ArtinMKE: Jenny Jo Wennlund champions women, mothers with inspired paintings, healing and art retreat
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Her largest project-in terms of scale- can be found on the side of Café Lulu in Milwaukee's Bay View neighborhood. But her list of accomplishments goes far beyond.
Wennlund paints, co-runs a healing and art retreat, and recently opened an online store. She's shown her work in Paris, London, and Athens, and participated in poetry symposiums in Berlin and Lison in honor of her mentor, the late Diane di Prima.
Drawing inspiration from her travels, the natural world, poetry and literature, a few common themes emerge in her pieces: women, unity, and motherhood. And Wennlund has incorporated those elements into the fiber of her personal projects.
"People are really a strong element," Wennlund says. "Usually women, in my work- but a lot of times I don't know who they're gonna be… I'm like, wow, who did I make? It's like a discovery all of its own, and linking together what was I listening to, inspired by, and reading or happening in the world …those things always come forth, and I feel like it's its own kind of magic."
Nearer the Moon
Named after a book of Anais Nin's unpublished diaries, "Nearer the Moon," arguably one of Wennlund's most well-known pieces in the city, came to fruition as part of a Bay View Kinnickinnic project.
"I often use poem and song names, or a piece of something like that, that was really my inspiration at the time."
Wennlund says she spent her thirties reading all of Nin's work.
"I've really come to recognize so much of my work, when I trace back to what I was really reading or deeply listening to or invested in, has such a big impact on what comes out- and I love that connection."
The sweeping mural depicts five multicultural women with hands held and arms linked.
"There is a famous mural in San Francisco called The Women's Building, in the Mission District," Wennlund says. "And it's much more detailed and involved -- but it's sort of a building of honor. The entire building is painted and it's a women's resource building, and so to me, that was my take for Bay View, in Milwaukee."
She says the mural, one of five commissioned in the neighborhood, took about two weeks to complete.
"That piece just felt so organic and came to me so naturally…just really wanted to express this creativity, you know, that lessening this distinction between us by race or age, or anything else. And to sort of paint a giant image of the kinship, I guess, between women and the powers at hold."
Wennlund says she hopes the mural inspires other mothers, and women in any form.
"I love that inspiration for others who can see themselves in some of the work. And I also love just the pure color and beauty getting to touch people. That makes me really happy."
Women & motherhood
Wennlund's work is also inspired, in part, by the challenges of being both an artist and a mother.
Of these challenges, she says, "It is a rarity to find a woman who 'made it' - however you want to define that - whose work reached people and got out there, who actually had children and raised them herself."
Jenny Jo Wennlund is one of those women. She's a painter, poet, playwright, and director, but she also holds another important title: "mom."
"We really know so many of these male artists, right? And a lot of them did have children, but they didn't raise them," Wennlund says. "So, it's like, how'd they do it, you know? And they…they really didn't."
As a young artist, Wennlund lived in San Francisco, writing plays and poetry, working amongst other creatives, and studying under Beat poet Diane di Prima.
"She was there, actually, when I got pregnant with my first daughter, and was the one who really held my hand to say you can be both a mother and an artist. So, she gave me a lot of courage as an example."
After being priced out of the Bay area with two children, Wennlund says she began to feel isolated. It was then that she relocated to the Midwest and taught herself to paint.
"That bit of loneliness, I suppose, and isolation, is what led me to return to my visual arts and find a way."
"That's really where it began, it was kind of the faith and belief that di Prima had and showed me that it was possible...I will admit I had to fight like hell to hold on to that," Wennlund says. "To keep going."
Mother Lion
Those challenges, in part, inspired Wennlund to help create a healing and art retreat in Bay View. She co-runs and manages the space, Mother Lion, with Jess Seidel, the owner of Burnhearts bar.
It's a rental that's hosted everything from yoga retreats to photo shoots, complete with a hot tub, sauna, and plenty of artwork - much of it created by Wennlund herself.
"That's been very fun and awesome, and integrating some of the healing and work we do, really to have the space a retreating kind of space for mothers in the community - though everyone's welcome, not exclusively mothers," Wennlund says. "But it definitely was born out of Jess and I both being artists and mothers, and you know, looking for a space within our own community to…work on our own art or just retreat and take care of ourselves."
She also recently opened an online store selling eco-conscious prints and original artwork.
You can find more of Wennlund's public pieces at several other spots around town, including Burnhearts, Black Cat Alley, Classic Slice, Milwaukee Community Acupuncture, and Clover plant shop.
"And there's one, we kind of call it the secret mural, but it's at the ModGen store in Third Ward. It's behind that store, in the alley."
She's also got a new mural coming to Bay View, at Radish Milwaukee on Kinnickinnic Avenue.
As for the community impact, Wennlund says, "If it can be inspiring to others who are mothers, or you know, women in any form who feel a little intimidated to tackle such big projects…it's like a beacon of possibility - that's really something that makes me happy."
