Crossing Over Exhibit Features Student Artists

The UWM Art Gallery is marking its fiftieth year since it first began in 1972. The primary objective of the art gallery is to nurture visual artists, promote their work, and allow them to expose their work to the public, collectors, media, and cultural institutions. This year the Crossing Over exhibition is in the Peck School of Arts, on the second floor, and remains open from Nov. 11 to Dec. 14.

The exhibit’s artworks are created by Art & Design students in UWM’s Peck School of the Arts who received scholarships, awards, and fellowships in 2022. The artworks created by these talented up-and-coming artists is in a variety of media such as oil painting, charcoal drawing, photography, printmaking art and sculpture, and all are showcased in this annual exhibition.

“Art is an outlet, and it definitely helps me to express myself just like any other artist trying to get out their emotions, their thoughts and ideas to the world,” said Karissa Demotto, a senior at Peck School of Arts. “I love being able to get what I am thinking out on a paper without using any words. People just see my art and understand.”

Demotto also participated in the Jewelry & Metalsmithing show and won the judge’s choice award, the jewelry choice award for her “Tooth Container” art piece.

The Crossing Over Union Art Gallery show used to be held in the student union, and has been moved to the College of Art due to Union renovations.

“Since our space at Union Art Gallery is under renovation, we’re using this space,” said Haley Steines, current manager and creator of the exhibit. “That comes with its challenges. We don’t have access right now to a lot of our usual supplies. Especially when students come in with some art that’s like not a traditional hanging. That’s a lot of kind of experimental type to figure out how can I hang this without my usual supplies. That gets tricky.”

The reception hours for visitors are from 12-5 p.m. Monday to Friday and 12-7p.m. on Thursdays. The Art Gallery exhibition is free and open to the public to visit. By making the UWM art collection accessible, the Gallery supported the university’s outreach and education goals while also benefiting the larger Milwaukee community.

“By interaction with the visitors to the show and how they are enjoying it, we can see how successful this event is,” Steines said. “Our pieces are getting purchased, great comments are left from visitors, and usually, we have a guest book where people can leave their comments, but we don’t have it now because we’re not in our usual space. We also ask the artists about their experiences of being a part of the Gallery.”

One of the main goals of the Gallery is to give the students the opportunity to be part of a Gallery show. Gaining experiences from the Gallery comes by offering the students this presentation on how to present artwork in a professional manner, how to frame their work, make a title for the art piece, and write an artist statement; the Gallery is designed for students to learn all the needed skills before going into the professional world.

“I truly enjoyed the Crossing Over Art Gallery, and it is so amazing to see the art of the local artists,” said visitor Joseph Loving a Lyft driver who came with his friend and is a student at UWM. “I am one of the people interested in art and art galleries. I am a very creative person and I love different types of art. Artworks always attract my attention, and this exhibition was the right place to spend my day with after the pressure of work and the preoccupations of life.”