For the upcoming gallery night in Milwaukee, ART Milwaukee is having a wedding like no other to combine the love of art, the city and a desire to have a good party.
We’ve all been to a wedding or two in our day, and chances are if you’ve been to one you can do the chicken dance in your sleep. Most of us go to show our support for the loving union. Some of us go for the open bar, or the chance to make a union of our own.
ART Milwaukee is taking the institution of weddings and marriage to a whole new level, according to ART Milwaukee founder Jeremy Fojut.
“How do we change a wedding up, and marry artists and make it interesting?” Fojut asked. The result? A wedding on canvas. “We are bringing 10 artists together with five four-by-eight foot canvases, and having two people who have never worked with each other create a piece of art,” Fojut said.
ART Milwaukee brought in the artists for a pre-nuptial meeting where the artists themselves chose who they wanted to pair up with. Similar to life courting, they found that opposites attract. For instance, Fojut said there is an airbrush artist paired with a traditional portrait artist.
The wedding will serve as an after party to continue the festivities of the popular gallery night, which seems to trickle off after the evening ends and the gallery doors close.
“Gallery night is good because it brings people into the city and helps people be more appreciative of art, but it needs a large after party, and needs to evolve,” Fojut said. “There needs to be more of an event around it. It’s slowed down, maybe not attendance-wise, but once you’ve seen it you don’t need to go for another year or so,” he said.
Fojut said gallery night tends to be very 2-D— very visual, and less interactive. ART Milwaukee is hoping to change this notion. The event is two-fold. It begins with the ART Milwaukee Art Bus stopping throughout the night at four galleries.
The bus goes to unique destinations that people may not have made it to on foot, like the Walkers Point Center for the Arts to see the CoPA photography exhibit, Danceworks to see live performances or the Pfister to see the 2011 Artist in Residence finalists.
The two buses will have live art and music, one featuring Scott Hlavenka from Fresh Cut Collective, and the other features the budding band Jones and and Juice. The $20 bus ticket includes complimentary wine and beer, hors d’ourves at some destinations, and a ticket to the after party.
At the party, guests will walk down a mock wedding aisle, take wedding photos, and there will even be the traditional tinking of the glasses. The art nuptials also include a vault locked mystery medium, iron-chef style, which may or may not lead to a fabulous honeymoon on canvas or end in a messy divorce.
The event is sure to be a great showcase of the Milwaukee art scene and be a great opportunity to socialize whether you are into art or not.
In one year, the volunteer-based ART Milwaukee, has helped bring a sense of community and collaboration to what Fojut describes as a disconnected art scene. They have grown from simply wanting to throw fun art parties to helping build a non-threatening arts scene.
“We’re always looking for new people, the next idea, and how we can further the art scene and move forward with keeping things unique, and challenging what’s known as the traditional art scene,” Fojut said.
ART Milwaukee events like their monthly ART Jamboree bring together art of all kinds: film, music, photography, theatre and dance. They also serve as a marketing organization for artists and an outlet for artists to showcase their work.
Big things are in store for ART Milwaukee as they have many ideas for the upcoming new year. There is talk of a week long art festival in September, and a live art event on the Amtrak train to Chicago, but first there must be a wedding!
The ART Milwaukee Wedding will take place January 20th at the Priztlaff Building at 9 PM. Tickets are $10 and $15 for VIP and both include a plus one.
Gozamos Milwaukee has a few tickets to give away for some very lucky fans! Check out the Facebook page and Twitter for more information on how to get yours!