RACINE — Twice a year, 16th Street Studios opens its doors to the public, giving people an insight into the minds of different artists who all work at the Racine Arts and Business Center at 1405 16th St.
Artists had their Spring Open House last Saturday, and The Journal Times visited several studios to learn more about the artists and their work.
Enzo Ray is a doodler, designer and ceramicist.
Enzo Ray
A doodler, designer and ceramicist, Enzo Ray finds inspiration in community, queer identity and mental health.
He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in graphic design and studio art in December 2018 and has been working in the design industry for more than five years.
A current project, Ray is making a doll house for his niece out of triple-layered bricks, each layered individually, made with construction and handmade paper.
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Ray started making ceramics in late 2019, and his favorite pieces to create are small pendants and mugs. He views his functional works more as artwork rather than kitchenware and accessories.
Through his business, Sipzo Studios, he provides graphic design services like brand identity development, web design and graphics for social media.
Jim Tavernese has had a space at 16th Street Studios for 14 years.
Jim Tavernese
A freelance photographer, Jim Tavernese has had a space at 16th Street Studios for 14 years.
Primarily using a Canon 5D Mark III, Tavernese does not have one specific style of photography.
“I don’t have any one thing that I do,” he said. “If I see something nice and it has a good composition, I will take it and make a picture out of it.”
The key to good photography, he said, is good lighting and always having a human element in your photos.
Susan M. Sorenson works with mixed media and is primarily interested in collage.
Susan M. Sorenson
A mixed media artist, Susan M. Sorenson works on paper and canvas and incorporates collage into many of her pieces.
She thinks of abstract collages as being similar to jazz.
“Like jazz, it’s improvisation. It’s composition. It gives me sounds and rhythms,” she said.
Previously a nurse, Sorenson decided to go back to school for an art degree from University of Wisconsin-Parkside, and she’s “been doing art ever since.”
For 16 years, she taught drawing classes through different programs at UW-Parkside and Racine Art Museum’s Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts.
Sorenson had two pieces featured in Watercolor Wisconsin 2023, an exhibition at Wustum that featured 96 works by 80 Wisconsin artists.
At previous Watercolor Wisconsin exhibitions, she has received awards for her work, including a Purchase Award to have her piece become part of the museum’s permanent collection.
In total, Sorenson has three pieces as part of RAM’s permanent collection.
She has been working out of 16th Street Studios for 20 years.
Jen Janzer, a ceramicist, has been at 16th Street Studios since 2020.
Jen Janzer
A ceramisict, Jen Janzer first delved into the world of ceramics in 2018.
“I took every class at Wustum that they offered,” she said. “I started with the first wheel class and then took the second one and then signed up for every single one that they offered.”
She’s now on the other side of the classroom, teaching ceramics classes at the museum.
Janzer is exhibiting her pieces in June at the Artists Gallery, 401 Main St., through her exhibit “Leafing It All Behind” which reminisces about her time spent at the studio.
“The last three years, I took care of my dad while he was sick. When he passed away back in November, it was a really stressful time, and I would come here to my studio and this was always my place of solace,” she said. “It was where I could come to just kind of leave the world behind.”
Jerry Belland has been an artist for the past 60 years. Many of his recent pieces are reflective of what he sees in Racine.
Jerry Belland
An artist and illustrator, Jerry Belland does figurative art with either objects or people.
He’s been an artist for the past 60 years.
“I’ve been doing paintings and drawings, cartoons, prints for 60-some odd years,” he said. “I was a high school art star in the state of Wisconsin and all that stuff.”
He pursues two different avenues with his art, one is illustrating cartoons and the other is comprehensive paintings of his surroundings.
He has two series that comprise hundreds of paintings and drawings.
His series “Memorial Drive Journal” is based on what he sees on Memorial Drive during his 15-minute drive to his studio. With “Fourth Floor Views,” Belland’s pieces are paintings on canvas of his view from his studio on the fourth floor.
“A lot of the work I’ve been doing the last 5-6 years is based on what I see out the window or what I see driving here to the studio, like incidents on the street,” he said.
