Martín Ramírez Classes, Lectures, Programs and Events

October 9, 2007-January 13, 2008

CLASSES

Drawing in the Galleries for Kids: Ramírez and Folk Art

Thursdays, September 27-November 15, 4:30-6:00 p.m.
Ages 6-10 and 11-15
$170/$150 Members
Take an eight-week studio class tied to Martín Ramírez. Call 414-224-3826 to register.

Drawing in the Galleries for Adults: Ramírez and Folk Art

Thursdays, September 27-November 15, 6:15-7:45 p.m.
Ages 16 and up
$170/$150 Members
Take an eight-week studio class tied to Martín Ramírez. Call 414-224-3826 to register.

LECTURES AND GALLERY TALKS

Members-Only Gallery Talk

Friday, October 5, 1:30 p.m.
Lubar Auditorium
Free to Members
Join exhibition curator Brooke Davis Anderson in the Museum’s Lubar Auditorium for insider insight and background on Martín Ramírez.

Gallery Talk with Joe Ketner

Tuesday, October 9, 1.30 p.m.
Baker/Rowland Exhibition Galleries
Free with exhibition admission
Take a walking tour of Martín Ramírez with Joe Ketner, chief curator of the Milwaukee Art Museum.

Tours for Teachers: Martín Ramírez

Thursday, October 11, 4:30-5:30 p.m.
Lubar Auditorium, Baker/Rowland Exhibition Galleries
$2/Free with teacher membership
Attend a lecture on Martín Ramírez in the Museum’s Lubar Auditorium, and stay afterwards for a self-guided tour of the exhibition to learn more. For more information, call 414-224-3827.

Latino Heritage in Milwaukee

Thursday, October 11, 6:15 p.m.
Lubar Auditorium
Free with general admission

Join local experts John Gurda and Arnoldo Sevilla for an engaging discussion on Latino heritage in Milwaukee. From its faint stirrings in the 1800s to the first large-scale migration of the 1920s, the Latino community has grown to be one of the most influential in Milwaukee. This program features two historians: John Gurda, who will provide the context for Latino Milwaukee; and Arnoldo Sevilla, who will share stories and photographs from more than 30 years of research into his community’s history.

Symposium: Inside the World of Martín Ramírez

Saturday, November 3, 10:30-12:30 p.m.
Lubar Auditorium
Brooke Davis Anderson, curator of Martín Ramírez and author of the accompanying catalog, Victor M. Espinoza, biographer of the artist and contributor to the exhibition catalog, and Randy Vick, Chair of Art Therapy at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago will share their insights into the therapeutic, sociological, and art-historical significance of the artist’s life and work. Following a presentation by the speakers, Kristin Espinoza, contributor to the exhibition, will moderate a panel discussion to explore how the questions raised in the study of Martín Ramírez inform our understanding of self-taught artists in the twenty-first century.

Martín Ramírez in Context

Thursday, November 8
Lecture 6:15 p.m., Reception 7:15-9:00 p.m.
Lubar Auditorium
Free with general admission
Attend this lecture by Russell Bowman, former director of the Milwaukee Art Museum, on the Museum’s folk art acquisitions and their ties to Ramírez. Bowman will discuss the history of the Museum’s distinguished collection of folk and self-taught art, the various collections within it, and how these provide a context for a single commanding figure such as Martín Ramírez. The lecture is followed by a reception featuring tours of the folk art galleries by Friends of Art as well as a lively musical performance by the renowned IberoAmerica Ensemble. Contact the Museum for more information at 414-224-3200 or visit www.mam.org.

EVENTS

Member Preview Celebration

Thursday, October 4, 5:00-8:00 p.m.
Lecture, 6:15 p.m.
Come and celebrate the opening of Martín Ramírez, and listen to the sounds of Trio Alma Latina, a group of three talented guitarists led by J. Alberto Cardenas who perform on guitarron, vihuela, and requinto in the tradition of the Latin American music known as Trio-Romantic. Also, join fellow Members for an informative talk on the exhibition with Brook Davis Anderson, Exhibition Curator and Director of the American Folk Art Museum’s Contemporary Center, in Lubar Auditorium. The United Community Center Youth Mariachis will perform in the auditorium before the talk, from 5:30-6:00 p.m. Light appetizers, family activities and a kid-friendly menu, and a cash bar round out the evening. Members get in free; general admission is $20.

Walking Tour of Walker’s Point

Saturday, October 20, 10:00 a.m.
Holy Trinity-Guadalupe Church
$20/person, limited to 30 participants
Walker’s Point is the center of Latino culture in Milwaukee. The neighborhood is filled with churches, restaurants, and shops that may have visitors thinking they’ve been transported south of the border. But Walker’s Point is also the sole survivor of three rival settlements that made up frontier Milwaukee, and its streets are a living museum of 19th-century architecture. Join us for this on-the-ground tour of a neighborhood with multiple personalities-all of them fascinating.

Join local writer and historian John Gurda for a walking tour of Walker’s Point. Held in conjunction with the Martín Ramírez exhibition, this two-hour glimpse at “Milwaukee’s oldest neighborhood,” with its vibrant Latino community, begins and concludes on the steps of Holy Trinity-Guadalupe Church, 613 S. 4th Street. Available spaces will be filled based on paid reservations, first-come, first-served. To register, contact Fran Serlin at 414-224-3840.

Target Family Sundays: Day of the Dead

Sunday, October 21, 12:00-4:00 p.m.
Free with general admission
Visit the Milwaukee Art Museum for a full day of fun activities to commemorate this year’s Day of the Dead! Try out traditions like face painting and skeleton making, or create some colorful tissue flowers for a community ofrenda, a special monument to relatives and ancestors. Developed with Milwaukee’s United Community Center, the afternoon also features the festive music of the Bruce Guadalupe Jazz Band. Co-sponsored by Assurant Health. For more information, call 414-224-3200 or visit www.mam.org.

MAM Film: Drawing on Film

Thursday, November 1, 6:15 p.m.
Lubar Auditorium
$7/$5 Members
The Martín Ramírez exhibition inspired this program featuring works of animation by filmmakers such as Pierre Hébert, Caroline Leaf, and Norman McLaren. Curated by Jonathan Jackson, MIFF program director. For more information, contact Fran Serlin at 414-224-3840.

The Ramírez Box

Friday, November 30, 8:00 p.m.
$7/$5 Members
The Milwaukee Art Museum once again teams up with Cedar Block (presenters of “Three Degrees of Francis Bacon”) to challenge area artists to make a new work, inspired by the Martín Ramírez exhibition. Twenty-five established and up-and-coming artists will be asked to create a piece using similar creative processes as Ramírez for “The Ramírez Box,” a one-night event, and to experience just how difficult it is to make a great work from so little.

Art After 5

Thursday, December 13, 5:00-9:00 p.m.
Open an extra hour for one night only!
Fill your Thursday evening with Martín Ramírez, along with these exciting events:

Salsa The Night Away

5-7:00 p.m.
Windhover Hall
$20 per couple
Heat up the December night learning the fun, sexy-and sizzling!-moves of salsa. Call Marcie Hoffman early to reserve your spot, at 414-224-3844.

El Gordo Performance

7-9 p.m.
Windhover Hall
Noel Arteaga (a.k.a “Gordo”), Phella Vasquez, and Chris “Salty” Ortiz explore Latino hip-hop, Reggaeton, and street genres to create moving, provocative, powerful music that is guaranteed to make you dance.

Print Room Talks

5:30, 6:00, or 6:30 p.m.
Mezzanine Level
Attend one of three short lectures on famous Latino artists and their works on paper.

Ramírez Closing Celebration

Sunday, January 13, 2:00-3:00 p.m.
Windhover Hall
Free with general admission
Celebrate the closing of Martín Ramírez by attending this performance by the talented Ballet Folklórico Nacional Mexica. Ballet Folklórico brings tradition, art, and history to every performance, lighting up the stage with its dazzling costumes and colorful depictions of Mexico’s diverse culture and folklore. The group offers an array of dances from different regions of Mexico as well as “Floreo de Soga” (Trick Roping). For more information, contact the Museum at 414-224-3200 or visit www.mam.org.

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