Aquae Nguvu Gallery in the Third Ward

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Tony Nickalls combines love of art, dance and the soul of Milwaukee into a busy lifestyle. Nickalls is the owner of Aquae Nguvu Gallery and Studio in the Third Ward’s Marshall building. His gallery is rated at the top of the Milwaukee art scene, attracting patrons and artists from across the state. 

From London, England, he studied chemistry and worked in Bristol, England before coming to America. 

When did you become interested in the art world? 

My interest in art developed from a high school class called “the history of 20th century painting” and led to frequent visits to London museums and exhibitions in the early ‘70s as well as making work myself (ceramic and oil painting). 

I had a long career in corporate research and development (40+ years), mostly working on digital printing materials (used in computer printers). During this period my art practice was limited and focused on photography. 

You landed in Pennsylvania when you arrived here.

I lived in northeast Pennsylvania for 20+ years, continuing my corporate career and raising a family (three daughters). Much of my interest in art was fed at that time by visits to Philadelphia and the art museums there; although in the 2000s, with daughters at college in Manhattan, I explored some of the many museums in New York. 

How did the gallery come about? 

I moved to MKE in 2009 and when I came for a corporate interview, my visit to downtown led me to the MAM Calatrava building and the thought that if a city could place that on the lakefront, then there must be some good things going on in Milwaukee. Subsequently I have found the art community here to be very supportive of one another. I live in the Third Ward and have learnt much about water, reflections, ripples, waves and the wind as I have observed the river in the four seasons.

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From 2013 to 2019 (while working my corporate job) I was privileged to have helped at Debra Brehmer’s Portrait Society Gallery in the evenings and at weekends. This included several trips to work the Outsider Art Show in Manhattan installing the booth and working the show. 

Things changed for you and your career during Covid. Explain how the change occurred. 

During Covid my corporate job came to an end, and I spent several months taking time to paint, dance (ecstatic, free form) and think. Subsequently I have focused on dance. I have studied with a European Shamanic practice group, Movement Medicine, that emphasizes movement in the treatment of life’s experiences and traumas. Before Covid I met a teacher in training in Milwaukee from the group. I had the opportunity to experience their process for a weekend in Chicago and was hooked on the effectiveness of their approach using dance. Subsequently I have taken a number of on-line courses of dance and Shamanic practice. Sounds a bit crazy but it is effective, and I recommend the group. Learning about Shamanic practice helped me gain understanding of the use of communal dance in many cultures to address grief, trauma and many of life’s intense experiences, for example the transition of youth to adult. 

Painting?

Some acrylic work but mostly painting wooden staffs for the Elements and using them in my dance practice. 

Your gallery?

A door opened, in that a space in the Marshall building became available January 2022. Since taking this space as a gallery and studio, I have put on about nine shows. These have mostly featured MKE or WI artists, some of whom have only previously shown a few pieces in group shows; but it has been a great pleasure to give the artists space to show a body of their work. 

Artists have included: Val Kupczak, Clare Jorgensen, Ann Baer, Heather Biden, Ruthie Joy, Renee Bebeau, Indie La Londe, Leah Jurgens, Jenny Jo Wendland, Desiree Fonseca, Kristine Hinrichs, May Klisch. 

Jody Alexandra has been a great help in some of these shows and we co-curated “A Women’s Worth”, a group show featuring nine women artists. 

You also teach Yoga. How does this affect you and your art and other things in your life? 

I have learnt so much from Marietta Pucillo who runs YamaYoga in the Third Ward where I now teach. Stepping back, I think the last four years have helped me understand the value of human myth stories handed down through the millennials, first aurally and latterly in writing; whether these are Christian, South Asian, Buddhist or from many other groups (some of whom we refer to as “indigenous”). I struggle with the issue that some organizations make these myths into absolute truth. 

I feel particularly that as a member of “western civilization” that there are a couple of areas to which I need to give more thought:

• The importance of perceiving the unity of body and mind (dance and yoga have helped me appreciate the integration of body and mind).

• The importance of perceiving our place, as humans being, as a part of this world that we do not own and, at the most, of which we are stewards.