"Congratulations! Your artwork, America, has been accepted into in the 41st Annual SECURA Fine Arts Exhibition at the Trout Museum of Art, from June 5 – August 15, 2021. You were 1 of 117 accepted artists from the total 354 applicants. We are very proud of the artwork for the exhibition this year. It is a true reflection of the artistic talent Wisconsin has to offer."
Yahoo! See y'all in Appleton this summer! 😀
I've been working on the MATC (Milwaukee Area Technical College) commission project for the past few weeks. My concept is a multi-canvas installation, portraits of Milwaukeeans of note throughout history. I envision the installation looking as if these portraits were collected over time - each one framed differently from the next and grouped together in on a single wall.
The working title is "Portrait of Milwaukee Progress." My plan is to create 11 separate portraits so I can embed the letters M K E P R O G R E S S one by one into the background of each portrait.
The biggest part of the project thus far has been the research - how to choose who to paint? I'd like to be inclusive of a variety of identities, but that can get tough when you're digging through the internet looking for stories about folks that lived generations ago. Regardless, the group of eleven likely subjects is taking form, and I've started sketching.
Shown here is a preliminary sketch of Golda Meir - one of Milwaukee's most consequential daughters, having served as the prime minister of Israel from 1969-1974.
A few months ago I was chosen along with 10 other local artists be part of a beautification project for the Village of Shorewood in Wisconsin. The concept, called "Signaling History" was organized by the Public Art Shorewood committee, and focused on decorating the metal utility boxes located at each intersection with a traffic light. The commission required that each work should incorporate the history of Shorewood, but otherwise the artists were free to create whatever they wanted. We were all provided access to the local historical society and archives to research Shorewood history.
Since my work of recent years has been inspired by antique family snapshots, the idea of incorporating photos of previous Shorewood generations dovetailed nicely into my area of interest. The corner I was working on is the site of two Shorewood elementary schools - Atwater Elementary Public School and St Robert's Parish and Grade School. My brother and I attended St Roberts, so I was very excited for my work to be installed on this corner.
At the historical society, I found a number of inspirational images. I took photos of at least 100 images, and when I got home I compiled several of those to arrive at the final composition. What made the cut were two class photos of Atwater school children from the 1950s plus an adorable photo of a young boy with his teacher that became the focal point of the piece.
The drawings are not meant to be portraits of specific people. My intent in using old photos as inspiration is to capture a particular time and/or place and to elicit a feeling or mood. I often will make changes to further this affectation. For this piece, I put some of the children in school uniforms and I also added some children of color to the design. These details are not true to the historical photos I was working from, but I wanted to be inclusive of the children of both schools and to also reflect the multicultural nature of Shorewood's current population. To place the composition on this specific corner of Shorewood, I added sketches of both of the schools into the background.
The signal box I was assigned had two flat adjacent sides so I decided to create a continuous composition that wrapped around the corner. In order to draw the eye from one side to the next, I added a device of colorful balloons blowing in the wind. I did the entire project in a digital format, from my iPad. This is a new technique I've been developing which worked perfectly for this project since the final murals were to be digitally printed onto substrate and then adhered to the utility boxes for installation.
The final work is meant to elicit the celebratory and nostalgic feelings of being a young student on the last day of school. The work is entitled "Remember the day...". Below are a few site photos.
A big thank you to Diane Buck who told me about this project, to the Village of Shorewood, Public Art Shorewood and the Shorewood Historical society. And an extra special thanks to Confluence Graphics in Shorewood - the printers and installers of the murals. The color turned out just as I'd envisioned it, and the join at the corner is barely perceptible. Awesome job!
For those who live in the area and would like to view this piece in person, it is located on the southwest corner of Maryland Avenue and Capitol Drive, in Shorewood, Wisconsin. And don't forget to drive through the village and check out the other artists' work as well. Each intersection with traffic lights now has a mural installed on the utility box! 😀
I was selected along with 10 other local artists by the village of Shorewood, WI for a neighborhood beautification project. We are decorating corner utility boxes with paintings inspired by the history of the village of Shorewood. The corner where my work will be placed is at Maryland Avenue and Capitol Drive, the location of two elementary schools - Atwater and St Roberts. My brother and I attended St Roberts, so I was really hoping to get this particular location. Anyway - I've been working on this for months and finally submitted the final piece today. This should be installed in the next month or so. Yay!
The piece is called "Remember the Day..." and the images of the children and the teacher were inspired by 1950s era Atwater class photos found at the Shorewood Historical Society. Also pictured in the backgrounds are the two schools located on that corner.
Wow - what a day!
On Friday, August 24, 2018, the Milwaukee Bucks permanent art collection at the Fiserv Forum was unveiled. I was lucky enough to be one of the 32 artists chosen from nearly 1300 applicants to have my work included in the collection. The day started with a televised press conference where I had the chance to meet many of the other artists, after which our friends and families were invited to come and tour the arena. Over the weekend, the public is invited to tour the space and they're expecting up to 40,000 people.
The Fiserv Forum, an elegant new feature in the Milwaukee skyline, seats more than 17,000. My work is hanging on the suite level, outside of Suite 04. There is also a book commemorating the art and the artists, which I've shared in the video below.
The work I created, called "The Girls Team," measures 26" x 36" before framing, and the medium is watercolor on Ampersand Aquabord. This piece is part of the Discarded series of works that I've been developing over the last few years which takes inspiration from antique photography to tell a story. For "The Girls Team", I found inspiration in images of women's basketball teams from the last century. The background of the piece is a grouping of girl players from earlier eras, dressed in their uniforms, lined up for team photos. They overlook the subject, a young woman of today playing ball against boys, and giving them a real run for their money. I wanted to illustrate that the women who played before, paved the way for today's young women to not just play without the judgment, but to achieve levels in the field totally out of reach by earlier generations.
This is truly the honor of a lifetime. I am so thankful to be included - thank you to the Milwaukee Bucks and especially to the wonderful women at Sports and the Arts who put this whole thing together!
Just found out I was accepted to the Pancakes & Booze show in Milwaukee on June 2 - woot! If you're in the area, stop on by Turner Hall and check it out!
A close up of the painting
I just found out that my work, "Faded Chalkboard Memories" has been juried into a show at the Charles Allis Art Museum in Milwaukee. Yay!!
The show is called "Forward: A Survey of Wisconsin Art Now" and the opening is at the museum on October 27.
I am extremely honored to be included in the show and hope to see you all at the opening!
Charles Allis Art Museum
1801 N. Prospect Ave
Milwaukee, WI 53202
I'm currently exhibiting my Strata+Sphere series at the ARC Gallery in Chicago - please stop by!
Exhibition dates: July 20 – August 13, 2016
The ARC Gallery, 2156 North Damen, Chicago
Gallery hours: Wed to Sat 12-6 pm, and Sun. 12-4 pm
Strata+Sphere, Abstract works by Rochelle Weiner | Rochelle Weiner is a contemporary multi-media artist, recently returned to her home town of Milwaukee after working and residing 20 years in Chicago. This series of abstract works, entitled “Strata+Sphere”, uses layered painting techniques to depict abstract memories of growing up on Milwaukee’s East Side neighborhood. Rochelle’s main interest in painting lies in storytelling. The layered painting techniques that she has developed – using opaque and transparent mediums to build up layers of color and texture, scraping back to reveal earlier layers and then building up and covering up again, shows a history of what went before, even if in a very subtle way. This tells a story both of her painting process and of her subject matter. She works in varied mediums to achieve her goals, including watercolor on board,
I am very excited to announce a new one-woman show now live at Tease Salon (2222 S Kinnickinnic Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53207). The team at Tease did a fantastic job posting the show - the quirky antiques and cool vibe at Tease really make my stuff look great!
For this show, I am presenting pieces from two very different series: 1) the Discarded series, representative watercolor works inspired by antique photography and 2) Strata+Sphere, multimedia abstract works inspired by my childhood in Milwaukee.
For those in the area, Tease takes part in Bay View Gallery Night and I will be there for the grand opening of this show the evening of June 3, 2016. Come one, come all!
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