MIAD senior Molly Opitzhas spent extensive time in the school’s 3-D Lab to finish not one, but twosenior thesis projects. Opitz has a double major in industrial design andintegrated arts, specifically sculpture and painting.
One project to bedisplayed at the MIAD Senior Exhibition,opening April 16, incorporates Opitz’s love of teaching and the outdoors. Her“Dino Excavation Tent” encourages 5- to 8-year-olds to play with and learnabout dinosaurs while interacting with nature. Opitz, inspired by her mother’scareer as a second-grade teacher, will give the tent to her mother’s classroomnext fall.
Opitz’s second artwork,which will hang over MIAD’s lower-level reception desk, is a 12-by-12-footmobile comprised of more than 30 hand-bent, joined, planed and veneered stripsof red elm. Titled Seeing Through Water,this immense undertaking references the Lake Michigan shoreline Opitz oftenvisited from her childhood home in Cedar Grove, Wis.
Opitz’s science classesin limnology, or the study of fresh water, inspired her to create the stylizedfish swimming through her hand-bent wooden waves. The concept first occurred toOpitz last spring, though the actual process started in August when shecollected red elm from Kettle Moraine.
While the two artworksappear dissimilar, both relate Opitz’s love of teaching and her wishes tosomeday design outdoor activities and equipment for children. When it comes to hersculpture, Opitz wants viewers to “ponder that the whole ecosystem, includingthe fish stocked in Lake Michigan, has human hands delegating the outcome.”
Briana Ziebell graduatesfrom UWM in May with a double major in art history and inter-arts, along with aminor in theater. Ziebell is a nontraditional student who returned to collegewith the assistance of two scholarships from Executive Women International. Thescholarships also allowed Ziebell to pursue her dream of opening Sitron Studios Art Gallery at 2671 S.Kinnickinnic Ave. in Bay View. On April 9, Sitron opens “Details,” featuringJerry Cahak’s floral photographs. Ziebell’s delicate watercolors with ink willbe on display as well.
Ziebell is also planningtwo new events. The last Monday of every month is “Monday Funday for Families”at Sitron. Beginning at 5 p.m. on March 29, juice boxes and snacks accompany anart project at the gallery. A special charity event takes place on Wednesday,March 31, from 5-10 p.m. In honor of Women’s History Month, Sitron hosts afund-raiser featuring live music, food and a silent auction, with a portion ofall proceeds benefiting the Women’s Fund of Greater Milwaukee.
