MILWAUKEE — JK Art House held its grand opening reception in Milwaukee's Historic Third Ward, near the corner of Broadway, bringing together 55 artists from as far as Barcelona and Canada alongside Wisconsin artists and others from across the country.
The gallery is the creation of Julia Taylor and Karen Ellenbecker — the "J" and "K" behind the JK Art House name. The space, formerly home to the Milwaukee Artist Resource Network, doubles the footprint of their previous venture, Lily Pad Gallery.
"We have a number of local Wisconsin artists, but we have 55 artists altogether, all the way from Barcelona and Canada to Wisconsin and throughout the country. Our featured artists here tonight are from California," Taylor said.
Watch: New JK Art House features a family of artists from California
Milwaukee's mayor sent a congratulatory video message to mark the occasion.
The expanded space gives the gallery room to host pop-up events and deeper community programming. Taylor said the gallery is already in conversation with local artists and plans to feature a newly graduated MIAD student and a UWM student in its July show. Glass art from local artists has also been added to the collection.
For Ellenbecker, the mission behind JK Art House is rooted in making art accessible to everyone.
"I grew up being intimidated by going into an art gallery, and when Julie and I were talking about what we wanted this to be, we wanted everyone to feel welcome, and we wanted them to come in, not necessarily to buy art, but to experience art, and to learn about art," Ellenbecker said.
The gallery is designed to feel less like a traditional gallery and more like a museum, with seating throughout so visitors can sit, look at, and experience the artwork. The opening reception featured live cello music and hors d'oeuvres.
JK Art House is located near the corner of Broadway in Milwaukee's Historic Third Ward.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
