A nonprofit art organization promoting art, artists, and land conservation.
Current Exhibition
Stop in to see the latest ARTservancy Artist in Residence
Jaymee Harvey Willms
Stop in to Gallery 224 in the month of October to see the artwork of 2021-2022 ARTservancy,
Artist In Resident, Jaymee Harvey Willms.
Jaymee is hosting an Artist Talk at Gallery 224
on Friday, October 22, 2021 | 6 to 7:30 PM
Her exhibition features artwork inspired by
Image borrowed with permission from A Wealth of Nature blog by Eddee Daniels about Jaymee Harvey Willms. Click here to visit the blog.
Jaymee's Story
Jaymee Harvey Willms is an artist living and working in the Milwaukee area of Wisconsin. She was born and raised in Maplewood, Minnesota. From there she moved to South Dakota where she received her BFA in painting and art history from the University of South Dakota. In 2015 she went on to graduate from SUNY Albany with her MFA in sculpture. Currently, she serves her community as Executive Director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Washington County and an adjunct instructor at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. She believes in fearless advocacy and the power of storytelling. Her artwork digs into fantasy, feminism, and where materials meet these two concepts. She has had international residencies, shows her work across the United States, and continues to make work in her studio in Milwaukee’s Walker’s Point neighborhood.
Artist StatEment
My family frequently walks Schoofs Preserve, our dog loves the trails, and we love the newly restored grasses and wildflowers. Much of my work ties together allegories from fairytales, biblical narratives, and domesticity. The preserve’s proximity to Holy Hill, the types of plants and trees that grow at Schoofs, and its restoration and preservation appeals to me and fuels the work I have been making. Viewers will find flora and fauna in my sculptures that are often used in Midwestern home decor. The focus in Midwest homes of “bringing the outside in” is both necessary and funny to me. A cookie jar shaped like a goose, a decoy meant to lure a wayward fowl, and a devotion to Frank Lloyd Wright’s design sense become pieces of the same puzzle. In my own focus on Schoofs you will find combinations of a serious artist, abstract expression, and a humorous use of materials. This both pulls apart and honors the attitudes, love, and confusion of “growing up Midwest.”
