Seen on the Milwaukee Scene – Melba Z on the MKE

It’s Friday night, and I wonder, where am I?

Cutting edge art openings in unusual spaces, guys and gals in outrageously chic outfits, oblique cultural references from the classical to the crazy, abound!  Have I materialized in New York or San Francisco?  Has my inner Dali transported me to a surreal plane somewhere on the Continent?  No!  It’s happening here.  In Milwaukee!

I began at Villa Terrace, with New Hanji, A Korean Paper Tradition Re-imagined.  And ‘imagined’ is right!  Creating a ‘visual conversation’ between the exquisite 1000-year-old Korean paper making tradition (‘hanji’) and the vision of skilled contemporary artists, this show takes the art of paper craft to a whole new level.  It runs until January.

Then, I walked 3 1/2 blocks to Inova, UWM’s satellite gallery, located on Prospect Avenue.  There, works by winners of the Mary L Nohl Foundation Fund Fellowships were on display.  This eclectic mix of genres evoked strong opinions and emotions, as evidenced by the lively conversations going on all throughout the show.  And, there was a happening on the sidewalk in front of the space while the show was going on!  Some local videographers were shooting footage right there!

I had to remind myself that I was, indeed, still in Milwaukee!