Flock
April 17 - July 1
When I see the birds fly thousands of miles into the unknown together, I am reminded that our animal bodies have this same instinctual wisdom. I paint the bird and human forms to make this wisdom visible – the bodily communication we can feel when we allow ourselves the space to listen. What does it look like when we receive a spark of excitement in our chest or a powerful current of grief washing through our heart? The sensation may appear as a bright spiral in the hand, a deep blue lake in the heart, or a fish swimming through the leg. The wooden forms have their arms (wings) spread wide, receptive to the insight their body carries. However, these insights are not meant to be carried alone.
Just like the flock, our human bodies are designed to exist together. But we are out of practice. Perhaps we can try moving like starlings in a murmuration, or geese in a V formation, exploring new shapes as a collective. This residency and upcoming bird parades are designed to offer the space to practice these shapes of connection in a world where our social and ecological webs have been deeply disrupted. We hope you’ll join us for this practice, so together we can rediscover something more true and alive – in each other and ourselves.
Opening Celebration
April 17 | 5 – 9 pm
The residency will launch during Gallery Night with an interactive installation featuring small bird puppets. Visitors will be invited to animate the puppets, experiment with movement, and participate in the Hattie’s Flock residency. Prompts will encourage reflection on collective motion and freedom, asking questions such as: What shape does your flock take? What does freedom look like in motion? Guests will also be invited to join an ongoing creative practice group.
Masterclass
Making Hope: A Fabric Flag Workshop
May 7 | 6 – 8 pm
Participants will spark their imagination with Hattie’s automatic writing exercises and generate their own mantras and intentions that will become fabric banners for future parades and events.
- Free & open to the public, all ages & skill levels welcome.
- Materials provided
- Space is limited RSVP at https://forms.gle/QP7eXjA1SQHPzckS6
Masterclass
It’s Us With Wings: A Bird Puppet Workshop
June 17 | 6 – 8 pm
Guests will participate in a series of playful drawing exercises to draw themselves as a bird. The bird drawing will become a focal point for a personal flag creation, laying the groundwork for later performances and parades. Guests will also co-create large fabric banners for the July 1st bird parade. The workshop will offer opportunities for image-creation, material experimentation, and collective creation.
- Free & open to the public, all ages & skill levels welcome.
- Materials provided
- Space is limited
- RSVP https://forms.gle/ovp3keUHoct1ykdR8
Closing Celebration
Flock: The Bird Parade
Let’s celebrate how it feels to be a part of a flock.
July 1 | 6 – 9 pm
This completely FREE event. We’ll be blocking off the street to parade in celebration of our flock, featuring bird puppets, flags, and banners, all made by community members with artist Hattie Grimm. Wear BLUE to the parade!
Event Schedule:
6 – 7 PM | Explore the gallery show, bird making, bird face painting, sidewalk chalk, window painting, free Schlitz Audubon passes, treats from Maria’s Cafe, and more!
7-8 PM | Dance performances from Panadanza and Tamarind start at 7:15 sharp! Then we will parade in the street with live music from Samba Da ZVida, a flock of bird puppets, twirlers, flags, and banners.
8-9 PM | Celebrate! Enjoy the music, art, food, and community until the sun goes down.
Let’s celebrate together. It’s us with wings!
Gallery Hours
Tuesday – Saturday 9 am – 2 pm
Through this residency, Arts@Large and Hattie Grimm invite the community to imagine what it might mean to move together differently—to practice freedom, care, and creativity as a flock.
Artist in Residence | 2025-2026 Cohort
This Fall, we welcome Whitney Salgado as our next Arts @ Large Artist in Residence. A Latine digital painter and illustrator, Whitney studied Illustration and Communication Design at MIAD and has called Milwaukee home for over a decade. Influenced by Art Nouveau, pop art, and anime, their work explores themes of mental health, emotions, and identity, using both digital and traditional mediums. Their 3D pieces, such as Nichos, draw on cultural storytelling and traditions surrounding death.
In Spring 2026, Hattie Grimm will begin her residency in the Arts @ Large gallery. An artist and educator with a BA in Art Education from UW–Madison, Hattie’s work is inspired by birds, the natural world, and intuitive wisdom. She has taught art to youth, led workshops across Wisconsin, and exhibited her paintings, sculptures, and puppet parades statewide.
The Arts @ Large Artist in Residence program offers artists a three-month residency with studio space and a budget, staff support, and opportunities to transform our gallery, engage with the community through workshops and field trips, and celebrate with opening and closing events.
Learn more about both artists via their websites by clicking the links below.
Thank you to the many supporters who make our residency program possible, especially the City of Milwaukee Arts Board, Ruth Foundation for the Arts, and the Wisconsin Arts Board.