PLEASE NOTE: During 2020, due to COVID 19, On the Wing has shifted its focus from in-person classes to the development of a statewide prison art exhibition with a completion date in 2022. 

 

ON THE WING is Portrait Society Gallery's not-for-profit affiliation which supports art related activities for under-served adult populations. 

 

Initiated in 2017, classes have been conducted weekly at the House of Peace in Milwaukee where participants gather to draw in sketchbooks. A second site at a drop in shelter for sex workers was added in 2019. OTW has also partnered with the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design to participate in a weekly class at The Cathedral Center, MIlwaukee.

 

When the 33-page sketchbooks are completed, On the Wing purchases them for $50. The eventual goal is to establish a public library for sketchbooks by On The Wing participants and professional artists. 

​

The name “On the Wing” comes from the idea that working in a sketchbook provides a departure or flight from daily stresses and distractions. The creative process absorbs our attention, letting us travel freely into zones of experimentation. Sharing this practice at a table with others fosters a special sense of exchange as well as vital connections across Milwaukee's racial/economic divides.

​

A sketchbook, by nature, does not demand perfection. It offers a continuous, opened hearted invitation to create an ideal world or find visual definition for a less-than-ideal world.
 

On the Wing is a non-profit organization partnered with the veteran's theater group Feast of Crispian. In 2020, OTW expanded its mission to create a curatorial platform to support and initiate projects that operate across societal divisions, bridging places and populations that have suffered from marginalization, discrimination, and poverty. 

​

Please consider making a donation!

​

All of the money raised goes toward the curatorial development of projects including the purchasing sketchbooks, pens/pencils and paint sets, arranging collaborative relationships with shelters and other non-profits who serve diverse populations, running a weekly class at House of Peace, administering and promoting the project, and funding the purchase of finished sketchbooks. 

​

-A $10 donation purchases a sketchbook.
-A $20 donation purchases sketchbook and pen set.
-A $50 donation pays one participant for their sketchbook. 
-A $100 donation completes the full cycle of one sketchbook. 
-More than $100 says "YES!" Make this happen. 'Great idea to integrate the established art world with populations who might llack access in a shared endeavor to tap the power of authorship and invention.' Sometimes, the most simple gesture, like signing your name, underscores a sense of self. Think what a whole sketchbook might do!

Thank you so much for your support!