Getting to Know the Locals: Tia Richardson

Tia Richardson is a Milwaukee Mural artist. She works with commmunities around Milwaukee bringing people together to create works of art that adorn their neighborhoods. Tia’s fine art is soft with amazing light.

Q: Please give a short description of yourself and your work.

A: I am a community muralist who works with specific groups of people to help them express themselves through murals. Usually the murals end up in public spaces that are part of that specific community, like a school or community center, and are funded by non-profit youth-based organizations or grants that aim to beautify and create some kind of community engagement.

 Q: What first piqued your interest in art?

A: When I was little, I was exposed to colored pencils and drawing became a part of my life through my dad, who is also an artist. He taught me how to draw from beautiful photographs of African animals and people in those big photographic world atlases that used to be published, and I enjoyed the colors and sense of wonder from looking at those pictures and copying them. I was an avid reader too, with a vivid imagination, so writing stories and illustrating them became a big part of my life when I could read.

 Q: What inspires your art?

A: These days, I’m inspired by the joy in someone’s eyes when they first encounter the feeling of being a part of something as big as a community mural. Art is just one way to help make that happen. Kids and adults all have the same spark when they put themselves into the experience. I watch that spark and want to fan it, watch it grow. This, for me, is why I do what I do, the way that I do it – invite others to join in and be a part of something bigger than ourselves. I believe that spark is what connects us. It’s that feeling that’s important, it’s who we are on the inside waking up.

 Q: Whose work do you follow?

A: As an inspiration, Lily Yeh’s community mural work around the world inspires me to this day. She was the first person I met who was doing something I realized I wanted to do. Her philosophy spoke to me. I watched her TEDx talk at Cornell University months before she was brought to Milwaukee by a friend of mine to do a workshop here in Milwaukee. I learned a lot from that about letting a process be more spontaneous than I knew how to at the time, and that has carried me a long way. Akiane Kramarik is another artist I’ve been following since about high school whose philosophy, paintings and poetry really resonate with me. I also learned about the murals of Thomas Hart Benton in the last year, and study his color and movement. Aesthetically, I enjoy Charles White, an African-American artist from the 1900’s.

 Q: What are you working on now?

A: I just finished co-producing a short documentary about a mural I did in Sherman Park this past summer, called ‘Sherman Park Rising’. That community has seen unrest in the last year and faces a lot of challenges not unlike many others, so the mural project was a way for community members to express their feelings around what’s important to them. It’s my first time working on anything film-related. During the process of putting it together. I realized I had a love for film that I didn’t know I had. It also helped me discover what the experience meant to me and the impact it had on others.

 Q: What work of yours are you most proud of?

A: “Sherman Park Rising”, the mural project I led in partnership with the City of Milwaukee Dept. of Neighborhood Services and Safe and Sound, Inc. It represents years of experimentation of how to get a bunch of people together in a room to work out ideas in a positive, creative manner, and share some feelings in a process that might be therapeutic. I met with residents of that community during two workshops where ideas were discussed and painful issues they face daily were brought up – like police-community relations, housing, literacy, trauma and gun violence; but everyone reached for the positive and wanted to see hope for the future despite all the pain and struggle. The tremendous support from the community when we revealed the design struck my heart. At least 150 people came out to help paint during the public paint days, and the results were overwhelmingly positive for everyone involved.

 Q: Do you have a favorite knick-knack in your studio?

A: Lately, I’m appreciating that I have a piano! I don’t play that often but I want to. A piano is a unique piece of furniture; mine used to belong to my grandmother. It sat dusty and quiet most of the time, but I’ve been feeling the need to give it more serious attention recently.

 Q: Where can your work be found?

A: Around town in Milwaukee Public and charter schools like Bruce Elementary, Shalom, Cross Trainers, Washington High School, Spanish Immersion; Magic Food’s corner store on 16th and Locust; The Butterfly Park at 13th and Forest Home; ‘Sherman Park Rising’ and ‘The Joyful Seasons’ at 47th & Center; Black Cat Alley on Kenilworth between Prospect and Farwell; Alice’s Garden (a partnership with STITCH Collective). Many of my outdoor, public murals can be found on the Milwaukee Mural Map: http://mkemuralmap.com/ or on my website: www.cosmic-butterfly.com.

Q: Anything else you’d like to share?

A: Art is making something beautiful but can also be an act of service. When we take part in something bigger than ourselves, something like joining in collaboration to create a mural, I consider that service.

Service intuitively awakens positive feelings in us that satisfies a need to belong. We are all connected in some way, and it’s important to me to positively help people feel more connected and important through my work.

It was so wonderful to hear from Tia and learn about all of the admirable things she is doing in her community to bring people together. I am very much looking forward to the work she creates in the future. See you in the next interiew!

Stephanie Marie Steinhauer