Since 2003, the International Owl Center has hosted its children’s art competition in Houston, Minnesota. It started as a way for local kids to celebrate a hatch-day party for an owl at the center, inviting young artists to submit finished coloring pages.  

Twenty-some years later, anywhere from 2,000 to 4,000 entries come in from 30 to 50 countries for its International Festival of Owls, Executive Director Karla Bloem says. It’s unlike any event in the country, she says. 

Photo Credit: International Festival of Owls

“It wound up taking on a life of its own,” says Bloem, crediting the internet as well as a prize for art received from the furthest away. “It’s indescribable to see.” 

• The who: children from birth to age 18, from just down the street or from Indonesia or Australia, send in their art every year.  
• The what: handmade, 2D art of an owl, with no help from adults or artificial intelligence.  
• The why: teaching people about owls, raising money for a new center, and promoting tourism toward the end of winter. 

A local artist panel judges the submissions on technique, composition, and emotion. All the entries are kept and displayed at the International Owl Center, local galleries, museums, and history centers. Some are even featured on streetlamp banners in town, year-round.  

Photo Credit: International Owl Center

Photo Credit: International Owl Center

Photo Credit: International Festival of Owls

Photo Credit: International Owl Center

Photo Credit: International Festival of Owls

Photo Credit: International Owl Center

During the festival, storefronts show off the art; the center sells images on greetings cards and t-shirts; others auction upwards of $1,000 with proceeds going towards groups like UNICEF Ukraine. 

“These kids have put so much effort into it,” Bloem says. “You can see a bunch of it on our social media, but it is so much more beautiful to see in person than a digital version online.” 

Mckinley Knights entered the competition armed with bright colored pencils. The 10-year-old’s bedroom in Trempealeau, Wisconsin, is complete with a hand painted mural with a snowy owl—she’s a lover of birds, sharing how owls have great hearing and eyesight and make no noise when they fly. 

Photo Credit: Ashley Knights

“I’ve drawn a lot of owls, but I like owls, so it was kind of easy,” she says, adding she drew a barred owl for the competition. “My owl was blue, purple, and pink. So like, it took a while because I was like putting them in slots together. It was like mixed up with like all the cold colors and then my background was the warm colors.” 

Throughout the festival, which runs for one weekend in March, Houston second graders perform an aptly themed owl song together. People can build owl nest boxes and create crafts. There are art vendors (the nocturnal birds of prey offer heavy inspiration.) 

There’s even an owl calling contest, which Mckinley proudly participated in, amid plenty of educational programming and live bird demonstrations. 

And nodding to its quiet beginnings, there’s also a birthday cake for that same great horned owl who’s now retired from the center. Happy hatch day, Alice!  

The post Minnesota Owl Birthday Party Takes Off as a Global Art Competition appeared first on Arts Midwest.

Fifteen years after earning a bachelor’s degree in biotechnology and genetic engineering in her native Jordan, Alkhun received her degree in fine arts at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2022. 

Photo Credit: NADIANA Art Gallery

Since first opening her own gallery in a former coach house in Milwaukee’s Lower East Side the following year, Alkun relocated to her spacious, Greenfield, Wisconsin, storefront in 2024—where it has quickly fostered a space where fine art, science, and Islamic identity seamlessly coexist.

For the past month, for example, NADIANA Art Gallery has been immersed in the rhythms of Ramadan: the gallery is currently showcasing its annual exhibition on Islamic-inspired art, a tradition that can just as easily encompass impossibly-nested geometry and golden calligraphy as it can gaggles of children painting a mosque at sunset.

The gallery will host their Eid Al-Fitr Bazaar on March 19.

“There are not many opportunities here to celebrate these holidays. It’s an opportunity to give them the vibes of Islamic celebration,” Alkhun says.

The gallery’s latest venue—next door to both a Yemeni coffeeshop, and a tour agency for Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages—have quickly rendered it a hub for Wisconsin Muslims. “It brings them all together.”

 

A Space for Creativity & Care

Local pastel and watercolor artist Julia Pagenkopf first met Alkhun in 2024. She quickly became enamored with not just the inviting space—where her work would later hang in exhibits like “Petals and Perspectives”—but its equally welcoming proprietor. 

Alkhun’s own artwork, meanwhile, inspires similar reactions.

“It’s really, really gorgeous,” Pagenkopf says of Alkhun’s creations: vivid, almost explosive evocations of boisterous cell walls, or three-dimensional, technicolor sculptures of organic, intertwined ribbons.  “Abstract, beautiful, biomorphic.”

Photo Credit: NADIANA Art Gallery

The gallery’s first-ever member appreciation dinner in January, highlighted this natural fusion of fine art and hard science: Alkhun’s husband, neurologist and photographer Ahmed Obeidat, regaled members with a lecture on the growing field of neuroaesthetics, which investigates the neural basis for artistic creation, contemplation, and appreciation.

“I think science and art are complementary to each other, and can never be separated,” Alkhun says. “The creativity of a human mind doesn’t come from nothing.”

In line with her passion for biology, Alkhun also strives to make space and include artists with chronic illnesses. Just recently, the gallery partnered with non-profit Danceworks MKE, to host art workshops for their Arts for Multiple Sclerosis program.

Photo Credit: NADIANA Art Gallery

Photo Credit: NADIANA Art Gallery

Photo Credit: NADIANA Art Gallery

Photo Credit: NADIANA Art Gallery

Shaped by Generosity

The art gallery’s name itself also hints at the kind of warm, inviting spirit that Alkhun seeks to perpetuate: its original punctuation, NAdiaNA, served as a subtle homage to her late mother, Ana, who Alkhun credits as her first supporter. These embedded initials also double as a reference to Alkhun’s husband, Ahmed, who she praises for his unwavering love and support.

Pagenkopf, for one, is incredibly grateful to have found such a welcoming institution in such exhausting times.

“I really appreciate Nadia’s generosity. She’s generous with her time and her comments about your art. She’s generous with the quality of her receptions and the food she provides, which, I have to say, is always wonderful,” she says.

“I find Nadia somewhat courageous in creating a gallery, a lot of which is devoted to Muslim culture,” says Pagenkopf. “I think in this country, at this time, it takes courage to do that.” But more than courage, she cherishes the community.

The post Fine Art, Faith, and Celebration Inside a Wisconsin Gallery appeared first on Arts Midwest.

Growing up in Morelos, Mexico, Marván saw spectacular paper figures constructed by master artisans called cartoneros, especially at festivities like Día de Muertos. Cartonería was more than an artform; it was a bedrock of culture and collective memory. But it was also at risk.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Gabriela Jiménez Marván

“Cartonería was disappearing because not all of the generations wanted to continue,” says the 2025 Midwest Culture Bearer awardee based in Viroqua, Wisconsin.

In 2016, she began apprenticing with a third-generation cartonera. She learned not just the trade, but the stories and names behind it. She studied at the folk art museum in Morelos (Museo Morelense de Arte Popular), and later with Leonardo Linares, whose family are perhaps the most well-known and influential cartoneros in the world.

To pass on this knowledge, Marván founded a collective of women cartoneras in her hometown in south-central Mexico. They taught workshops for children and seniors, sometimes in partnership with environmental biologists. “Cartonería is about reusing paper, so we wanted to connect that with environmental education,” she says.

Collective Art Making

With recycled paper and homemade glue—cut, layered, pasted, dried, and painted—cartoneros create figures of people, animals, or fantastical creatures called alebrijes (invented by Pedro Linares in the 1930s).

Large-scale cartonería pieces require a skeleton of wood or metal. Most times, it is not a solo activity.

“Community building is the heart of cartonería, the heart of my life,” Marván says. “In Mexico, cartonería has always been a collective practice. Big figures are created by teams of artists and families. They are meant to be on the streets in the hands of the community. Working this way teaches you to collaborate and honor many voices.”

So, after moving to rural Wisconsin, Marván set to work.

There were “very few spaces of cultural diversity” when she first relocated. “Instead of seeing this as an absence, I saw it as an invitation,” she says.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Gabriela Jiménez Marván

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Gabriela Jiménez Marván

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Gabriela Jiménez Marván

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Gabriela Jiménez Marván

Photo Credit: Peter Cozad / Courtesy of Gabriela Jiménez Marván

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Gabriela Jiménez Marván

Marván founded the Mexican Folk Art Collective and launched the region’s first Día de Muertos celebration. Now an annual event, she organizes with local non-profit Driftless Curiosity and area farmers, who provide a venue, Mexican corn, and thousands of marigolds for people of all backgrounds to gather and build ofrendas or altars. Marván creates breathtaking cartonería displays.

“Community building means creating spaces where people feel invited to connect to something larger than ourselves,” she says. “Cartonería is the simple language I use to make that connection.”

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Gabriela Jiménez Marván

With the Mexican Folk Art Collective, Marván collaborates with other artists to host workshops at schools and libraries. She’s created large-scale alebrijes for venues like Sauk County’s Farm/Art DTour and Centro Hispano in Madison.

She has also curated exhibitions at galleries and museums, and presented workshops at the Mexican consulate in Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Art Museum, Latino Arts, and the Mexican Cultural Institute of Washington, D.C.

“Being a culture bearer is a responsibility of the heart,” she says. “To show up with humility, keep learning from traditional masters, and create spaces [to] pass traditions on. To allow them to grow and to adapt and belong to the people who experience them.”

 

The post Meet Gabriela Jiménez Marván, Building Bridges Through Mexican Paper Art appeared first on Arts Midwest.

“I’m sort of steeped in play and all things whimsical,” Brown says.

The Fun Queen

For the last 30-plus years, Brown has worked on games like Q-Bitz and Pretty Pretty Princess (’90s kids will know). She’s written game rules and trivia cards; she’s designed toy parts and engineered gameplay. Her brain never stops coming up with ideas.

“I’ll just invent anything that comes into my head,” Brown says. “I just get an idea. I see something . . . I hear something, and then I try to bounce it around and see if I can make it into something.”

That she has. The inventor-designer-writer-creative director-consultant (we just like to call her The Fun Queen) has partnered with hundreds of companies, including Hasbro, Milton Bradley, Fisher-Price, Parker Brothers, RoseArt, and so many more.

Photo Credit: Courtesy Peggy Brown

Her checklist for successful games: Are they fun?

That’s it. But she knows there’s another part of games, too.

“Like how people interact with each other and how children learn and play together and become good people in society, good citizens. All the things that you learn trying to get along in a game are the same things we all need to get along in life,” Brown says.

Despite technology’s reign, Brown says board games will stay relevant. They are tools for parents to engage with their kids, to create memories, or for friends to come together for a night of connection. We’ll always need that, she says.

“(Board games) make everybody sit at the table and look each other in the face,” Brown says.

Play, People!

Brown creates first for joy and whimsy, she says. But the challenges are real.

There aren’t as many local game and toy stores now. And her games have to be sellable products.

“I mean, you can make really good stuff that is really difficult to market,” Brown says. “You find things that you think are interesting because (artists are) continually curious. And those are the seeds that you then try to nurture into something marketable.”

Photo Credit: Courtesy Peggy Brown

Kids will grow up and often forget about their favorite toys or games, Brown says. But she also sees how quickly games can bring adults back to the present, back to fun.

“You present somebody with a toy who you know has been sitting behind a desk or in a boardroom or whatever for, you know, forever, and to see them respond to this little toy is so wonderful because they forget how much the fun toys are or games are,” Brown says.

“I think people just need to play.”

The post Play, People! Meet the Wisconsin Inventor Behind Your Beloved Childhood Games appeared first on Arts Midwest.

It’s “life-changing,” says 78-year-old Alice Kissling. 

A little over a decade ago, she discovered a local class in Madison, Wisconsin, called Ballroom Basics for Balance. Taking those classes led her to take Learn to Fall Safely, and that led her to Parkour Senior classes a year ago.

“[It] got me over the fear of falling, and that had become a very big thing in my life,” Kissling says, sharing her history with osteoporosis. “I had fallen over nothing and tripped over nothing for a long time, and now I’m not so scared.”

Photo Credit: Lori Phillilps, MSCR

These Madison classes are relatively new. Physical therapist Susan Frikken and Darcie Olson, a now-retired occupational therapist, began teaching them in late 2022.

About a year later, they teamed up with Madison School & Community Recreation (MSCR) to offer the classes, and they have steadily grown in popularity since. MSCR reports that almost 90 unique participants from age 50 to 84 have taken the class over the past couple of years.

Photo Credit: Lori Phillilps, MSCR

Personal trainer Barb Brown co-teaches Parkour Senior as well as Learn to Fall Safely classes. She has been training in aikido, a defensive Japanese martial art, for 40 years and teaching for 30. Aikido includes lots of practice in falling, rolling, and getting back up. 

“I heard the statistic that Wisconsin is #1 in deaths from falls in the country,” she says. “I thought, ‘That’s ridiculous; I think I have something to offer here.’” Brown began observing the parkour classes and then became a volunteer instructor in 2024.

Learning New Things

For Shelby Copeland, the youngest MSCR Parkour Senior instructor at 40, her interest in teaching the class piqued when she saw a video of older adults going down slides, jumping off things, and “just having the best time.” 

 

As a parkour and ninja athlete, Copeland was interested in exploring creative, natural movement with seniors, but she initially had hesitations. “My stereotype was like ‘They’re grumpy; they don’t want to try new things,’” she says.

Copeland discovered that the reality was very different. 

“They’re so willing to be playful… not afraid to make mistakes, not afraid of failure, not afraid of looking silly,” she says, adding how valuable it’s been to work with older adults.

Photo Credit: Lisa Seidman

Olson agrees: “We see them approach the different activities that happen through class with so much creativity and so much peer support.”

Carl Zimm, a 71-year-old retired engineer, appreciates both the social and the creative problem-solving aspects of parkour. “I like the idea that you do what you can, and if you can’t quite do it, you figure out some other way of doing it,” Zimm says.

Kissling remains delighted by the pure sense of fun that the classes offer. “Parkour for seniors is like ‘Romper Room’ for old people,” she says. “You should see us when we’re doing parkour out in the parks. I feel like a kid again. I can have fun again. I can play every day!”

The post Senior Parkour Proves That Age Is Just a Number appeared first on Arts Midwest.

And best part is, you can buy directly from these shops to support local businesses and regional storytellers!

For the reader with snow-loving kids

Mike of Literati Bookstore in Ann Arbor, Michigan, recommends A Snow Day for Amos McGee (2010) by local author and artist duo, Phil and Erin Stead.

“This book is quiet, sweet, filled with beautiful illustrations, and everything you want in a bedtime book in winter. And if your kids love this one, there are two other Amos books awaiting as well.” | Buy the Book

For the reader going through change

Ella from Milkweed Editions in Minneapolis, Minnesota, recommends Where Will We Live if the House Burns Down (2024) by Allison Blevins.

“With tender, experimental prose poems, [this book] examines a life in the throes of unexpected change, from chronic illness and cancer to a spouse’s gender transition. A fairytale-like narrative takes form as the speaker leads us through these crises with grace, resilience, and a wild imagination.” | Buy the Book

For the reader who’d rather be chasing Bigfoot  

Co-owner Amanda of Dog-Eared Books in Ames, Iowa, recommends American Mythology (2025) by Chicago-based author Giano Cromley. 

“[It] is the story of Jute and Vergil — two men, past middle age, who’ve maintained a friendship since childhood thanks in large part to their monthly Bigfoot Society meetings and annual expeditions into rugged western Montana in search of Sasquatch. But this year’s trip is going to change their lives in ways they could never have expected. This novel is a deeply heartfelt novel about friendship, small towns, and wonder in the face of the unknown.” | Buy the Book

For the reader who enjoys a Midwest mystery

Sarah from Loganberry Books in Shaker Heights, Ohio, recommends Ohio (2018) by Stephen Markley.

“It takes place in Ohio, obviously—from the title—in a small town where five or six people come, for different reasons, during a 24-hour period.  It’s dark, and a heartbreaking read.” | Buy the Book

For the reader who wants to build community

Tiffany of Wild Geese Bookshop in Franklin, Indiana, recommends Start with Hello (And Other Simple Ways to Live As Neighbors) (2022) by Shannan Martin.

“In divisive times, Shannan reminds us of the importance in loving people up close and shares moments from her life that have helped her find a way forward.” | Buy the Book

For the reader who seeks out queer Midwestern histories 

Iris of A Room of One’s Own Bookstore in Madison, Wisconsin, recommends As Ever, Miriam (2024) by Faythe Levine. 

“Ephemera from the Wisconsin Historical Society archives of two women, Miriam Frink and Charlotte Partridge, opening The Layton School of Art (MKE). Engaged in a ‘Boston Marriage’, the book collects photos, a timeline of their life together, and the sign-offs of letters sent over 50 years. Set within the better part of the 20th century, this book is a wonderful piece of queer Wisconsin history.” | Buy the Book

For the reader who dives deep into Great Lakes disasters

Katie from Between the Covers Bookstore in Harbor Springs, Michigan, recommends The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald (2025) by John U. Bacon.

“Just in time for the 50th anniversary of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald tragedy, John U. Bacon brings Great Lakes’ maritime history to life. Bacon’s style is adept at capturing both the majesty and peril of stormy waters. His detailed storytelling honors the sailors who braved impossible odds, blending history and human drama seamlessly. Reading this book feels like an adventure and a eulogy all at once.” | Buy the Book

For the reader who’s rooting for rekindled sparks

Haley from Gramercy Books in Bexely, Ohio, recommends Just Another Love Song (2022) by Kerry Winfrey.

“This book is the perfect fun, small town romance where second chance love is in the air. Sandy and Hank were high school sweethearts until Hank went to Boston to follow his dreams of being a musician and Sandy stayed back home in Ohio (where the author is from). If you like the vibes of the show Gilmore Girls, then pick this book up! Wonderful read for all the romantics!”  | Buy the Book

For the reader who devours young adult thrillers  

Jordan from Lion’s Mouth Bookstore in Green Bay, Wisconsin, recommends Six of Sorrow (2024) by Amanda Linsmeier.  

“Six girls, one legend-filled small town in Georgia, and a mystery that will keep readers on the edge of their seat for this entire unputdownable read. This makes [it] a perfectly creepy, sapphic young adult horror read for fans of Pretty Little Liars and Yellowjackets.” | Buy the Book

For the reader who loves a larger-than-life legend  

Owner Molly of Lake City Books in Madison, Wisconsin, recommends Life, and Death, and Giants (2025) by Wisconsin trout fisherman, gardener, and writer Ron Rindo.  

“It’s a gorgeous Wisconsin-centric story that follows the life of an extraordinary Amish boy and the impact he had on his family, his town, and the world. Skillfully crafted, soulful, humbling, and life-affirming.” | Buy the Book

For the reader who loves haunting short stories

Co-owner Sterling from Silver Dawn Books in Grand Forks, North Dakota, recommends Our Greatest Enemy: Five Horror Stories on Fatherhood (2024) by Jordan Thiery. 

“I would highly recommend it for horror fans but also warn people it will give you a gut punch emotionally.” | Buy the Book

For the reader who lives for drama and messy moments  

Jamie of Women & Children First bookstore in Chicago, Illinois, recommends Same As It Ever Was (2024) by Claire Lombardo. 

“Claire Lombardo’s ability to write about motherhood, aging, and long-term marriage despite not experiencing any of those things is astonishing. Her new novel is populated with messy moments between friends, unreliable and flippantly cruel mothers, neighbors who become anchors (who can also inadvertently lead to drowning), and a main character who is hard to get to know by design but ultimately becomes someone you’ll love despite all of her attempts to keep you at a distance.” | Buy the Book

The post Midwest Books for Everyone on Your Gift List appeared first on Arts Midwest.

That was three years ago. The Chicagoan still ‘really likes’ film, but now she’s got a brick-and-mortar community darkroom to share the medium with others. 

Marshall is the founder and owner of The Darkroom Chicago where people can learn about 35mm film photography and development. It started at her dining room table, some friends, and some cameras—and has grown into an all-are-welcome, all-inclusive space for nerding out about film. Community darkrooms are public spaces to learn about and develop film photography. Together. 

Photo Credit: The Darkroom Chicago

The full darkroom—replete with open lab hours, a light table, and a gallery—is inside the Tuley Cultural Center where camera clubs regularly met decades ago. Much of that equipment sat there until Marshall reclaimed it for her community. 

 “I think folks are yearning for connection, and I think folks are yearning for space,” Marshall says. “Sometimes art is very head down, to yourself, cold.” 

On top of that, she noticed how few spaces there were for adults to socialize without heading to a bar.  

“But [with] actual connection that’s facilitated,” she says, “we could build humanity.” 

Photo Credit: PhotoOpp

That humanity is being developed across the Midwest. 

Photo Opp sits in a 103-year-old synagogue in Appleton, Wisconsin. In it: a full community darkroom, a place to take photos, a gallery, and studio rentals. Programming in its film services lab started in 2023 and over 100 neighbors use the space each year, Photo Opp board member Char Brandis says. 

“There’s been a pretty big resurgence in film photography and analog in general,” she says. “So much of the world around us is digital. We’re always in front of a screen and everything is so fast-paced and we’re all dealing with A.I. and all of that.” 

Enter film. It makes you slow down. Be with the process. Stay present and intentional. 

“If you can take a step back and understand those fundamentals, it’s going to make you a better photographer no matter what medium you’re choosing,” Brandis says.  

Photo Credit: PhotoOpp

Photo Credit: PhotoOpp

Photo Credit: PhotoOpp

Photo Credit: The Darkroom Chicago

Photo Credit: The Darkroom Chicago

Photo Credit: The Darkroom Chicago

Photo Credit: The Darkroom Chicago

Brandis says the “magic” and control artists have when self-developing “gives you this personal connection and intentionality behind your art.” 

With photo stores closing, people who use film are finding it harder to develop their rolls locally—and with others. Processing film can be expensive, overwhelming, and siloed. Community darkrooms fight all that. 

“Having a space to keep that art form alive gives people room to learn, to experiment, to fail, and connect with people,” Brandis says. 

For Marshall, her community darkroom is a space for warmth, confidence, and savoring the now. Film requires your undivided attention, she says. You can’t have your cellphone on in the darkroom, or it’ll mess up the film. She calls the process “somatic and sensory.” 

“And I love the vulnerability of that, and I think there’s an intimacy in that as well,” Marshall says. It has this power of storytelling and not just the actual outcome of it, but the process of it is just so humane. Film makes us all human.” 

The post Slow Art, Real Connection: Film Lives On in the Midwest  appeared first on Arts Midwest.

Open the door to a fiber arts studio with a large loom, a bookstore filled to the brim, and every tool you could need to print, bind, and publish books. There’s a writer’s studio, apothecary, and three retreat rooms for rent inside. 

And once a month, its garage is packed with women working on quilts full of stories. Since 2019, this space inside the Creator’s Cottage has been home to the Memory Collectors Storytelling Project.  

Photo Credit: Creator’s Cottage

The Cottage is a free coworking and learning space for older African American women thanks to grants and fundraising. It was crafted by art director Catrina Sparkman who lived in the house with her family for 20 years. 

“We decided . . . we would be a support space for artists and writers, whatever they needed. And that became a clear, emerging need in our community,” Sparkman says. “Thus, we came up with the blueprint for Memory Collectors Storytelling Project: fighting Alzheimer’s with art.” 

Photo Credit: Creator’s Cottage

More Than Quilting

Nearly a quarter of Black Americans over age 70 have the type of dementia that affects memory, behavior, and thinking, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.  

That’s twice as likely as older white adults.  

“That doesn’t have to be,” Sparkman says, citing stress and racism as likely causes. 

“Although the studies look very bleak [for] brain health for African Americans, what it also showed was that when you do art . . . and when you’re doing it in safe community spaces, the brain begins to adapt and function different cognitive pathways,” she says. “We do this work because this work is necessary. We absolutely need it.”

Over 40 women are involved with the storytelling project, which is rooted in Black revolutionary history. They learn from local and national quiltmakers, travel together every year, and work on what are called legacy or memory quilts.  

They’re stitched with story-rich details, and no experience or materials are necessary. A few women have brought in old clothing from late family members, incorporating them into their quilts. Some have collaborative pieces with local artist Alicia Rheal, who paints the women’s portraits onto quilts.  

Photo Credit: Creator’s Cottage

Photo Credit: Creator’s Cottage

Photo Credit: Creator’s Cottage

A Remedial Road 

During the meetups, the ladies enjoy heart-healthy meals and have wellness seminars on topics like blood pressure or breathing techniques. 

Sparkman recalls a member sharing how much the group has helped her not to isolate, which is a risk factor for Alzheimer’s. Black women creating together in an intentional space is healing, she says. Period. 

“It’s art, but it’s health equity,” Sparkman adds. “Art really can transform our society.” 

Bianca Williams-Griffin, project management director at the Cottage, sees the quilting group’s benefits firsthand. 

“We’ve seen people bounce back from some very serious interruptions in their health,” she says. “One lady told me, ‘I usually have some type of depressive episode at least once or twice a year. I haven’t had any since I’ve been in this group.’” 

What makes the Memory Collectors Storytelling Project so powerful is the storytelling part—happening in a safe, culturally-rooted community space. 

“As Black women, I just feel like so often we are silenced or dismissed,” Williams-Griffin says. “What does that do to the psyche? What does that do to your cognition? . . . This was an opportunity for Black women to tell their stories and to be encouraged to talk, encouraged to create.” 

Williams-Griffin says storytelling through quilting ensures history can’t be lost. Black women’s stories are honored and elevated in this space of belonging, support, and wellness.  

Here, stories are not just shared, she says—but sacred. 

The post Quilting Meets Memory Care and Storytelling in Wisconsin appeared first on Arts Midwest.