled into a book with text provided by the Pfister Narrator.

She replaces current Artist-in-Resident Timothy Westbrook.