by Julie Strand Our annual art extravaganza, ArtWalk, Saturday & Sunday Oct 4-5, will be especially exciting this year as Riverwest Artists Association celebrates their new home. Six years without a home is a long time for anyone – perhaps especially an arts organization. There aren’t many that could have survived such a long period of homelessness. However, the Riverwest Artists Association is extraordinary and strong. In fact, it has been in existence since the mid 1970s. Today the organization’s new place of residence is The Jazz Gallery at 926 E. Center Street. Before, during and after interviewing board members Darlene Hagopian and Mark Lawson, I was bombarded by stories about the space. It was a jazz club where most of the major players from the 60s and 70s performed. After the jazz club left, the space was a rock club. It’s easy to picture the space as a musical venue with many talented pairs of feet crossing the black and white tiled stage that still stands in the gallery. With the arrival of RAA, talented artists once again walk through the space, just a different kind. While the space is now a venue to showcase visual arts, it is more than that. RAA has created a Riverwest Community Art Center which also rents two studios in the building to local artists providing them with affordable housing. “This new art center provides a foothold in the neighborhood for art,” says Darlene Hagopian, board member. “There used to be six art galleries in Riverwest, and that number is getting smaller and smaller. As an artist organization we feel like a physical presence is important.” No Rest for the Artistic You would think that after buying and renovating a building, putting up an excellent historical art show, and sponsoring Center Street Days RAA members would collapse from exhaustion, but art never sleeps. The 2008 Riverwest ArtWalk, sponsored and organized byRAA will take place Oct. 4 and 5, Noon-5pm. And don’t forget the party at the Art Bar, 722 E. Burleigh, on Saturday night. Our neighborhood’s own version of gallery night is a way for Riverwesters and visitors to see very locally grown art by the artists who created it. The types of places included in ArtWalk are homes, coffee shops, cafés and other businesses that hang art on their walls. “This event is representative of the diverse nature of the community,” says Mark Lawson, a long time RAA board member. “When ArtWalk first started in 1979, it wasn’t just about showing art, it was an effort to show Milwaukee that the neighborhood was safe to walk in. “People see this neighborhood as an artist neighborhood, but RAA’s ArtWalk, along with other longstanding arts organizations, have made this neighborhood what is it today. Thirty years ago it wasn’t the artsy neighborhood it is now.” ArtWalk Protocol Just in case you’ve never done ArtWalk before, it’s easy. You buy a ticket and get a map, then walk around the Riverwest neighborhood anytime on the weekend of Oct. 4 and 5. You get to see artists and their studios, and even buy some wonderful local art – and eliminate the middle-man. Artists not to be missed include fiber artists from Jester Studio, abstract photographer Amy Schmutte, Somalian jeweler Yusef Baba, landscape artist Cathe Cowling, and Peggy Riverwest, Riverwest Artists Association Check out the new art on garage doors, thanks to this initiative by RNA and Sura Faraj, in these alleys: 3000 block between Holton and Booth 3000 block between Booth and Pierce 2900 block between Pierce and Fratney an artist who lived in the neighborhood over 15 years ago and is coming back just for ArtWalk. RAA’s new home, the Jazz Gallery, will be one of the sites listed on the ArtWalk map. If for some reason you don’t get to stop by there during the walk, it’s open Thursday nights from 5-8pm and Saturdays from 12-5pm. The current exhibit, featuring artists who have supported RAA throughout its history, will be up until September 20. Don’t Forget the T-Shirt The ArtWalk T-shirt design for this year was done by local graphic artist Maureen Kane, and celebrates RAA’s new home. Another tradition you won’t want to miss is Sigmund Snopek and Michael Woods in their Sunday afternoon concert at Garden Park on Locust and Bremen. And pick up some veggies at Gardener’s Market while you’re there. Tickets to ArtWalk 2008 are $3 for adults and $2 for students and seniors. They can be purchased at: Jazz Gallery (926 E Center), Art Bar (722 E Burleigh), Beginning Dreams (833 E Burleigh), and the Riverwest Co-op (733 E Clarke St). Don’t Miss Riverwest Artists Association RAA Members Art Show at the Jaxx Gallery 926 E Center Beginning Dreams Forever 833 E. Burleigh Sat & Sun, Oct 4 & 5, NOON-5PM Sculpture, paintings, tote bags, pots, prints, and blacksmith showing in the garden Art*Bar 722 E. Burleigh Sat, Oct 4, 7PM Artist Party with The Black Oil Brothers from Chicago Gardeners Market Garden Park, Locust & Bremen Sun, Oct 5, Noon-3PM Sigmund Snopek & Michael Woods