Interwoven opens at The Art Garage

Last August, the NWTC Artisan and Business Center welcomed six local artists into the fifth cohort of its Artisan Residency Program.

This week, those artists will celebrate the end of their time as residents and the opening of their collaborative exhibition, titled Interwoven, at The Art Garage.

This year’s cohort included Annie Stenseth, Lynn Peters, Sam Rowe, Jill Steen, Ben Thibodeau and Laura Schley.

Over their year as residents, these artists have met with Operations Coordinator Carrie Dorski and various mentors to learn all about what it takes to run an art-based business, including marketing, website design, branding and more, individualized to meet the needs of each resident while fostering a sense of community among them.
“I’m incredibly proud of the artists in this year’s residency cohort,” Dorski said. “Their depth of creativity, passion for their work and commitment to one another has been remarkable to witness. This is the first group to truly surge ahead of me — taking initiative, forming deep bonds and holding each other up throughout the year.

They embraced every opportunity, challenged themselves and each other and created something powerful together. It’s been an honor to support their journey, and I can’t wait for the community to experience the work they’ve created.”

Read on to learn more about this year’s residents and their time in the program:

How have you grown as an artist and an entrepreneur throughout your time as a resident?

Stenseth: Throughout my time as a resident, I’ve noticed a shift in how I approach my work. I’ve learned to approach my process with more patience and flexibility, allowing things to evolve organically rather than rushing toward a finished product. This has helped me realize that sometimes the most meaningful results come from the unexpected. As both an artist and an entrepreneur, I’ve had to become more skilled at managing my time and prioritizing what matters most. Balancing the creative and practical sides of my practice has been a big shift, and I’ve learned to be more organized and intentional in how I work.

Peters: At this time last year, I had a giant list of things I’d been wanting to do, but I just couldn’t seem to get started. Being a resident gave me access to expert advice, coaching, and great role models. I felt more and more like a “real artist” as the months went by, and our ongoing conversations helped me to keep moving forward, no matter how tiny the steps. I’ve spent more time on my art, established a website, and dramatically improved the functionality of my studio. I’ve dared to enter my art in shows I would never have considered and tried artistic media that were entirely new to me. And the icing on the cake is that I’ve gained artist friends, and mentors. I’ve become part of the Northeast Wisconsin art community.

Rowe: Since I’ve started the residency program, my art business goals have become more concrete and feel more attainable than ever. It feels so good to have a support system to lean on when I need advice or encouragement as a small business owner. I’ve become more confident in myself and my work and have the tools to continue building that confidence long after the program ends.

Steen: This residency has given me the opportunity to focus on exploring exactly what type of art I want to be making and how I want to get it out in the world. I feel like I’ve developed my personal art style, explored some more conceptual ideas I hadn’t previously had the opportunity to create, and I’m more confident about how I present my work. I’m also much more confident when it comes to navigating the art world in general, but most especially the business side of the art world.

Thibodeau: I’ve grown as an artist and entrepreneur by finding what my strengths and weaknesses are and what I want to put my energy towards improving on. The resources given to us in the program has helped me traverse the art and business world and has given me great insight on how to grow my business. Overall, I think the residency has been a great help to my art career and has set me on a path for success.

Schley: I have gained a renewed trust in myself and my artwork and have been experimenting more with the work that I am creating.

Recently I’ve been taking the finished product less seriously which has allowed me to work faster and play around with new ideas and methods which has been fun and has opened up new avenues for potential future works.

What are you excited for people to see in the Residency Exhibition?

Stenseth: I’m excited for people to see the evolution of each artist’s voice over the course of the residency. This year, there will be multiple collaborations throughout the exhibition, which adds another layer of connection, not just between the works but between the artists themselves. Even with our different approaches and backgrounds, there’s a strong sense of unity, with threads of shared experience, curiosity and care weaving the exhibition together in meaningful ways. When it comes to my own work, I hope viewers see a piece of themselves in it — whether through emotion, experience or memory. If someone can find a point of connection, even in an unexpected way, then I feel like the work has fulfilled its purpose.

Peters: I hope everyone who comes to the exhibition will have the same kind of “wow” moments I have when I see the other residents’ work. There’s some really amazing stuff!

Rowe: I’m excited for folks to experience the overarching theme of our exhibition, Interwoven, which is inspired by 2025 being the Chinese Year of the Wood Snake, a time of personal evolution, imagination, wisdom and growth. We felt that description was spot on to the year we’ve been having as a group, even inspiring us to come together to create a full-cohort collaborative piece featuring six interwoven ceramic snakes, each as unique as the artist who created them.

Steen: I hope people are able to see the themes that run through my work and are able to see how my work is reflective of who I am. I am most excited for everyone to see all of the work this cohort has created. This whole experience has felt very collaborative, and I am so grateful to have been a part of such a great group of artists!

Thibodeau: I feel as though everyone makes such different art, I’m excited for people to see how everyone’s hard work comes together.

There are multiple collaborations that fellow residents have been working on so it’ll be exciting to see them finished and presented in the gallery.

Schley: I’m looking forward to seeing all the friends and family and art supporters coming together to connect through our exhibit and the conversations that will grow from it. I hope that our collaborative CSA (Community Supported Art) boxes entice some lucky art lovers to walk away with a great deal on a wonderful collection of original art created by our cohort!