#4: Week of 10/16 - 10/23

Jack Hietpas, Cee, Galicia, Spain: This afternoon finally presented me with an opportunity to hang out my laundry to dry, after a week of wet weather. Now that the rainy season has begun here, in this land without tumbler dryers, I’m discovering that you really have to take advantage of the few sunny moments to get your laundry done. Otherwise you’re stuck with hanging it inside on a rack, which takes days to achieve dryness. And when you do get it out on the line, you have to keep an eye on the sky because the weather often turns on a dime — a sudden shower could easily send you back to square one. I really miss stuffing my wet clothes in a hole at any time and coming back to them dry in an hour and a half. I haven’t quite gotten over the weirdness of having my underwear flapping around above the street, but I will say there is something satisfying and aesthetically pleasing about the process.

Lydia Milano, Baltimore, Maryland: Laundry with no dryer is a pain. I remember from Prague. I too have heavy clothes lines at the moment, as I’m re-printing some shirts. Unfortunately this round wasn’t my best job, but hopefully people will still enjoy the shirts for their message. мир во всем мире - WORLD PEACE!!! [see more on Lydia's website!]

Sarah Luther, Silver City, Milwaukee, Wisconsin: This picture is from a ceremony at the start of a walk called Caminata de los Recuerdos - or Walk of Rememberance. It's the first of two community celebrations for Dia de los Muertos that we're a part of at the school and cafe.

Melanie Holterman, Greendale, Wisconsin: Down Town Greendale was having a Pumpkin Carving Festival and my friend Susie and I were the first to attend. Well… we didn’t actually carve any because it cost more than we saw fit, but we were floored by the size of this inflatable Jack-o’-lantern! My creative vision was I’m getting rolled on and will eventually be smooshed by Halloweens greatest mascot. It’s all about theatrics. 

Matt Hietpas, Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin: I was out for a run the other day, and I was surprised to find out that Whitefish Bay had hired Darth Vader to run their leaf sucker.  

Liyan Zhao, Riverwest, Milwaukee, WI: The temperatures in Milwaukee this week have been erratic—almost in the 80s on Tuesday but a freeze warning tonight. Hoping the little portal on this Lake Michigan rock can bring us a few more warm beach days before we're fully in winter.

Kate Miller, San Bernardo, Colombia: Crazy amazing sad weird week. Most of my weeks recently have boomeranged between those emotions, to be fair. I have to look back through my photos to remember what I’ve done and where I’ve been.

Returned to Colombia ate anime ramen finally started drinking coffee because you can only turn down a tinto so many times before giving in, matching spiral tattoos with Holly on my left middle finger just before we said goodbye but I promise I will see her so soon and she’s always with me anyway (past life karmic links) if you have a name that’s also a word should you translate it? Laura Acero Doña Esperanza helado de queso y bocadillo walking in la candelaria tasting Brazil At the last work of God’s 6,000 year, the best truth in the history of mankind is preached but that’s just in the background it’s really a documentary film screening and then I met a woman at a broken ATM who invited me to the most beautiful art event I’ve ever attended then we watched Dani’s incredible short film and I am so grateful for generous beautiful André and Dani and cachito and their families and all of Colombia, really. FIN FIN FIN serif and sans serif fonts for going back to the residency but just for 24 hours to give a big hug and kiss to my favorite girl in the whole world (cookie, pictured).

Writing this from the plane: bye bye to my beautiful home for the last three months, on to Mexico.

Gillian Waldo, Las Vegas, Nevada: This week I’ve been in Las Vegas with a friend working on a film shoot. We’ve been running around the strip and Fremont trying to capture street furniture, neon signs, and casinos. This motel is from the first day of the trip. We met a street magician shortly afterwards.

Elm McKissick, Shoreditch, London, UK: Went for a walk one night in Shoreditch and found this building — how fortuitous that I saw it all lit up like this! In general, the street art in/ around this neighborhood is impressive, but this building is something else. Cool that whoever manages the garage hasn’t yet tried to wipe it clean (or maybe they’re just wildly unsuccessful). 

Britany Gunderson, Milwaukee, WI: Here's a photo from my Halloween weekend: an Uber Eats Taco Bell centerpiece with alien onlooker. What did they order? A single cup of nacho cheese.

Aditi Kapoor, London, UK: I was gonna go with some more art again (it’s indeed my job…) but Jack knows several people visiting/ interested in art so I thought I’d bring something different to the table. I have a tattoo that says “everywhere I look I see love” on my left arm and moments like these on the New York City subway are what what inspired me to get it. It’s amazing to be able to see it again in London. Love is indeed everywhere, and when I mean love—I mean both platonic and romantic. When I mean love—what I really mean is tenderness and intimacy. It’s so beautiful to feast your eyes upon, and everywhere I look I stumble on it…most of the time. I have folder full of these that reaffirms my faith in humanity, especially when it is particularly absent (currently).

Amy Hietpas, Combined Locks, Wisconsin: I stopped by the bar when I was at Grandma's this week because I wanted to see the new tribute for Grandpa that was hung in the entrance. I'm sure you recognize it - it is a reprint of a piece from The Treehouse. The photo of my dad and my grandma together behind the bar (with the Tom & Jerry mugs) is my fave. And I love how Grandpa says in the article that he was in the business of friendship. That's exactly what it was - and he was great at it.  

BUT...then it hit me as I reread the article this time...I am now only a few years younger than Grandpa was when it was written almost 33 years ago. It is inconceivable to me. 

#3: Week of 10/9 to 10/16

        

Jack Hietpas, Porto, Portugal: I took in this photo in the Ribeira, the historic center of Porto, Portugal, where I visited this weekend. Above the houses spans the northern end of the Dom Luis I Bridge, one of the city’s most famous landmarks, and behind it are the remnants of Porto’s medieval walls. It’s super cool to see how the city has been built up on these steep rocky banks along the Douro River. I was struck by how many rundown, vacant, graffiti-covered houses there are right in the middle of this high-traffic, super touristy area, especially because the city is in the middle of a major housing crisis right now. Since Porto became a trendy destination for tourists and expats in the last several years, prices have shot up exponentially and pushed many people out. I saw lots of housing protest signs around the city. I wonder how long these empty shells of buildings will stay the way they are. 

Aditi Kapoor, Regents Park, London, UK: This past week I was at Frieze London. My first time. It is exactly what people tell you, but I can’t complain. Looking back, it was overwhelming, but in the best possible way. I saw a tremendous amount of art, and met a tremendous amount of people. I can’t believe people get to do this for a living. One of the best things I saw was this photograph by Wang Ningde who is a Chinese photographer. I think this piece is fantastic and radical and there are just so many ways to see it. I’ll leave an all additional perspectives to you. 

Andrew Swant, Mineral Point, WI: We go on a trip every autumn to take in the fall color. This year we traveled to Mineral Point, Wisconsin, in the Driftless Region. It's one of the oldest cities in the state and it was full of amazing old houses and stone buildings. We passed this cemetery around dusk and I liked the way the horizon got lost in the foggy air. 

Sarah Luther, Mineral Point, WI: On a beautiful fall trip to Mineral Point this weekend I took surprisingly few pictures, but I did take this picture of the oldest standing brewery building in the state of WI (which is now a pottery studio and artisan shop) mainly to capture the dog standing on guard in the window.

Liyan Zhao, Riverwest, Milwaukee, WI: I was digging through old books this week and found this little book of 2-minute sight exercises a friend designed. An instance of plentitude—a growing collection of love notes from friends covering my fridge. There is a handwritten card from my cousin who passed away three years ago. I've been thinking a lot about her lately. An example of lack—the small sliver of empty space on my dining table not submerged under stacks of books and papers. There are only two weeks until mid-semester reviews and I'm feeling the pressure.

Kate Miller, Maras, Peru: One of the most magical landscapes I’ve ever been to.

One of those moments where art making or writing feels futile and useless when thousands of innocent people are being killed. Peace, justice, and liberation for Palestine. 

I know that I don’t really believe that — I know that art can be genuinely politically and socially transformative but sometimes things like this make that belief waver so remembering to be grateful for family and friends and whatever out there is taking care of me and to refocus on doing things that actually matter because my last name is Miller and I live on Papermill road and I am learning to make paper and it’s sort of silly that I’ve only made all of those connections now and I don’t mean to sound how I know I sound but it is comforting and spooky when life aligns in that way. I hope everyone is well and is taking care of themselves! Sending a lot of love to all the strangers and friends connected through Jack <3. 

Gillian Waldo, Milwaukee, WI: This week, I helped my friend Kara on a shoot in the bowels of the Department of Geosciences at UWM. Tucked in the basement is the fossil and mineral collection of Thomas A. Greene, an amateur geologist that lived in Milwaukee in the late 1800’s. We were able to comb through the drawers of the collection to pick out specimens to document. Under certain wavelengths of UV light, the rocks are illuminated and change color.

Elm McKissick, Shoreditch, London, UK: I’m in London now and yesterday I visited the Museum of the Home in Shoreditch (a really terrific museum!). This picture presents the living rooms of every unit in one apartment building. Super cool to see how different people’s living arrangements are. I love the top left compared to the top right. Definitely one of my favorite museums I’ve seen. 

Melanie Holterman, Walker's Point, Milwaukee, WI: Brit and I visited a gallery displaying work by Kyoung Ae Cho. Cho is an artist that’s new to me but one I’ve thought about since the exhibition. She described her relationship with nature as one with love and respect, reasoning “since we do not own nature, but we belong to nature.” Her creative process is heavily meditative with repetitive gestures. This exhibition makes me wonder how I can incorporate meditation in repetitive actions that often seem boring or inescapable. Doing the dishes? Making my bed? My commute? We’ll see. 

I took this photo because I liked how Brit's hair matched the plants in the work. 

Britany Gunderson, Walker's Point, Milwaukee, WI: This week Mel and I attended gallery night. At Grove Gallery we met this incredible sculptor named Celine Farrell, who works with all different types of metal. She gave us a tour of her studio, her incredible garden with her sculptures, and showed us her thesis book from Cranbrook Academy of Art from 1959. It was inspiring to see someone so consistently make art for over 60 years.

#2: Week of 10/2 - 10/9

Jack Hietpas, Muros, Galicia, Spain: I spent this past Saturday afternoon wandering around the old harbor town of Muros, about an hour’s bus ride south of Cee. I had a great time weaving through its narrow streets and stairways, passing beneath archways and between crumbling, often abandoned buildings. Inside the Iglesia de San Pedro, Muros' Gothic parish church, I was confronted by the scariest crucifix I have ever seen. A plaque informed me that this is the Cristo de la Agonía (Christ of Agony), meant to depict Jesus in his final breath. It was made in the 1790s. I think what makes it particularly disturbing is the use of real human hair.

Aditi Kapoor, Telegraph Hill, London, UK: These are my neighbors, Daniel and Heidi - they are exactly my grandparents age and married in 1969 and have been together since 1966. They’ve travelled the world together and used to live in same house in Telegraph Hill that I live in now, until they bought the property next door. Eerie because my neighbors in my UWS apartment also used to live in my apartment at the time, until they moved next door. Daniel and Heidi met because of the London housing crisis when Heidi moved into Daniel’s basement during their time at med school. They have a cat name Samson that I befriended in my first week here when it was eerily warm for London. I used to sit a lot in our garden and eventually they invited me to cross our garden fence and have tea with them. They always give us fresh vegetables and fruits from their garden, and while they can’t hear very well— they are very keen listeners. I feel as though I have so much to learn from them. My grandpa in India keeps asking me about them; a weird long distance kinship has developed and they feel like my guardian angels. It’s good to look at them and be reminded of life and what it has to offer. Perhaps that’s too idealistic. I will say: they sustain my hope (& flourish it). 

Here they are bee keeping last Saturday afternoon, and I took this photo from my kitchen.

Andrew Swant, Silver City, Milwaukee, WI: The street in front of our house is being redone for the first time in like 80+ years. The manhole cover in the middle of the road was removed, so I looked down into it and took a photo. You can see the sewer water flowing at the bottom. I think the bricks going up the sides are maybe cream city bricks that are covered with like 100 years of grime. All the houses around here are from the 1890s, so I have no idea how old the sewers under the roads are. 

Britany Gunderson, Pikes Peak, CO: This past week I was visiting a relative in Colorado Springs. We drove to the top of Pikes Peak - an elevation of 14,000 feet. Pictured you can see the winding switchbacks of the road leading up the mountain. I learned about the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb where they race vehicles up the mountain. The fastest time is 9 mins. It took us over an hour.

Matt Hietpas, Shorewood, WI: Bread making can be and is so rewarding, and it’s always an adventure. Every loaf has a life of its own, especially sourdough. My sourdough has been good, but not great. Last week, I came upon a YouTube video that completely inspired me and helped me understand the issues I have been having. Seems like my starter was on life support, but I’ve tapped into my medical nature and I’ve brought it to life - and my loaves are happy!!

Elm McKissick, Western MA: Last week I went apple picking at an orchard in western MA. There were bees everywhere. Lots of them had nestled into rotten apples like this one above. Kinda cute (and possibly freaky) how they do that. Anyway, we picked our apples, baked our pie, and called it a day. It’s fun to have a no-stress fall, the first one I can remember. 

Julia Gunnison, Brooklyn, NY: This is a picture I took of the inside cover of Alasdair Gray's Poor Things which I started reading via the Internet Archive this week (very hard to find a hard copy of this book !). I took the picture because I thought this creepy lil head emerging from the book would make a fantastic tattoo.

Karuna Vikram, Cambridge, UK: Loads of firsts this week! I tried out for crew and went out to row in the freezing rain (but thankfully practice was cancelled). Surprisingly, rowing was a very peaceful experience, not super strenuous, and overall quite meditative! It was really fun to feel like part of a team and a bigger unit. Other firsts included punting and drinking with my professors. 

I’ve been settling in at uni now, and have found a rhythm. I’ll say that my favorite part of the week was just hanging out in the kitchen in my dorm, blasting music and cooking with friends. Feeling more at home here slowly!

Liyan Zhao, Upper West Side, Manhattan, NY: In search of a bathroom around Lincoln Center last weekend, I stumbled into the American Folk Art Museum, which had been on my list of places to visit for years. They had a show on materiality which featured this illustration by Melvin Edward Nelson of Colton, Oregon. According to the wall text, he made his own pigments using a hand crank to grind rocks and soil from the foothills of the Cascade Range in the Pacific Northwest. His recipe for burnt umber called for mixing roasted coffee, iodine, water, and ammonia nitrate; bringing the mixture to a boil; and adding "stardust" once cooled.

Amy Hietpas, Shorewood, WI: I was super crabby because I had to scramble to find my winter coat and mittens to get to Charlie's game. The temp had dropped almost 40 degrees last weekend and it was windy, so I wasn't enthused to go sit in the bleachers.  But then we sat down and I looked up to see this amazing sky...it actually turned out to be a beautiful night. A high drama game that ended in a victory after double overtime and PKs.

Lydia Milano, Baltimore, MD: This week, I visited the Maryland Historical Society (now renamed “Maryland Center for History and Culture”) and saw this 20ft long circus diorama. It was made by one man (Joseph F. Schmidt), in his basement, and he custom built pretty much everything except the tiny people. The Sideshow freaks were my favorite. I don’t think he was a professional artist. The display was on the top floor by the bathrooms. 

Marisa Riepenhoff, Milwaukee, WI: Watching Sara Caron’s cats while she and John are in Paris

 

Melanie Holterman, Milwaukee, WI: On Indigenous People’s Day, I went to the Milwaukee Public Museum where I saw paintings by an Indigenous artist named Jesus Alvia. He had one large painting honoring Native people and another honoring Black icons, one of which was Nicki Minaj. I took it as a good omen, I love Nicki and I played her a lot to soothe Patches (the cat I was watching at the time).

Gillian Waldo, Shorewood, WI: My sister came to visit me this week. She's been working on an herb farm in Vermont for the past four months, so we finally reunited. Saturday was her birthday, so we visited Atwood Beach to collect rocks per her request. It was quite blustery at the lake, the kind of wind that wakes you up, auspicious for a new year.
 

#1: Week of 9/25 - 10/2

Jack Hietpas, Cee, Galicia, Spain: Yesterday (Monday, October 2) marked one week since I arrived in Galicia, Spain. I’m living in Cee [that is say], a town of 7,000 people situated at the tip of the Ría de Corcubión, one of the dozen or so estuaries that indent the region’s verdant and rocky Atlantic coast. I absolutely love it here! Despite its population, the town’s maze-like streets are filled with a truly astonishing array of cafés, bars, restaurants, bakeries, supermarkets, and stores selling everything from electronics to clothes to stationery to home goods, giving it all of the convenience and liveliness of a dense, urban center. At the same time, you can walk ten minutes and be immersed in the countryside, in the midst of fields and forests. And the ocean is never more than a stones throw away. For me, it’s a perfect combination of lifestyles.

In this photo, down the hill and across the bay, you can see the old part of Cee, where my apartment is located. (It’s a beautiful fully furnished two-bedroom that costs me 330 euros a month!!) This picture contains so many of the elements that make this place distinctive: the hills, the fog, the beach, the ocean, the greenery, the density of construction, and the conglomeration of crumbling, pre-modern stone structures with new, utilitarian buildings.

Sarah Luther, Walkers Point, Milwaukee, WI: Last Friday, I shared my new street sign project Un Paseo al Agua as part of a larger tour of the Harbor District that included the School of Freshwater Sciences building. This photo was taken in an old industrial part of the building where students access the school's research vessel that explores the Milwaukee rivers and Lake Michigan. It is also a pretty amazing spot to view the Milwaukee skyline.

Melanie Holterman, Governor Dodge State Park, WI: Dragon Portal brought us back to camp, then vanished.

Lydia Milano, Lauraville, Baltimore, MD: My photo is from the tiny graveyard in my neighborhood of Baltimore. It’s called the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery, and it’s right next to a lesbian "pleasure club and bar.” I wanted to take a picture of the mushrooms growing everywhere, I threw up a “peace” sign, I snapped the photo, and realized - my shadow looks like a snail! How funny! So that’s why it’s my photo of the week. 

I like going on walks to the cemetery. There’s some benches in the shade. There is also an incredibly cute chapel in the middle.

Summer weather is having its last laugh this week - it’s 15 degrees above “the average normal temperature.” I hope Cee is as brisk and breezy as it looks! I love a little ocean spray. [JH: Sadly it's not, it's been unseasonably hot and humid here too.]

Liyan Zhao, Plymouth, WI: I’ve been seeing a lot of cranes and herons recently. Mel told me that cranes observe quietly for a long time and strike when the opportunity is right. Maybe some life wisdom these recent sightings are trying to impart. On my way back from the farm the other day, I saw this big group of sandhill cranes performing some kind of play ritual, flapping their wings and taking turns hopping up into the air and descending. Despite or perhaps because of the dreary weather, many animals were out and about that morning. 

(You also missed a surprising flamingo sighting in Port Washington recently…much exciting bird news from this part of Wisconsin!)

Karuna Vikram, Cambridge, UK: This was my first full week at Trinity! Loads of rules, lots of ceremony, but also lots of really warm, smart, and chatty people! 

Julia Gunnison, New York, NY: This is the only picture I've taken in the past week. It was on Friday, Sep. 29, when there was massive amounts of rain and flooding in NYC. I was on my way home from a couple screenings and the trains were experiencing a lot of delays and disruptions. My journey wasn't too bad, it certainly could have been worse, but it did feel like I was sitting in that train car forever, and the only thing keeping me entertained was this sleepy duo sitting across from me. The guy who is literally doubled over just cracked me up so much, and then right next to him, this other dude zonked out, mouth agape. They were channeling the mood of a dreary Friday pretty well. I'm not a very good surreptitious photographer so I couldn't capture them in their full glory, but you get the idea. You can also see my reflection between the subway map and the window. 

Jack Tetting, Baltimore, MD: Hello to Jack and others!

First, Cee sounds like the perfect place for our mutual friend and digital host, Mr. Hietpas himself, so congrats on settling in and exploring! 

This picture is from the final day of Artscape, an outdoor art festival in Baltimore, MD. This is the first time I’ve went because the last Artscape was in 2019 pre-Covid, a few months before I moved here. This snapshot shows some modern day jesters on stilts that were dancing to some local drum n bass. When I took the picture it was only the stilt walkers, me, and my partner Mack (we just celebrated one year together). Smoking a joint in the rain with a loved one and dancing with a giant baby was definitely something everyone needs. The festival had a great turn out given it was during a hurricane warning. Besides this, my favorite part had to be Make Studio. I volunteer with them occasionally and work with adult artists with disabilities that make some pretty sick work. Check out their website if you want some fairly priced masterpieces.

Eva Haubrich, Madison, WI: I was visiting some friends in Madison, and we racked up quite the bill at this Nepalese place called Little Tibet. It had been raining all day, we needed something comforting and warm. I got lamb curry and a tingmo, a fluffy steamed bun laminated with butter. Next to us two women had been discussing their favorite Christian band. One of them got chastised for saying the lead singer was hot even though he was married. Sinfully, they left two momos uneaten, feeling sorry for these steamed dumplings, we saved them before the waiter could clear the plates. I paid for our meal minus the two momos gratis and took a quick pic of the check for my friends to send what they owed later.

Kate Miller, Portones, Colombia: Mid-circle singing, captured by Nee during a body percussion/improvisation workshop led by Phoebe in Portones, a nearby town, with a group of very brave, very fun local people. 

Saying goodbye to dear friends threesomes cat love curled up together guitar songs and stars popping out while we sink into rocks enveloped by their permanence and UFOs or maaaaybe satellites and moonlight that makes shadows and olive oil cake weddings with sticky goopy yellow maracuya dripping out of the fruit like glitter on eyes and more dancing than I’ve done in my whole life combined to techno and disco and reggaeton and 80's pop and classic rock and watching the sunrise from the taxi and uncontrollable tears and so many plans and feeling displaced like swimming in my blocked sinuses with salt water dripping down my t-shirt. How is it already October? Living in a time-warp where everyone who’s been lingers behind until nobody but the rock remembers our secrets.

Britany Gunderson, Governor Dodge State Park, WI: A map of hiking trails at Governor Dodge State Park. This was towards the end of a six hour hike, exhausted. Bugs were squished between the plexiglass and map.

Andrew Swant, Silver City, Milwaukee, WI: The photo I'm sending is from the alley behind our house. Our neighbor, Don Hoyt, passed away two months ago and a new family recently moved into his house. He was a projectionist at the Fox Bay Cinema (and a few other local theaters) from the late 60s until things went digital about 10 years ago. The new owners of the house put 60 reels of 35mm film from his collection in the alley and they were about to take it to the dump. So I listed them on Facebook Marketplace and within hours they were all gone, snatched up by various film weirdos around Milwaukee. 

Amy Hietpas, Fox Point, WI: Finally found the elusive footbridge over the ravine in Fox Point. Absolute fall weather perfection. It is high! You can just see the lake beyond the trees. 

Elm McKissick, Somerville, MA: Here’s sweet Marc, he’s a regular at Diesel Cafe (the place I work). He comes in every day and stays all day, editing a local newspaper. He’s possibly the kindest person I’ve met. He always orders a Vietnamese iced coffee (coffee and sweetened condensed milk) with double the amount of sweetened condensed milk (hence the name sweet Marc). A few weeks ago, I saw him after shift having dinner at a nearby restaurant (weird, seeing him outside of the Diesel context). Anyway, I had to take a picture to send to some of my coworkers, and despite the fact that he definitely saw me and was likely put off (he’s very shy), he still came in the next day and was his warm self — sweet Marc!