'Rockford Taking Flight' Film Screening MOWA Art + Wellness series Wednesday, December 04, 2024 10:30am-11:30am (free for members) Museum of Wisconsin Art 205 Veterans Avenue, West Bend, WI 53095 Creating Unity through Community The Healing Power of Art How can creating together build community despite different perspectives? Milwaukee artist and muralist Tia Richardson explores themes of identity, unity, and togetherness in her collaborative creation process. Join Richardson for a screening of her short film Rockford Taking Flight and a discussion of the transformative power of collaborative public art.   About MOWA'S Art+Wellness series Art+Wellness is a drop in series focusing on topics that promote wellness and inspire a creative life. Free for members, Art+Wellness activities are held the first Wednesday of the month.  

 JOIN US FOR COMMUNITY PAINTING! Monday, December 2, 5pm-7pm Tuesday, December 3, 5pm-7pm Wednesday, December 4, 5pm-7pm Barack Obama School of Career and Technical Education 5075 N. Sherman Blvd Milwaukee, WI 53209 (Use front entrance. We are in the former drivers ed room, lower level). Come to help bring to life a new mural honoring Jimmy Banks, Milwaukee-born soccer player and coach who played for the 1990 World Cup on the Men's US National Soccer Team. We had several community design workshops where friends, family, and colleagues of Jimmy gathered to share ideas about Jimmy's efforts. Their perspectives and feelings about who Jimmy was as a person, his accomplishments, and way he served the local community, were used to draw inspiration from for the design. This project is an initiative of Friends of Jimmy Banks. To learn more, visit: https://www.jimmybanksstadium.org/ "The Friends of Jimmy Banks is a collective of friends, former players and coaches, family member...

Saturday, November 23rd, 2024 1PM - 2PM Silver Spring Neighborhood Center (Meeting Room) 5460 N. 54th St, Milwaukee, WI 53204 Join us to see the new mural design that will be installed on Jimmy Banks Memorial Stadium, and to learn more about his work and what he offered to Milwaukee's soccer community. The design was inspired by three community design workshops led by Tia Richardson. The project is a collaborative effort with Friends of Jimmy Banks.  If you're interested in staying up to date on this project as it unfolds, you can sign up for email updates here.

  Saturday, November 9, 2024 from 10:00 a.m.—2 p.m.  in conjunction with Second Saturday Museum of Wisconsin Art 205 Veterans Avenue, West Bend, WI 53095 Meet Wisconsin authors including author/illustrator Tia Richardson as they sign their books available for purchase in the MOWA gift shop. Second Saturday is a lively monthly event that turns the entire museum into a destination for creative experiences. Families can explore the museum, participate in drop-in art-making, live entertainment, gallery activities, and more. Every month offers something new! Second Saturday takes place on the second Saturday of each month, drop in 10:00–2:00. Free for Members. Second Saturday is sponsored by the Leola Culver Family Foundation. MOWA Shop Peruse unique, artist-driven array of products and gifts at every price point, from museum-branded items to objects for the home to artist-made exclusives. Every purchase benefits museum programming and the artists you love.

Birthing a healing art program for young people Community Art Leaders was born out of a collaboration with Milwaukee Christian Center through their youth development program, Youth Artists United. Their program helps young people develop self-confidence, collaboration and communication skills through working with an artist-in-residence. The year was 2018. This time, rather then focus on studio art, they wanted to offer their target neighborhood, Muskego Way and its community partners a chance to do a community mural. So they reached out to me. The traditional length of their program was 14 weeks, way more time than I was accustomed to on any normal mural project, where residents would participate in a few visioning sessions and community paint days. This provided an opportunity for more to happen with the young people I'd be working with - but the question came up in me as to what I'd be doing with them.  How would I fill the time? I figured, well, they need to learn what we...

 Reflection Today we played a new warm-up game designed for calming and listening. The group sits in a circle. One person sits blind-folded in the middle seated on a chair. A 'treasure' is placed under the chair (can be any item of symbolic value; I used a little box full of agate crystals). On my command - with a silent point - one by one they silently try to steal the treasure. The person in the middle has to try to listen for any sound or movement and catch the person by pointing in their direction. I love this game, and they always have fun.  It went well. The last time we played it, they wanted to make a lot of side noises. This morning I decided to ask the group to play by the rules, to not make side noises. I came up with the idea to say we'd tried it the other way before, reflected on it, so we know how that went. I knew they'd get more out of it in playing the game where everyone has a fair chance. So I proposed everyone take a chance to discover something new ...

 'BONDING THROUGH LIFE' Purdue Charles J. Lynn Hall of Veterinary Medicine ... BEYOND THE DOUBT One day an email landed in my inbox. It was from the Dean of Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine asking if I could do a community mural there about the bond that develops between people and animals. My childhood love of animals flashed images before me, and I felt the familiar warmth of inspiration moving through my body. I imagined walking down the 90ft. hallway seeing large images of beautifully depicted animals and people from different cultures around the world on the wall. I was eager to show the rich cultural fabrics and colorful garments; exotic animals, production and domestic alike. It would be a merging of people and animals in a beautiful tapestry woven with the bond of human-animal caring that transcended cultures. When I first visited the campus in the small town of West Lafayette, Indiana, it struck me as a very rural small town. At least, t...

The Light of Cooperation  Community mural installed at the Lewis Hospital for Companion Animals ... THE JOURNEY We often  move in siloed spaces, and if you're like me, you'll notice this everywhere you go. This fact stands out to  me in spaces where people are intensely focused in a specific area of interest, whether it be their career, research, or specialized tasks that require a lot of focus and concentration. The things that set us apart from each other can make us strong in those areas, but when it comes time for interacting with one another sometimes it makes it difficult. When I was first contacted about this project by the college's Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, what initially sparked my interest was our very first conversation. It struck a chord because there was a genuine desire for an art project that could pull people together, honor the native land of the area, and celebrate the college's strengths and aspirations. Like many institutions, th...

By Tia Richardson This article was first published by Visionary Viewpoints, a New Age newsletter dedicated to igniting ideas to change the world. I am deeply inspired by the veterinary community and the people who are part of it. Over the last couple of years I’ve had the chance to work with several of their communities and institutions as an artist. That journey has opened my eyes in a new way to the work they do and what they’re about. As we embark on our journey into the Aquarian Age, I wanted to share a little of what I discovered in that light.  Before my journey, the image that came to mind when I first thought of the word ‘veterinarian’ was a person with a stethoscope checking out a dog or cat patient in a clinic. I knew they loved animals, sure, but not much else about their interests or values as professionals. If you’d have told me then how much I would come to appreciate them now, I probably wouldn’t have believed you. But did you know they are also scientists, educato...

FORWARD INTO THE HEART OF NURSING 'Forward Into the Heart of Nursing' Signe Skott Cooper Hall, 701 Highland Ave. Madison, WI The UW-Madison School of Nursing is a remarkable beacon of light for intellect and heart, science and caring. 'Forward Into the Heart of Nursing' was created in collaboration with over 150 faculty, staff and students as part of celebrating their 100-year anniversary. The dean of the nursing school, Linda Scott, reached out to me to commemorate their centennial history and a vision of where they are going.  Trying to capture such a long legacy presented a challenge and a unique opportunity. I felt that there was much info to gather about what makes the school legacy unique or special to its community; while searching for what lies at the heart of it. At its heart or its spirit, it stays the same despite having gone throug...

 Mural: "Growing Together/Crecemos Unidos" La Escuela Fratney Elementary School, 3255 N. Fratney St. Milwaukee, WI Photo Credit: Amanda Seppanen   This mural was created in collaboration with over 300 students, parents, faculty and staff of Fratney Bilingual Elementary School. The participation and enthusiasm of teachers and kids alike, grades pre-K through 5th, made a lasting impact that can be seen in the expressive, vibrant imagery depicting the school community's values. Among them include children's rights, environmental stewardship, and symbols inspired by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of the Child. For example - a right to an education; inclusivity, and stewardship for the environment. Fratney was one of if not the first bilingual education (English/Spanish) schools in Wisconsin. It is a diverse and multicultural community, whose parents and families came out to support the celebration of the mural completion on May 31st, 2024. It was ...

Saturday, September 30th 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. Southwest Library, 7979 38th Ave, Kenosha, WI 53142 Stop by the Southwest branch of the Kenosha Public Library between 11am - 4pm to purchase a copy of 'Caring All Around Me' and get it signed by the author! Tia will be there the whole day to meet folks interested in learning more about the book and accompanying workbook and ways it can help young people learn about healthy relating. Free coloring pages from the workbook will be available at her table. She will be participating in the 5 minutes with an author at 3:15pm. 25+ authors spanning genres will be present to meet guests and sign books. Activities between 11am-4pm unless otherwise noted. Browse author booths from 11am - 4pm, check out workshops and panel discussions, and family-friendly activities for all ages - kids and adults alike!  

Opening Receptio n and panel discussion   FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 15, 4:30pm - 8:00pm panel discussion begins at 4:30pm ART AND CULTURES GALLERY Alexia Hall, 3441 South 39 th Street Free and accessible lot parking is available. Map: https://goo.gl/maps/9cshZMQuHsPEqmWFA Title: Illuminating Our Future as One Community by Tia Richardson   Panelists: Blanche Brown, Susan Falkman, Roxane Mayeur, Tia Richardson WOW! is a Directors invitation exhibition featuring the work of 26 women artists from all media including painting, photography, sculpture, metal work, mixed media and ceramics. The opening reception on September 15 begins with a panel discussion at 4:30p...