Var started with the simple idea of having a collective, creative space, shared by a few artists. 7 years later, Var, short for variety, has not only lived up to its name, it has far surpassed it. Starting with just 7 artists in a space, Var now hosts 66 artists in residence in two locations. The collective exhibition will feature 29 of its’ artists, both emerging and established, working in a range of disciplines. From painting and drawing to multi- media installations, represented areas of focus span interests of identity, community, trauma, conflict and peace making, the built environment and the natural world, craft, beauty, ideology and myth making, politics, queer and feminist theory and even sci-fi and fantasy.
This show will be as much a celebration of Var's growth, as Var’s gratitude to its artists for their immeasurable contributions to Var. After all, no institution, gallery or community can exist without its artists.
Here is the list of 29 artists exhibiting:
Liala Amin, Tegan Andrich, Kimberly Dadtka, Deb Dila, Melissa Dorn, Mary Drabiszczak, Jody Emery, Tim Feldges, Rachael Gonzalez, Sindie Kim, Clare Jorgensen, Anika Kowalik, Jayce Kolinski, Lennis Mathews, Linda Marcus, Brendan Murphy, Riley Niemack, Cristina Ossers, LaSonia Ragsdale, Sansan, Maggie Sasso, Laurie Segal, Rebecca Segal, Reid Sancken, Kate Schaffer, Michelle Schilling, Brian Schneider, Jason VanRoo, Dave Watkins, Jaymee Harvey Willms
Some reflections from our artists about their time spent at Var:
𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴; 𝘒𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘺. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦 (𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘝𝘢𝘳), 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺. 𝘐𝘯 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴: 𝘞𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.
-𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘙. 𝘏𝘪𝘣𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘥
𝘉𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘝𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴!
- 𝘙𝘺𝘢𝘯 𝘓𝘢𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘨
Reflecting on the growth of Var gallery, Josh Hintz (Gallery Owner) commented,
“𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴...𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘵𝘩. 𝘐𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘦’𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺. 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘵, 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘶𝘬𝘦𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺.”
In 7 years, Var has grown from a small get together, supporting a few artists, into a leading entity that fosters the growth and expansion of creatives in all fields. Maintaining the intimate community that fosters close relationships, Var continues to impact, and be impacted by, not only Milwaukee, but cities all across the US.
𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝘅𝗵𝗶𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗿𝘂𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴h January 30th, 𝟮𝟬𝟮1
(𝗯𝘆 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘃𝗶𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆):
See viewing protocol below:
𝗦𝗢𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗬 𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘𝗗 & 𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗞 𝗥𝗘𝗤𝗨𝗜𝗥𝗘𝗗
Guests of Var Gallery & Studios are to follow the below guidelines in order to ensure the safety of our staff, artists, and other guests:
1. Arrive at the front door located at 643 S. 2nd St. Var Gallery & Studios. Wait to be let in. If the gallery is at capacity, you may have to wait until the previous group has departed.
2. Please be prepared with a mask and to get your temperature checked before entering.
3. You will then be allowed to explore the gallery for the duration of the timeslot you've scheduled. If there are gaps in the schedule, you may be permitted to extend your stay.
4. If beverages are being served during the event you are attedning, please try and re-affix your face-covering in between sips.
5. Enjoy the show!