The Muse Gallery Guesthouse in Milwaukee, WI is filled with a rotating exhibition of a wide variety of art, guaranteed to enhance your visit, feed your spirit and inspire your own creativity. All exhibited art is available for purchase. We are committed to helping support Wisconsin’s vibrant artists. We proudly participate in Bay View Gallery Night.
Art at The Muse Gallery Guesthouse
Current Exhibition
Now on view throughout The Muse Gallery Guesthouse, our current exhibition which will run until spring 2024 features:
Joel Richter, Stacy Ollmann, Thom Ertl, Sharon Mergener, John Kowalczyk, September Rain, Jamie Allard, Christina Zawadiwsky, Natalie Shumylo, Elias Zananiri, Cheryl Ray and our amazing curator – Amy Schmutte
Upcoming Events
Holiday party and Art reception
December 3, 2023 4:00- 8:00 p.m.
Roxane Mayeur
Artist Statement
- My work explores the connection between the environment and the human experience. I often incorporate symbolic imagery and abstract patterns found in both natural and urban settings. I am attracted to objects and spaces that are in transition. Drawing from the ancient technique of painting with molten beeswax, resin, and pigment, my art making process mirrors the marks of time. The topography shifts as I incise, scrape away, then add more layers. The encaustic process may conceal, reveal, or document the history of a space, resulting in a narrative that elevates the common and overlooked into a sacred image.
Amy Schmutte
Art and Love Reflect One Another. Two people in Love… Reflect One-Another. This Passion felt in Love and in Artistic Creation are similar.
In my Abstract Photography of Glass, I’ve always strived for a Transcendence from daily Life, the Awe of Transparency, a Celebration of Light, and an Indulgence in Layers of Complexity. These same ideals cross over into Life and Love. Our passions, as people, are Translated through our own Individual Lenses. Yet, we all desire these same Ideals.
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This series is a Celebration of the Commonalities between the creative qualities of Love and Art. I invite the viewer to Experience their own Creative Transcendence, through their Individual Perception-of-Love Lenses. See it Through, with me as your Guide.
-Amy Schmutte
Anita Burgermeister: Milwaukee Independent Artist
My life and art are both eclectic. I’ve been making art and music all my life and ‘officially’ creating fine art, faux finishes & murals as “Art by Anita” since 1998. In addition to art exhibits I sell reproduction art on Pixels.com. My art car is named ‘Good Vibes’ and I married a bass-playing magician.
I love doing many types of art – painting, photography, digital ‘Fusion Foto’ art, mixed media, glass painting, crafts and jewelry. My favorite themes are beauty in urban decay, architecture, music, nature, and abstracts. When not making art I play and teach piano, design websites (mostly for creatives), and since 2010 have written a monthly blog called “A.R.T. (Assorted Random Topics) by Anita”.
Energy, rhythm, harmony and balance are my goals for art and life.
ArtByAnita.com
PianoByAnita.com
WebsitesByAnita.com
Pixels.com/profiles/ anita-burgermeister
414-385-0922 landline
414-254-4584 mobile
ArtByAnitaB@gmail.com
Jessica Laub
Bio
Jessica Laub is a Milwaukee-based visual artist, massage therapist, gardener, and lover of life. She is currently focused on creating ceramics, mosaics and paintings. Her artistic style, characterized by a bold use of color and a strong sense of line, celebrates the beauty and wonder she encounters in the world around her. Jessica uses clay to make dishware, sculptural forms, and handmade tile that she pairs with stained glass, broken dishes and mirrors in her mosaic work. In addition to smaller-scale interior mosaics, Jessica creates larger works intended for yards and gardens. Jessica often works with community groups in realizing mosaic murals and sculptures for schools, parks and community centers. She was an emerging artist in residence at RedlLine Milwaukee from 2010 through 2013 and has maintained her studio at the Toy Factory in MIlwaukee’s Riverwest neighborhood ever since. Jessica is currently an artist in residence with the Milwaukee Water Commons.
Artist Statement
My artwork is influenced by time spent living in Central America, my appreciation of nature, and the pleasure I derive from listening to music, dancing, connecting with community, and convening with the Divine. Common themes include the sky with its sun, moon and stars, as well as plants, animals, people, relationships, communication and meditation. I am compelled to make art as a form of self expression and self care. I love how clay feels in my hands, grounds me, and connects me with the earth. I also enjoy the immediacy of watercolor and acrylic painting however, when I want quicker results or am working outside my studio.
For me, art making is an intuitive and emotional process through which I aspire to bring healing and positivity into the world. It is a kinesthetic, playful, free flow. Creating a mosaic is like doing a puzzle I make up as I go along. I enjoy bringing together diverse materials into a unified composition and reusing things that might otherwise end up in landfills. I feel strongly about the injustices I witness – the destruction of the our natural environment, violence, inadequate access to healthcare, childcare and education, poverty, greed and the abuse of power – and as a sensitive person, I am careful to have boundaries about how much media I consume because otherwise, I can get into a pretty deep funk. I focus instead on what brings me solace and keeps me sane. My art is an act of resistance. I believe we create our own reality and so I choose to create art that embodies love, joy, peace and appreciation.
Website: www.JLaubArt.com
Instagram: jesslaubart
Instagram: jesslaubart
Artist Natalie Shumylo
Natalie Shumylo
My name is Natalie Shumylo. I’m a self taught artist from upstate New York, and an MS patient. I have always loved using my acrylics and pastels to capture the commonly unseen and imperfect things in this world celebrating that this world is perfectly imperfect.
Artist Statement — Joe Zoltak
My work explores the shifting boundary between perception and emotion—how the external
world filters through the inner self and returns as something transformed. Whether I am painting
wildlife, landscapes, or the spaces where abstraction and realism overlap, my goal is to let the
viewer feel the movement of thought and the pulse of living things.
In my animal portraits, I fragment into swirling, prismatic shapes. This technique mirrors the way
attention moves: never static, always refracting through memory, instinct, and intuition.
Birds—symbols of presence, patience, and alertness—become vessels for this dynamic energy.
Their bodies ripple into patterned currents, suggesting not just their physical form but the
atmospheres they inhabit and the unseen forces that shape them.
When I turn to landscapes, I shift toward a calmer, more grounded observation. These scenes
hold a sense of stillness, yet even here light breaks into expressive color, hinting that nothing is
ever truly fixed. I aim to capture the quiet electricity of ordinary places—the way a street or a
tree can glow with unexpected significance when seen at the right moment.
Across all my work, I am searching for a visual language that acknowledges complexity without
losing clarity, that embraces motion without abandoning form. Painting, for me, is a meditation
on presence: an attempt to hold the world gently while acknowledging that it is always in motion.
— Joe Zoltak
Stacy Lee Ollmann
I am a Milwaukee artist working primarily in mixed media sculpture. My latest series, however has been a series of paintings featuring a moon face looking over famous and iconic Milwaukee scenes and places.
My studio time has evolved into a mindfulness practice. The studio is my temple and the creative process my mediation.
Stacy Lee Ollmann
www.stacyleeollmann.com
stacy.ollman@gmail.com
Find me on Facebook!
“I paint as a river, the long succession of work lending its force
to the work at hand,
changing course in color, design and attitude,
but always honoring the search”
Curt Schroeder
Curt has passed away and all proceeds for any work purchased at The Muse will go to his favorite charity. Thank you.
Thom J. Ertl
I was born and raised on a multi-generation vegetable farm and orchard in southeastern Wisconsin owned and operated by the family for over 100 years. Along with the expectation of being a “farm kid” I always made time to be inspired by the environment and the world around me.
Creativity has always been central in my life, and I was fortunate enough to have had a childhood that included time with a thoughtful and creative grandmother who encouraged me to think beyond the expectation. Grandma Patterson and I spent our time together doing arts and crafts. I remember my childhood as a magical time to explore and realize what life had to offer, and I could count on Grandma’s permission to do it. She was always able to guide what I was doing without turning it into her project, her creation or her end result. Grandma’s love, support and influence have been invaluable in the creative process I employ today.
Bio & Artist Statement
Sharon is a mixed-media artist, teacher, and writer who sees life as a series of unfolding portals—each an opportunity for reflection, reinvention, and creative exploration.
With a BFA in Fine Arts, with an emphasis on Painting and Drawing, and a Master of Arts in Teaching, Sharon brings over 25 years of experience as an artist and educator. She has taught in urban and suburban public elementary schools, community programs, and higher education. As an adjunct professor, she specialized in fine arts methods and cross-curricular education. She helped aspiring teachers integrate creativity across various subjects. Her most recent teaching assignment was for a private school’s virtual campus, where she led STEAM-based learning for twice-exceptional students in the neurodiverse world. Whether in person or virtually, her classroom work is rooted in project-based learning and curiosity, consistently questioning the world.
She holds a lifetime teaching license for all subjects in grades 1–6, will continue to privately tutor, and soon offer her own classes and workshops online in 2026.
Artist Statement
My visual art is a culmination of my love for nature, deep dives into various topics-and their connections to one another. And my love for both transparency and juxtaposition.
As a mixed-media artist, I experiment like a scientist with encaustic medium (beeswax + damar resin), oil paint and cold wax, layered acrylics, spray paint, metallic inks, sand, paper, glass beads, gel medium, glow-in-the-dark pigments, holographic effects, metal leaf, and much more!
And my process keeps evolving, alongside and responding to life itself.
For me, the creative process is ever-evolving, like life itself – and far outweighs the results; this is often why I layer and cover older paintings within new ones. In this way, the layers evolve into new versions—much like ourselves as we move through the portals of life.
I create paintings in all sizes, on various surfaces—from 2 x 2-inch canvases to 40 x 17-foot murals. My materials constantly change. Some are traditional, while others are found, handmade, or unconventional—like encaustic molds, natural or alcohol inks, or lovely chunk of rust. There is beauty in the obscure and overlooked.
This approach means I often stumble upon the unexpected—something I deeply enjoy.
Sometimes the subject matter inspires the materials; other times, the materials spark the imagery. Through this interplay, each composition becomes a culmination of intuition, lived experience, and dreamy spaces —occasionally seasoned with a dash of humor or slice of ambiguity.
Despite life’s challenges, I embrace the impermanence and fragility of life and its many changes – and adapt, create, and connect as much as I can
– and hope to help others do the same. You can find more on my website here. Or contact me with further inquiries:
www.sharonmergener.com | sharonmergener@gmail.com | 414-403-8814
John Kowalczyk
Painter.Muralist.Mixed Media Artist
John Kowalczyk describes his art as "shrine-like, shiny, symmetrical, and seductive figurations that become maps of my mind combining myth, math, and magic. His workconsists of mixed media paintings, murals, sculptures, and larger than life installations that incorporate clashing patterns, bold colors, and rich layers of texture, narrative and history. Kowalczyk believes in the power of art to connect, convene, and build communities.
Born in Chicago in 1988, John Kowalczyk currently lives and works in Milwaukee,
WI as a community artist who utilizes art as a vehicle towards a more equitable society.
He received his BFA in painting from Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design in 2010, and
began a three year residency with RedLine Milwaukee soon after, where he curated
gallery exhibitions and developed a passion for community art. Kowalczyk served as the
Program Director with the non-profit organization Artists Working in Education where he
oversaw community art projects and programming working with artists, community
stakeholders, and youth across Milwaukee over the past 7 years. He has recently
partnered with Metcalfe Park Community Bridges, The Medical College of Wisconsin,
The Greater Milwaukee Foundation, Milwaukee Public Schools, The City of Milwaukee’s
Department of Public Works, Milwaukee Downtown BID, and others to facilitate
community art programming and projects. Kowalczyk’s work has been exhibited at the
Siena Art Institute in Italy, The Charles Allis Art Museum, The Museum of Wisconsin
Art, Cedarburg Cultural Center, John Michael Kohler Art Center, and D.Varelli Gallery in
Chicago along with other galleries across the U.S. Kowalczyk is represented by Scout
Gallery in Milwaukee, WI.
John led a community art project in 2021 at The Muse Gallery Guesthouse where 100 neighbors, friends and family painted a mural together on a wall at the property.
www.johnkowalczykart.com kowalczykart@gmail.com