Milwaukee painter Julia Bradfish has landed the kind of career break artists usually have to claw for: a second consecutive year creating work inside Saint Kate — The Arts Hotel. The extension makes her the hotel’s first-ever back-to-back artist in residence.
The extra year gives Bradfish more time to build larger paintings, lead workshops and keep her studio open to hotel guests and Milwaukee visitors. As TMJ4 News reported, the residency also allowed her to leave a second job and focus on painting full time.
From Construction Rubble To Bigger Canvases
Bradfish’s abstract oil paintings begin with three-dimensional collages made from fragments, textures and color combinations, then evolve through layers of paint, spills and rigid geometric shapes. A Marcus Hotels & Resorts announcement said the expanded Saint Kate studio gave her room to work at a larger scale than before.
That balance between accident and control has been part of Bradfish’s practice since her time at UW-Milwaukee. In her University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee artist statement, she describes starting with a physical collage before letting the painting change through experimentation, layering and intuitive marks.
A Working Studio Open To Milwaukee
Saint Kate’s residency program is built around access rather than a velvet rope, with artists creating onsite while talking with guests, hosting events and contributing a legacy piece to the hotel’s permanent collection. Bradfish has already been giving tours and helping visitors understand paintings that may initially look like beautiful chaos with a color budget.
The hotel’s recurring AIR Time program offers another way into that process. According to Saint Kate’s event listing, the Saturday evening tour includes the hotel’s collection, rotating exhibitions and Bradfish’s studio, where the artist discusses her work.
The Extension Changes The End Of The Story
When Milwaukee Magazine featured Bradfish during Winter Gallery Night, the residency was listed as ending in August. Saint Kate’s decision to extend it turns what looked like a one-year launchpad into a longer stretch of uninterrupted studio time.
For Bradfish, the value is not just extra square footage or more hours at the easel. “I like to be the person that opens up that question,” she told TMJ4, describing the conversations she hopes her paintings can start — a useful mission for an artist whose work keeps asking viewers to find order inside the mess.
