2025 in review

Written By rosy petri

2025 in review

a list poem about a political dumpster fire of a year.

january

  • Gallery sitting at Spectrum.

  • Scholastic Juror at Milwaukee Art Museum. It’s always good to see what the young folks are creating.

  • Tried a new hotpot restaurant, it’s already closed.

  • Saw DeMar Walker’s film debut of “The Refrain” at his Arts@Large residency.

  • Our house contracted a nasty stomach bug, cancelling a residency in the U.P. I’d been looking forward to for nearly six months. There was an emergency room visit involved, a sign of what the year was to bring.  Namely, deep losses of income and a lot of lost time. It was pretty devastating.

  • Participated in a smoking study, which I failed after the inauguration. Life as we know it begins to feel palpably desolate.

february

  • Taught community gift workshops at Spectrum School of the Arts and Community Gallery.

  • A long-ago cracked tooth finally pulled. More dental work is needed, but insurance won’t cover most of it.

  • My long arm quilting machine tablet broke. The company says it’s because the batteries are expanding, but I think it’s poor design.

  • Made pizza, paneer and yogurt. Mark brewed beer in the garage. We kept our hands busy to soothe worried minds.

  • Took the Valentine’s Day tour at Great Lakes Distillery. It was snowy and spectacular, and much needed reprieve from daily struggles.

  • Went to the Black Feminist Symposium at UWM.

  • Bronzeville Center for the Arts Gallery 507 soft opening, “Quilting in Contemporary Art: Stitching Our Stories” with Jamin Mahan and Karla Martin.

  • Honored with a Black Excellence Award alongside Sherri Williams Pannell and Sande Robinson.

march

  • Madhi turned 18. I don’t feel old enough to have an adult child.

  • Saw a turkey vulture and wild turkeys for the first time in city limits.

  • Mark built a beautiful bathroom. The tub has become my personal refuge.

  • Saw Kierston Ghaznavi’s solo show, “3:33 am: recent works” at Jazz Gallery in Riverwest. She is magical.

  • - Saw Nicole Acosta and Rene Amado’s artist talks for Racine Art Museum at the Johnson Foundation’s Wingspread. I’ve enjoyed painting here a couple of times, and was happy to show up for these two.

  • Finished first piece for WIMQFA Digital Humanities Fellow. This project has been challenging and I am woefully behind, but I think it’s worth the struggle. I owe the museum an accountability letter on why this project still isn’t finished. I accept the reality that I’m not able to work at my fullest capacity right now. The world is on fire, and we’re doing the best that we can.

april

  • BCA Gallery 507 artist talk for “Quilting in Contemporary Art: Stitching Our Stories.” Karla and Jamin are more technically proficient quilters than me, and have offered suggestions on wrestling the long arm into submission.

  • Mark’s birthday, love him.

  • Tank and the Bangas at Turner Hall for Wabbit’s birthday after a beautiful dinner on the skyline.

  • Grand opening for Niche Book Bar, a new Black-owned bookstore that serves wine and coffee in my neighborhood. This is my office now.

  • Fantastic magnolia season, my favorite bloom proliferation of the year.

may

  • Fondy Farmers Market begins, I share a slot with carousel collective members Tayla Hart and Adjua Nsoroma. For my part, i spend Saturdays painting en plein aire and basking in the diversity of the market’s patrons.

  • Mark pitched his transportation idea at the UWM Entrpreneur’s program. He put in a lot of work.

  • We got an American pope. Hope this will matter later while our administration systematically strips us all of human rights and the rest of the world leans toward fascism. 

  • First attempt at oil painting with Paul Noth, who is a delight.

  • Painted lots of portraits at the saturday market, beginning to feel more confident as a painter.

  • Mother’s day potluck, Tayla gave me a collection of zines.

  • Made fresh pasta as a grief practice. “Pasta: a love story” was the only blog entry I managed to write this year.

  • Plein aire painting all over the place. Started making and selling prints at Fondy Market.

  • Started a new sketchbook

  • Fantastic annual visit from Ava Hernandez to view the chestnut tree in bloom. Whenever we get together something spectacular happens.

june

  • More painting at Fondy farmers market.

  • Caiti showed me how to use the framing room for the third time at Spectrum. I’m still frustrated that I don’t have the mental plasticity I usually rely on to learn new things. She was patient with me, and I was grateful. She also supported me during my Milwaukente community dye workshops with RAM at Spectrum.

  • Got a wild email from someone posing as a local author. He and his wife have been swatted and doxxed numerous times. I painted a petite portrait of her last year. We cleared things up quickly but the experience left a sting. Threats of racial violence (and actual violence) are becoming normal again.

  • Took the family to Pride parade, tickets to Pridefest were too expensive this year.

  • Judged True Skool art contest at Juneteenth with Fred and Ray.

  • Madhi graduated high school. My siblings and husband cheered with me in the audience. I cried a bit.

  • Summer camping trip to Kohler Andrae, my favorite state park.

july

  • Milwaukente community dye day with RAM at Spectrum.

  • Arianne King Comer visits Lynden Sculpture Garden for her annual residency. She and Evelyn Patricia Terry honored me with a studio visit.

  • Mark completed the deck and patio for the makespace with some of his coworkers. There seems to be a light at the end of this tunnel.

  • Gallery Night MKE at Niche Book Bar.

  • A car fire at the end of the block. The smoldering ruins were left for weeks in front of the only mulberry bush on the block you can get from the street. Houses have begun to burn, reminding me of the desolate swaths of Detroit a decade ago.

  • One of the houses on the block owned by an out-of-state investors put us all in danger again and again. We started calling him in Hawaii nightly. If I’m up, so are you.

  • Peacework EPP workshop at Metcalfe Park. I’ve done collaborations with this neighborhood group and I love the way they look out for each other.

  • More painting at Fondy Farmer’s Market.

august

  • Painting of Leson Naoby Her at Fondy Farmer’s Market. A few weeks after I did the painting, he passed away. I bought flowers from him for years, and realized I didn’t know his name. Thankfully, I was able to show him the painting, and introduce myself. May we honor those who bring light to the darkness.

  • Madhi started college at Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. I am grateful for the generous scholarships that made this dream possible.

  • Bronzeville Artwalk: my newest painting was featured at the Bronzeville Collective.

  • Camping at Highcliff state park, with a short detour to a Byzantine monastery. We were invited by one of Mark’s friend, and had a lovely lunch cooked by one of the monks.

  • Gallery sitting at Spectrum, including live painting at the Starving Artist Fair at Dekoven.

september

  • Painted a typewriter for QWERTYFEST. Inspired by the scholarship of Daana Townsend, I created “Ask the Wretched” honoring James Baldwin.

  • WI Arts Board visits Spectrum, we gave tours and treats, including Racine’s world-famous kringle.

  • Dinner at Pamela Anderson’s beautiful garden, I don’t understand how she makes things so beautiful.

  • Hopi Dye Sunflowers in full bloom, harvested enough seeds to share for next year.

  • Anwar Floyd-Pruitt passing. He was kind and radiant, the creative community feels his absence.

  • Led a Gelli Printing Workshop at the Art Student’s League Denver. Saw my first mountain sunset. It was glorious. 

  • Saw Purse String Productions “Murder: Well Done!” A Bob’s burgers meets clue drag parody where my brother played Tina. So good. I needed the laughter.

  • Annual Anniversary camping trip to Kohler Andre. We were jammed way too close to our neighbors, who wanted to listen to sports and country music at full volume, but we made it.

october

  • Qwertyfest typewriter ball, where I fell back in love with the concept of the viewmaster. Mark gets me one for my birthday and it comes with a projector.

  • Live Painting at Samantha Starr events “Battle of the Chefs” to raise funds for Alice’s Garden.

  • Guiding Ethos (curated by Jenie Gao)  opened at the new Trout Museum. I debuted a new textile piece, “all of us or none of us.” Artist talk with David Najib Kasir and Fatima Laster. The show is up until January 18th, 2026.

  • Show at Marquette’s Haggarty Museum, featuring Raoul Deal’s work, and a piece by Swoon.

  • More painting at Fondy Farmer’s market

  • Debuted new paintings at the Women’s Club of Wisconsin for MKE Gallery night, “Queens Don’t Have to Smile.”

  • Mark got his first certification in Lead Abatement.

  • LaShawndra took me to the MAM for Present Music’s All Souls Eve concert, where we accidentally sat next to Viet Cuong, composer of the work being debuted. It was gorgeous.

  • Made stromboli from scratch. Lengthy cooking processes have served as a form of therapy.

  • Creative Space retreat at Spectrum.

november

  • Mom sent me a little cricut joy machine. It’s nice to have a low stakes creative project.

  • Portrait painting and gallery sitting at Spectrum. Painted at the final Fondy Market of the season.

  • Had another visit to the studio of Mark’s great uncle, Paul Yank. Mark gifted me one of his prints for our anniversary last year, I look at it every day.

  • Watched my girl Shannon Sims give her farewell announcement on live television. Onward and upward.

  • My art “Blue Notes” featured on the cover of Brilliant Corners Journal of Jazz and Literature

  • Rice Harvest Festival at Fondy Farm/Mequon Nature Preserve. Donated fancy pants and learned about the rice cultivation sciences happening here in town.  I wrote something about this, but am still polishing it. Eventually it’ll be posted here.

  • Delivered “Wash Day” commission to Project Wonder at the Wisconsin Medical College.

  • Visited Bela’s open studio for chai and vibes.

  • Evelyn Patrician Terry’s opening at Woodland Pattern.

  • Joined the gym. Managed to hurt myself within the first two weeks on the treadmill. Excellent. 

  • Christmas cactus bloomed prolifically before all the buds fell off unexpectedly. 

  • Re-arranged the studio in the hopes that I would be getting my work back from the new york gallery. No dice, radio silence. Unfortunately, this has happened to me with other galleries before.  

  • Hosted low key Thanksgiving, made a new side that changed my life.

  • Early snowfall, so we put up the Christmas tree.

december

  • Final community workshop at Wustum Museum/RAM for SPARK memory loss engagement program..

  • Private art retreat with good friends. 

  • Insulation and drywall going up at the makespace. Selected tile for the accessible bathroom. It’s going to be gorgeous.

  • Took Madhi to the Golden Girl’s annual Holiday Special by purse string productions. It was really sweet.

  • Closing up shop for the year. Will be revisioning how to continue my work as an artist deeply invested in justice and human dignity.

This year was difficult, but I know I wasn’t struggling alone. Big thanks to the folks who held me as I held on to them. Love y’all.

rosy petri https://www.thisisparadisehome.com
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pasta: a love story