Conley Publishing - Special Sections
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/489247
By Colleen Jurkiewicz News Graphic Correspondent GRAFTON — It's an exciting time for the Grafton Arts Mill. Now almost four years since transitioning from a historic building to a 14-studio artists' cooperative complete with a gallery, yoga studio and boutique, some recent additions to the Arts Mill family have allowed the space, in the words of founder Paula DeStefanis, to "expand its energy." The Grafton Arts Mill Coffee Roastery is the latest tenant to come to the building at 1300 14th Ave., opening Oct. 9. The coffee shop is the second location of the Cedarburg Coffee Roastery. Roasting and baking is done on-site in the minimally remodeled first-floor space, which boasts high tin ceilings, art on display, a view of the river and a fresh, light-filled feel. Adjacent to the roastery is the Glass Palette Wine Social and Bar, opened in late 2013 by Bill Barger, who said he felt that he was coming to the arts mill "at the beginning of a great thing." Now that the coffee shop has opened, the first floor "has taken on some new life." "It works out nice because they're there during the day and about the time they close up is the time we're opening," he said. "It con- tinues that trend of having activity there from daytime through the evenings and weekends." The Glass Palette collaborates with the Arts Mill Roastery regularly to host live music events and now shares a patio space, which Barger opened last May. Their collabo- rative presence has made the Arts Mill itself "a much more vital facility," said DeStefanis. "It enables us to reach a day audience and an evening audience. People come for art or yoga, for instance, and they'll end up going downstairs for coffee because they didn't know that was there — or they start off with their morning coffee and then wander up by us. It becomes much more of a destination." Of course, the presence of accessible, working artists on the second floor remains at the core of the Arts Mill's mission. The mill always has anywhere from 12 to 17 artists using the 14 studio spaces upstairs, as well as a third-floor gallery space, which is currently hosting the League of Milwaukee Artists Self-Juried Spring Show through April 3. "I think what will lead us to the future is that we're a place that you can come and see artwork, but we're one of the few places that is a studio visit as well," said DeStefanis. "So often, if you do a studio tour, those are sched- uled — we're a place where you can always visit the second floor and there are always artists working in their studios. As we start to move forward our goal is to continue on that path and add more artists-in-residences." Arts Mill artist and NSAA founder Sheri Bestor has also recently embarked on a new business venture, operating the Willow Words Literary Agency out of her studio space in the mill. The literary agency will represent first-time and published authors, and will also provide writing services to clients in the form of one-on-one coaching, editing and critique. The Arts Mill also seeks to be an active presence on social media — in addition to its Facebook and Twitter pages, the mill also introduced an Instagram account, @theartsmill, a little less than a year ago. Another development that the Arts Mill family expects to have a positive effect on the building is the upcoming lighting of the Grafton dam, a project of the Grafton Public Arts Board. A ceremonial first lighting and donor recep- tion is expected to occur within the next month. "In general I feel like people are becoming more familiar with the building and what we're offering," said Barger. "Every weekend we're seeing new faces come through." Grafton Arts Mill celebrates four successful years The League of Milwaukee Artists hosted a juried show in February. 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