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Meet the Artists

Jill Engel-Miller

Jill Engel-Miller; some people say she came from Lincoln, Nebraska others say no, she is a Milwaukee native, the truth is she’s a little of both.

My  work is a culmination of the enduring stories that I have experienced throughout my multi-layered career in the visual arts spanning thirty odd years.

In 2000 once again my narrative changed as I began my career as both an artist and educator when I accepted the position of substitute ceramics teacher at Pius XI High School.  Little did I realize that what started out as being the  ceramics substitute for a semester would lead me to where I am now, again, both an artist and educator in the urban landscape at the Alliance School, a school now in it’s twelfth year with the mission of providing a safe, accepting and academically challenging learning environment where students are safe to be who they are regardless of their societal disenfranchised label.  This is my motivation, inspiration for what I do what I do.  This experience is what is real.  This is my real.  I am drawn to the narrative landscape of my surroundings.

Trained as a ceramic artist my work shifted mid career and I began exploring new materials that allowed me to tell stories using traditional hand work techniques and materials.  My work embraces the banal, the unexpected, the disenfranchised and the nitty gritty.  My non traditional approach to working with fibers, embroidery, yarn,  quilt making and paintings over the past decade, paired with my subversive methodology creates a distinct visual experience for my audience.

BFA-University of Nebraska- Lincoln – Ceramics/Printmaking (1992)
MFA-University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee-Ceramics (1996)
K12 Art Certification-Cardinal Stritch University (2009)

1996 Milwaukee Emerging Artist Grant
2010 Metropolitan Milwaukee Black Educator Award

Dominic Inouye

A retired college and high school teacher of 22 years, Dominic Inouye was co-chair of two English Departments, co-founder of the Milwaukee Spotlight Student Film Festival, and co-founder of the service learning program called C.L.A.S.S.

Last year, he left classroom teaching to pursue a freelance career as a writer: he founded the online journal Relevant Milwaukee, developed curriculum for Teens Grow Greens, was the 2016-17 Pfister Hotel Narrator-in-Residence, and currently writes a neighborhood series for Milwaukee Magazine.

Inouye’s latest passion, however, is ZIP MKE, which he founded in October 2016 as a community engagement project that uses photography to connect residents from all 28 ZIP Codes in Milwaukee.  Since last year, ZIP MKE has collected over 1,800 photos–from amateur and professional photographers alike–of the people, places, and events that make each ZIP Code unique, beautiful, and diverse.  They exhibit both online and in public exhibitions, as well as host neighborhood walks and community conversations.

Learn more about ZIP MKE at zipmke.com or on Facebook.