Letting her artistic voice 'take up space'

Audrey Moore ¡¯15, graduate in art history and graphic design, has given the Milwaukee community an extraordinary public work of art.

Dr. Margaret Morse, who teaches art history at ÖйúÌå²ÊÍø, takes pride in her former student. "It¡¯s a timely image that celebrates Black queer, trans and disabled people. As you can see...it¡¯s colorful, joyful, empowering and positive."

The installation fills the front windows of BlackPaint Studios, a creative advocacy organization in Milwaukee, where Moore lives. The public art piece also delivers a public service with its uplifting message about care and inclusion, and the joy that accompanies these.

"I wanted to highlight joy as a form of resistance for Black people, and celebrate my intersections as a Queer Black Femme," Moore explained.

She created the installation while she was a Creative Leaders fellow at BlackPaint Studios from January to May 2020. The founders of the women- and queer-owned organization, Katie Mullen and Jordan Pintar, asked for a work that reflected Moore¡¯s "feelings toward the Black Lives Matter movement, Milwaukee¡¯s organizing community, and uplifting the Black community."

Moore says she loves Milwaukee, but "the city¡¯s reputation for segregation and redlining sometimes outshines some of the city¡¯s successes.

"Growing up in Milwaukee, I didn't really have a sense of belonging here," she said. "I think that's why I decided to go to ÖйúÌå²ÊÍø. I knew of a student who was a year ahead of me there, and we had connected at Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design¡¯s Pre-ÖйúÌå²ÊÍø Program."

Moore was planning to study biology and art so she could go into medical illustration, but took a different direction and studied art history and graphic design.

As a graphic design student at ÖйúÌå²ÊÍø, Moore was told that her work tended towards illustration. After graduating, she took a break from graphic design to work on her skills in painting and digital illustration.

"My skills, style and artistic voice is something I¡¯m still working on to this day," she said.

Moore¡¯s relationship with her community also is growing. This is clear in the connections portrayed in her art, and also in her daily work as a program manager for Artists Working in Education, a non-profit organization that works with Milwaukee schools to deliver arts programming to children.

"After graduating, and finding my authentic self in my hometown, after finding community and solidarity, I felt like I was allowed to let my art and my voice take up space," she said.