'Sherman Park Rising' after restoration efforts in 2024 "I feel honored to be a finalist and its one I want to share with the community. It was they who inspired me. " ~ Tia Richardson This project has been documented in numerous print, online, television media; including PBS, local and national news outlets, and a short documentary film about the project. You can find the film along with an essay and other information about the journey on the Sherman Park Rising project page.  Photos from Awards Ceremony Wednesday April 16th, 5-7pm, 202 5 If you would like to learn more about the award or see this year's winner, you can visit here. ... Thanks to the Milwaukee County Historical Society for choosing the mural 'Sherman Park Rising' as one of three finalists; and for everyone who nominated it - the community, the jurors; and everybody who had a hand in making this mural possible. Stephanie Samarripa, Amanda Schick, and the team at Safe and Sound; the city D...

University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point's Diversity and College Access presents: “Celebration of Cultural Expression: Art, Literature and Music” February 20, 2025 Dreyfus University Laird Center and Lounge 1015 Reserve St., Stevens Point This program featured a student and alumni art showcase, with inspiring work proudly on display in acrylic, textile, murals, and literature. It was a beautiful, inspiring evening of culture, creativity and fun.  Students gave performances, including poetry, song, and there was an energizing DJ to top it off, in between speakers. You can learn more about the featured DJ and event here: UW-Steven's Point to host Black History Month Event ... My keynote presentation included screening the film 'Rockford Taking Flight', showing the impact art can have on a communities; and some of the ups and downs I've experienced personally in my journey as an artist. It began with sharing a story about how, a couple of years ago I visited the Nat...

'The Twinkling of Life' Sound of children laughing Community fishing Soil, moss, microscopic, tardigrades Warmth - sunlight Children in a wooded area, hidden gem Tadpoles, plants What's in the unseen world? Diving into what we can't see Sitting under big willow tree - enveloped feet In water - tadpoles, fish, cattails, bittern Warm, midday full sun End, sunset, four seasons Beauty in all the seasons, all times of day Reds, purples, pinks - sunset  Willow vibes. Sun through willows Twinkling coming through, twinkling on lagoon From insect activity or fish Dragonfly laying eggs on water produces Twinkling Twinkling on snow Sunrise, sparkly movement and life Life no matter the season Kids engulfed by forest Bridges, ephemeral pond bridge Kids cross by being an animal Kids walking on lagoon, sledding Mom and baby deer Wauwatosa (Wauwatessi) Firefly Wawashkeshi - flickering white light Flickering of the tail of the deer 'Wawa' Monarch tagging, blazing star patch Kids...

  Thursday April 17, 2025 5:00pm-7:00pm Beloit Club, 2327 S. Riverside Dr. Beloit, WI 53511 Tia will be guest speaking at this event, sharing her work as a community artist in images and video. "It's not always an easy path to be an entrepreneur, but with mental focus and connecting to what makes your heart happy, it is fun and rewarding. And its even better if you can inspire others to join your effort so we can make something better together!" ~ Tia Richardson

  Wednesday March 12th, 2025 3:30pm-5:00 PM Grades 6-12 Greendale Public Library 5647 Broad St, Greendale, WI 53129 In this workshop you will have a chance to work with community mural artist, author and filmmaker Tia Richardson, owner of Cosmic Butterfly Design. Tia will show examples of her murals, discuss how art helps people express their feelings, and read-aloud from the book she wrote and illustrated, Caring All Around Me. Afterward, you'll get to do your own therapeutic watercolor exercise which encourages self-discovery. Expressing ourselves through art can connect us to our feelings, and community art can help people share ideas and work together despite differences. 

The Milwaukee Historical Society presents the Janice and Stephen Marcus Public Art Award Award Announcement and Ceremony  Wednesday April 16th, 2025 5pm-7pm Milwaukee County Historical Society 910 N Doctor M.L.K. Jr Dr, Milwaukee, WI Free and Open to the public. Please join us! The mural 'Sherman Park Rising' is one of three finalists in this inaugural award presented by the Milwaukee County Historical Society! From January 1st through the 31st, they invited the public to submit nominations for public art that reflects the values and unique character of the Milwaukee community. The winner will be announced during the ceremony.   Sherman Park Rising  was selected for its deep connection to the community. The mural acknowledges the challenges faced by the neighborhood, and is a powerful symbol of rebirth and community working together for a brighter future. This mural was commissioned by the City of Milwaukee Department of Neighborhood Services in collaboration with Safe...

  University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point's Diversity and College Access presents: “Celebration of Cultural Expression: Art, Literature and Music” This event has a blog page. You can see photos and read Tia's reflection on it here ! February 20, 2025 Dreyfus University Laird Center and Lounge 1015 Reserve St., Stevens Point Join us for an evening of culture in celebration of Black History Month! Tia Richardson will be keynoting this evening's event with a screening of her film 'Rockford Taking Flight', a talkback and Q&A. Here is the event page on UW Stevens Point website: https://www.uwsp.edu/news/black-history-month-25/  

'Reaching Your Potential' Mural installed at Jimmy Banks Memorial Stadium, 4300 W. Fairmount Ave. Milwaukee, WI When I leave this world, I want to be able to say that I've done something for someone. I think by helping these kids, teaching them good values, not only teaching but motivating — if I can do that, I've done my job .” ~ Jimmy Banks Milwaukee honors soccer legend Jimmy Banks with new mural and stadium dedication    In the summer of 2023 the group Friends of Jimmy Banks Stadium invited me to do a mural that would honor the work of Milwaukee soccer legend and coach Jimmy Banks, for the stadium they had worked to rename in his honor. The location was his high school alma mater, formerly Custer, now Obama School of Career and Technological Education (SCTE). It's been a heartwarming experience, learning about the work he's done with youth in the local community after reaching the world stage and getting to know the people who knew him as friends, family...

 'EMBRACING OUR FUTURES WITH COURAGE' UWM Photo: Elora Hennessey The TRIO Student Support Services program works with often first-generation college students to help them achieve their academic goals and be successful. Getting to know this community, its aspirations and and successes, has been an honor. In 2022, through this collaborative mural process I had the chance to meet and work with students who have been through or are part of this program. During our workshops I heard firsthand from some of them about their journeys, where they've been, what challenges they encounter to get to where they are now, and where they are striving to go. ... Through our process of sharing and listening we made some discoveries, that allowed us to acknowledge and recognize different strengths the community has in order to make their journey. These strengths included a willingness to take new risks, reach out and ask for help, and expose oneself to new things. I was inspired ...

'Leading, Learning, and Loving' University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine Veterinary Medicine Building (study lab) 2015 Linden Dr, Madison, WI 53706 24'x4' Acrylic mural on aluminum panels Check out this article about the project featured on the University of Wisconsin-Madison school of veterinary medicine website: https://www.vetmed.wisc.edu/leading-learning-and-loving/ THE ONE THAT STARTED THEM ALL This project started as an invitation to keynote for the 2022 Iverson Bell Midwest Regional Diversity Summit, hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Veterinary College. The summit is   named after the first African American veterinarian to hold the position of Vice President in the American Veterinary Medical Association. The main goal of the summit is to promote diversity and inclusion in veterinary medicine, with special attention to academia. The invite came from Richard Barajas, then Assistant Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for the V...

  **CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER** This event will be rescheduled. Stay tuned! Wednesday February 12, 2025 3:30 - 5:00pm Grades 6-12 Greendale Public Library 5647 Broad St, Greendale, WI Experience how expressing ourselves through art can connect us to our feelings, and community art can help people share ideas and work together despite differences. Take a journey through the storybook 'Caring All Around Me', see and discuss examples of Tia's murals, and do your own therapeutic art exercise which you can take home with you! No registration. Space is limited.

'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...