Photo via Addendum
Addendum in Bay View
Addendum Gallery in Milwaukee's Bay View neighborhood prepares to open.
The response last year to the opening of No Instructions Gallery (2120 E. Rusk Ave.) was so positive that founder James Stepanek opened a new art space on the same Bay View street. Working in partnership with artist-curator Tanner MacArthur, this weekend Stepanek is opening Addendum (2124 E. Rask Ave.), one door down from No Instructions.
Stepanek and MacArthur’s decision to launch Addendum was fortuitous. “A woman ran kids’ art classes in the space, and she was ready to move on,” Stepanek explains. “She was going to put it on Craig’s List on Monday, but I found out about it on Friday …”
He approached MacArthur, an instructor at UWM and director of Carthage College’s art gallery. MacArthur is no stranger to assembling shows by local artists. “I started a student gallery at UWM. We hung art in nooks and crannies of the building,” he recalls. “Addendum is a great opportunity to craft a brand-new project from scratch.”
What most excites MacArthur is the “opportunity to try things, to bring some new, punk energy to Milwaukee’s gallery scene.” By punk energy, he means “doing funky things you might not see in other galleries. I’m thinking: ‘What are things we could do that you might not expect in an art space.’” Describing himself as “on the cusp between Millennial and Z,” he wants Addendum to “champion a new generation.”
Thinking of a Place
Photo via Addendum
'the fire, the flood' - Ellie Hogan (2024)
'the fire, the flood,' oil on canvas, by Ellie Hogan (2024)
Addendum’s opening show, “Thinking of a Place,” features three Milwaukee painters—Jimmy Cobb, Ellie Hogan and Meg White—“who paint environments and places,” says MacArthur. Hogan and White focus on homes and Cobb on landscapes, sometimes incorporating found pieces of wood. “All three have an emotional relationship with the Wisconsin environment. Their work fits together.”
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Addendum is a compact space with three gallery rooms plus an expansive window bay, dubbed “The Landing.” For the reception’s opening show, the Landing will be covered with zines curated by Milwaukee artists Caesar Nguyen and Reese Rousseau.
MacArthur and Stepanek both hope to develop new audiences for contemporary art and, as MacArthur says, “help put Milwaukee on the map as art destination.” Closer to home, they see No Instructions and Addendum as integral to the Bay View community. “It’s rewarding that people come into the gallery who just happen to be walking by,” Stepanek says.
“Thinking of a Place” opens with a reception on Friday, Jan. 30 from 5-9 p.m. It runs through March 7.
