As arts events in Milwaukee go, it's hard to top Gallery Night and Day. For 23 years, the seasonal art showcase has given area artists a premier venue to bring public attention to their work.
In recent years, the Milwaukee Artist Marketplace at the Milwaukee Art Museum has garnered attention of its own, thanks in a large part to its ability to offer art admirers a unique forum to explore and shop the local arts community.
"It originally started as part of an educational committee task force," said Fran Serlin, the museum's director of public programs and one of the founding members of the marketplace. "We wanted a way to increase public interest in artist organizations in a group setting."
Now in its sixth year, the outdoor event was born largely out of a suggestion from then-task force member and local artist Jose Chavez, who helped bring the marketplace idea to fruition.
"It was his recommendation to start an open air marketplace reminiscent of his native Mexico and put together a group of art organizations representative of the community," said Serlin.
The Artist Marketplace has grown to include a coalition of 13 organizations and over 80 established and emerging local artists from all backgrounds.
"We are very cognizant of diversity and what is representative in the art community," said Serlin. "Adding new organizations provides a strong network and takes on a reflection of the community's growing artist base."
The changing climate gives more local artists an opportunity to participate. Local painter Frank Juarez will represent the Milwaukee Artist Resource Network, which, along with the Coalition of Photographic Artists and Hmong Women's Professional Circle, are new additions in 2010.
Juarez is new to the Artist Marketplace, but he is no stranger to the art world. He is president-elect of the Wisconsin Art Education Association and executive director and founder of the Sheboygan Visual Artists. His membership on the MARN board is his newest partnership.
"Since I started to get involved with MARN, I tried to take advantage of every possible opportunity that they presented," explained Juarez. "I wanted to represent them as a member and be able to network with other artists and talk to people about my work and what MARN does."
Juarez is sharing a Marketplace booth with MARN co-presenters Pamela Anderson, Melissa Musante and Melissa Dorn Richards, and is multitasking with an exhibition at Swig in the Third Ward.
"I'm really excited to show my paintings as a participant -- I'm usually just a spectator," said Juarez of his Gallery Night and Day double-duty. "I'm pretty used to doing multiple things because the organizations are so interconnected."
It was this element of connectedness that brought leather-worker Ilze Heider to the Artist Marketplace. Heider has been a full-time artist and a board member of the Wisconsin Designer Crafts Council for over 15 years, and it was her involvement in the arts community that got her started with the marketplace.
"I had worked with Fran Serlin on a small arts fair on the Riverwalk, and she had called me to gather artists," said Heider. "I was sort of her liaison for the council."
It was through her connection with Serlin that Heider first heard about the Artist Marketplace, in which she has participated since its inception. According to Heider, these connections extend a sense of camaraderie to both the artists and visitors.
"It's really nice to see so many people getting together," said Heider. "Artists can do so much more for their art and get to see what other artists are doing, and customers really appreciate the one-on-one contact. It's a very interesting grouping of artists, with a lot of diversity and reasonably priced art. There's something there for everyone."
New this year is the Amish quilt auction and trunk show, which take place in the museum's Windhover Hall from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in conjunction with the "American Quilts: Selections from the Winterthur Collection" exhibition.
Marketplace visitors can also attend a book signing with quilting expert Maggi Gordon.
