91��ɫ

Marta Tereziya �26, a Fine Art + New Studio Practice senior at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (91��ɫ), is one of 50 Wisconsin artists selected for the . The Wisconsin Artists Biennial is co-sponsored and organized by Wisconsin Visual Artists and the Museum of Wisconsin Art.

Tereziya�s selected artwork, As I Watched Her Fall, is a cherry wood sculpture. �As I was working on this project, the wood became a living entity and I started to think how much we overuse wood without a thought,� explains Tereziya. �As I Watched Her Fall is made out of a cherry tree, by displaying her grain – I ask her for nothing else, but to just exist in her beauty.�

Marta Tereziya, “As I Watched Her Fall,” 2025, detail.

As part of the application process, Tereziya submitted the following project statement:
Through the process of woodworking, I�ve realized that wood speaks for many elements of our existence. We breathe and live through the tree�s magical ability to absorb our exhalations. It filters our water, drinks the fallen rain. We build with it, create with it�and even a tree standing alone is a shelter of its own.

The tree’s flowing grain is as ethereal as its ability to nurture every living creature on this earth. As I carefully cut a cherry wood stock, I continuously cherished the beauty of its natural growth. I don�t know how old she was, or if she was cut down with care�but I thank her. I thank her for the shelter, for the air she gave, for the cherries she fed so graciously, and the water she once filtered.

I won’t let her be burnt – I�ll give her the gift of sharing her hidden beauty�now forever frozen in flow.

As a senior, Tereziya was pleasantly surprised to be recognized in this large-scale and competitive exhibition. �This recognition has boosted my confidence as an artist and reaffirmed that my dreams are possible,� she says. Tereziya was also awarded a 2025 Tidal Shift award for her work Global Warning.

�This project was fueling me with passion as I was creating it but in the end I did not think much of it, it hung in my home for the summer, resting – just like I intended it to,� she continues. �I had an urge to let it come into existence and now it has led me here. I learned that you never know where your art will lead you tomorrow, continue creating if you have a fuel inside that is telling you �this must exist.� Artists are creators, we must never forget our superpower.�

View Tereziya�s work in the at the Museum of Wisconsin Art February 7 � April 19, 2026. Keep up with Tereziya on and learn more about 91��ɫ�s Fine Art + New Studio Practice major!