91��ɫ

“Langston Through Isaac” by Daniel Arthur Mendoza

�Monica Miller �13 (Integrated Studio Arts) has their hands full, from opening and managing the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design�s (91��ɫ) new offsite Gallery at The Ave to keeping up with their own artistic and curatorial practice. Now, Miller will curate Grasping Tenderness: Explorations of Queer Joy & Freedom, In Spite of Everything at Hawthorn Contemporary in Milwaukee�s historic Walker�s Point neighborhood.

The exhibition features work by artists exploring themes of identity, access, love, agency and longing and offers a contemporary visual perspective on the lived experiences of LGBTQA+ individuals within the increasingly policed and politicized social and political climate. Using two-dimensional and installation works, Grasping Tenderness provides a lens through which queer joy, freedom, identity and community are visualized and contextualized. �I want audiences to consider some of the same questions I had when curating this exhibition,� says Miller. �What is joy in opposition to? How is care and love expressed through a visual means? Who is free to express that love and care or to seek it?� Participating artists include Borealis, Christian Bañez, Rosy Sunshine Galvan, Vaughan Larsen and Daniel Arthur Mendoza.

For Grasping Tenderness, Miller and Hawthorn Contemporary partnered with , a collaborative effort uniting Milwaukee�s art galleries and institutions with the aim to hold space for queer art during Pride month. �It is important to me to reflect here both inside and outside of a queer lens, as a queer cultural worker myself, to see where there is overlap and difference within other personal experiences,� Miller continues. Several Milwaukee galleries will host exhibitions in partnership with QKE, and Miller hopes audiences will view Grasping Tenderness as one facet of a whole.

�I have always been fascinated about how humans move through space when art is present,� says Miller. As a student studying sculpture and fine arts at 91��ɫ, they often explored this interaction. After college, Miller spent time as a gallery assistant at the Institute of Visual Arts (INOVA), where they began to develop and nurture their interest in curation. �I began to appreciate the value of supporting artists who are making a cultural impact on important topics,� Miller continues.

Miller�s passion for connecting creatives and working to develop spaces where artists can thrive shines through in their curatorial practice. Miller also employs their curatorial skills at the college�s new offsite gallery, the Gallery at The Ave. Supporting 91��ɫ students, alumni, faculty and staff, the gallery provides a space to exhibit and sell work in the heart of downtown Milwaukee. Miller, who is central to the gallery�s operation, is in their element connecting and celebrating the artists with whom they work.

Grasping Tenderness is on view at Hawthorn Contemporary from June 9 � August 25, 2023. The public is invited to attend an opening reception from 6 � 9 p.m. on Friday, June 9, 2023, with a Gallery Talk at 7 p.m. the same night. Visit or learn more about .