Introduction to Gasp
Erick Ledesma: 2018 Residency
Celeste Contras: 2019 Residency
Deaf Storytelling Jam
Talking Shop
Conclusion

Project Legacy

Introduction to GASP

Gathering Art, Stories and Place (GASP) empowers Historic Mitchell Street neighbors to create, share, and celebrate diversity through storytelling and multi-media art, specifically engaging youth in the process at the Milwaukee Public Library Mitchell Street Branch.

This project is a collaboration with community partners, Milwaukee Public Library, Listening to Mitchell artists Sonja Thomsen and Adam Carr, Ex Fabula, and Artists Working in Education, Inc. The project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment of the Arts, with additional support from the Milwaukee Public Library Foundation.

Highlights of this project include:

  • Artist Residency: Artists-in-residence are chosen for one year to lead weekly community art programming resulting in permanent and temporary public art installations in collaboration with Artists Working in Education.
  • Talking Shop: This conversation series invites diverse local artists and community members to share their artistic practice, process and experiences.
  • Deaf StorySlam: This project is a collaboration with the Greater Milwaukee Association of the Deaf, Inc. (GMAD) and Ex Fabula.
  • The creation of an archive for the Listening to Mitchell public art project.

Erick Ledesma : 2018 Residency

Ledesma is an interdisciplinary visual artist from San Juan, Puerto Rico who explores themes of identity by incorporating and integrating influences from his personal culture. Ledesma creates work primarily using acrylic and spray paint to develop vibrant color palettes. In 2017, Ledesma served as the Cesar Chavez Drive Artist-in-Residence where he started an initiative called Cosecha Creative Space. Ledesma named his endeavor "Cosecha", Spanish for "harvest", which fittingly described the gathering and growth of the art created by that community outreach program. Through Cosecha Creative Space, Ledesma continues to offer community building, outreach and human connections through the art focusing on underserved communities in Milwaukee.

Celeste Contreras: 2019 Residency

Contreras is a Xicana Indigenous artist and activist who is using her voice to share stories of ceremony, culture and tradition through expressions in mixed medium including ceremonial illustrations, Dia de Muertos workshops, books, print, dolls, and mixed media. Her work explores identity and reflects her ancestry and tribal roots in the Americas; Mexico, Mexica (Meh-Shee-Ka), Blackfeet Cherokee as well as her Polish ancestry.

Deaf Storytelling Jam

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Talking Shop

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Conclusion

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