‘I am very grateful to be a part of the collective and to be able to make work with my friends.’

Barrel O’ Monkeys is a new artist collective, and all 10 members are recent Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design graduates. Barrel O’ Monkeys officially opened in August 2026, after its members graduated, and they are already a bustling Doors Open Milwaukee location. Jayne Henningsgaard is of the recent grads who worked to create Barrel O’ Monkeys.

Will Cavezza: What was it like securing the space for Barrel O’ Monkeys?

Jayne Henningsgaard: It was pretty difficult. We started actively searching our senior year. We toured some spaces, but they just weren’t able to meet our needs. I know for me personally, I was very dead set on having a window. We were reached out to by another MIAD graduate to tour this space. They were looking for someone to actively use this space as a studio, I think both of us are very excited that the space got to be used for this.

Will Cavezza: I was surprised to hear that you guys opened recently, because the space looks very nice. What was it like creating this space?

Jayne Henningsgaard: We spent the first month just cleaning and prepping. The white wall used to be mirrors for the gym that was here; those were sold to a dance studio in Harambe. We spent that first month prepping the space so that we could move our studios in, and we had our official opening in August. It was really rewarding to receive that message on Instagram asking: “Do you want to be a part of Doors Open?” There are so many places participating in it, obviously, but it feels really special. Like, whoa, we’re participating in it.

Will Cavezza: What’s next for Barrel O’ Monkeys?

Jayne Henningsgaard: Right now, our plans extend through October. We have some MIAD clubs selling work the first week of October for Hispanic Heritage Month where Melany partnered with another graduate friend of ours, Ashley, to put on the show and have an open call. We want to host more nontraditional artist events, just something a little more different than having work on the walls. It’ll still be an art event, but kind of stretching the idea of what an art even could be.

Will Cavezza: What’s it like being a new artist?

Jayne Henningsgaard: It’s hard to feel motivated sometimes. What keeps me going is my passion for creating work and being with my peers. I don’t want to be a Debbie Downer and say it’s the hardest thing in the world, but it’s not easy. It’s also very rewarding, and I gain a lot from it. I create because it’s what I want to do, and it’s what I feel passionate about. I think it’s important, even if it doesn’t feel important in the moment.

Will Cavezza: How does AI affect that?

Jayne Henningsgaard: It’s real, it’s something that’s happening where there are opportunities being taken by AI. But also, maybe I’m too optimistic, but I do believe that people value art, and there will always be a market for creatives, and people value work that is made by someone that they can communicate with and talk to and form connections. I’m very hopeful. I think it’s still an issue, but I believe that people really value people making work.

Anna Barr is another one of 10 recent MIAD graduates who worked to create Barrel O’ Monkeys.

Will Cavezza: What do you like most about being in Milwaukee?

Anna Barr: I love Milwaukee. I’m from St. Louis, I feel like the cities are very similar in size and Midwest warmth. I really love the community I’ve made here. When I graduated, I had a lot of people ask if I was gonna move home. I feel like a lot of people sometimes just go home after college, but I feel like I’ve made a lot of connections and a lot of friendships that I really value. Also, I think the community here is really vibrant, and I feel good about contributing towards it.

Will Cavezza: What kind of art do you like to create?

Anna Barr: I would consider myself a printmaker and paper maker. I don’t actually use this space for making because it requires a lot of equipment, but I do a lot of ideating, drawing and painting here.

Will Cavezza: What was it like being an artist before Barrel O’ Monkeys?

Anna Barr: We really lucked out finding the space. We went straight from MIAD into here, it was only a one-month period where we were getting the space ready to move in. We really loved the studios at MIAD, and we wanted to replicate their community and those studios here. I think being with fellow artists fuels my practice. We would be having 12, 14-hour days at school sometimes, and just being able to walk a couple studios over to talk to somebody or get invites to something is special.

Will Cavezza: What kind of impact do you think art has on the community?

Anna Barr: It’s highlighting stories of the people. No matter what people make art about, it’s always going to come from their life experience, and I think sharing that with the community can bring us together.

Will Cavezza: What is it like being an artist in the advent of AI and AI art?

Anna Barr: I don’t really let it get to me. I don’t think it will ever be able to do what I know I can do, especially with such a labor intensive and material focused process like print making. I can understand digital artists, even painters; they’re concerned. But I don’t think it will ever be able to replicate any kind of story or emotion tied to what an artist’s intent is in their work.

Will Cavezza: Would you say community drives art?

Anna Barr: Absolutely. I make a lot of work about my friends and my community as well as the social interactions of people our age and the experience of being young, so it’s important to me.

Will Cavezza: Is there anything else you would like to say about Barrel O’ Monkeys?

Anna Barr: I am very grateful to be a part of the collective and to be able to make work with my friends as well as making something that is hopefully adding to the Milwaukee art scene and bringing a little bit of hope.

Melany Hernandez is another one of the 10 recent MIAD graduates who founded the artists’ collective.

Will Cavezza: What’s the community like? How do you get community outreach?

Melany Hernandez: I think going to MIAD in general. MIAD is a pretty small school. I think we fostered a lot of communities there already being there for four years, and MIAD put that in our heads to go to art galleries, go explore Milwaukee, go find and reach out to people. It’s also just people being willing to show up too, because I don’t expect anybody to come over for our Doors Open, but 130 people came yesterday. People are so willing and want to be a part of the art scene in our community, and I’m very grateful for that.

Will Cavezza: What kind of art do you like to make?

Melany Hernandez: I would say I’m a jack of all trades, master of none. I love doing everything because I get kind of bored easily, but as of right now, I would say textiles. I was in a textiles class called craftivism and creative resistance. Talking about how craft and art are different, but also, they’re together and how you can use that as a resistance against all the bad things in society.

Will Cavezza: What kind of activism would you or Barrel O Monkeys be interested in doing now or in the future?

Melany Hernandez: We are so against bigger institutions and these white wall, sterile kind of environments that are not really friendly to up-and-coming artists and recently graduated artists. I feel like our space in general is an act of resistance. We wanted a space where we can do whatever we want and we don’t have to follow the rules of an actual institution, so I feel like that is our act of resistance.

Will Cavezza: What is it like being a new artist in the age of AI and AI Art?

Melany Hernandez: I would say with all the confidence in the world that everyone in this collective does not like AI. Ethics-wise, I think it’s stealing from artists without their permission. I don’t like to see it because you can always hire an actual person to create whatever you want, like there’s a reason we have art schools.

Will Cavezza: Do you have anything else you’d like to say about Barrel O’ Monkeys?

Melany Hernandez: I love it here. From my junior year of high school, I was like okay, I think I want to do art. Going to MIAD was the best decision for myself, and being a part of Barrel O’ Monkeys is such a blessing and such an awesome thing to be a part of. I’m so glad I’m with nine other of my best friends doing this; we’re just having a good time. I don’t know what’s in the plans for the future, but I’m excited.