Bridge Work is a collaborative endeavor initiated by Jason S. Yi and Leah Kolb of Plum Blossom Initiative (Milwaukee) and joined in 2017 by the curators of Arts + Literature Laboratory (Madison). This year we are excited to be joined by Cultivate in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and 2nd Story in Lexington, Kentucky. Bridge Work provides critical opportunities for emerging artists to broaden the scope of their professional connections and experiences. This multi-state project also endeavors to forge a more interconnected arts community throughout the region by facilitating meaningful artistic exchanges and dialogs among artists and art-centered organizations and professionals.
Bridge Work’s annual exhibition series aims to generate the public exposure necessary for artists to successfully network and establish beneficial relationships within the larger contemporary art community. The emerging artists invited to participate in this project express the energy, commitment, and willingness to benefit from the resources and guidance provided by each region’s facilitators. Culminating group exhibitions bring together a diverse group of artists who are dedicated to their practices and poised to fully engage the contemporary art world.
To be eligible for the Bridge Work program, artists may be graduates of an art program or be self-taught, and must reside in the Dane County area and be able to commit to a two-year program.
The 2022-2024 Bridge Work artists are Taj Matumbi and Elizabeth Sheeler.
The 2023-2025 Bridge Work artists are Issis Macias and Jessica Gutiérrez.
2021 artist portraits by Jessica Mardi. 2020 artist portraits by Jennifer Bastian.
