Jordan Acker Anderson: Artist in Residence at Huiras Lake State Natural Area
July 16, 2024 | Topics: featured artist
The Natural Realm presents Jordan Acker Anderson, who is among 12 artists participating in a year-long residency program called ARTservancy, now in its fifth year. ARTservancy is a collaboration between Gallery 224 in Port Washington and the Ozaukee Washington Land Trust, River Revitalization Foundation, Milwaukee Area Land Conservancy, Tall Pines Conservancy, and Lake Michigan Bird Observatory. The mission of ARTservancy is to promote the visionary work of both the artists and conservationists. Each artist has selected a preserve to spend time in and to engage with.
Reflections from the Artist
By Jordan Acker Anderson
For the ARTservancy program, I am exploring each season at the Huiras Lake State Natural Area. I am creating intentionally inspired works in response to the location’s unique qualities and conservation efforts. I selected this location because it is outside of the city and for hiking and fishing. My husband is also an artist, we have three kids, and I planned to visit this site as a family.
My site research so far includes winter and spring visits to the land and lake. I photograph my experience as my family hikes from the entry through the woods to the lake and pier. We rest at the lake and take in the quiet activity specific to the water. We complete the circular path through the dark and light trees to get back to the main field. The first visit was sunny, and snow covered, with a strong color palette of blue, dark red, and safety orange. The spring visit was lush with green growth and trail coverage. Flowers were blooming and bugs were active. In winter the land is noticeably sleek and unified in high contrast light, while in spring the land is activated by wind patterns and harmonious rustling of grass textures.
I am most taken with how this experience is reflected in my children’s descriptions and experiences of “the land.” It is an intimate experience and beautiful to see their appreciation of nature and conservation grow as we visit each season. Our time at Huiras Lake will remain in their memories and hopefully serve to anchor their concern for nature in their adult lives. I would like to take them to additional Ozaukee Washington Land Trust sites after our year at Huiras Lake.
In the studio, I am developing new works that are informed by my site visits. My approach to painting is contemplative and intuitive. I do not preconceive my compositions; I begin with an intention and allow the painting to take a course that is discovered in the process of making it. I work from my memory and not from a direct image source, meaning I want the imagery to emerge rather than be copied from a photograph. Being inspired from a particular experience or observation informs new shapes, color palettes, and texture in my work.
Making artwork is a meditative act for me and grounded in the practice of mindfulness. In school, I painted in a realistic fashion, working with figures and narratives. But over time I found it important to let go of the need to depict external reality and moved towards working with symbolism and intuition. My compositions show a call and response between states of disruption and integration. When I enter the studio, I try to let go of the previous intentions or expectations from the last painting session and look for new potential or direction in the work based on the present moment. This process grounds me in my awareness of our impermanence and deepens my commitment to legacy and community. My works become visual prayers that hold my concern. The process is an act of discovery, and the result is an accumulation of mark, memory, and symbolism.
In May-June 2025, I will exhibit works at Gallery 224 that are specifically influenced by my experience and impressions of the land, capturing the beauty and distinct qualities of the seasons.
Gallery
Bio
I started my formal art training at the University of Wyoming and received my BFA in painting from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 2002. I went on to complete an MA and MFA from the University of Iowa. During these years, I worked as an artist assistant for a monumental sculptor, as a store sales manager for Blick Art Materials, and taught as an adjunct art instructor. I moved to Milwaukee in 2008 after accepting a full-time position with Mount Mary University and I am currently the studio art director. In spring 2024, I earned an MBA degree from Mount Mary with a focus on art business.
My work has been published in numerous Studio Visit magazines and the Mid America Print Journal. I have paintings in the University of Iowa public collections for the Art & Art History Department and the Hospitals & Clinics. My work was selected for the 2016 and 2020 Wisconsin Artists Biennial at the Museum of Wisconsin Art. Group exhibition highlights include Being: A Recognition of Self and Other at Rahr-West Art Museum, Manitowoc, Wisc., 30x30x30 at Var Gallery, Milwaukee, WI, A Tiny Rivulet in the Distant Forest at ArtStart, Rhinelander, WI, and Watercolor Wisconsin 2021 at Racine Art Museum’s Wustum Museum.
This summer my work is on exhibit through Sept. 8th in the TMA Contemporary at theTrout Museum of Art in Appleton, Wisconsin. In August, I will exhibit new work at the Lauritzen Gardens and Botanical Center in Omaha, Nebraska. Like the ARTservancy program, I am making work that is influenced by their gardens and botanical collection.
Website: www.jordanackeranderson.com
Instagram: @jordan_acker_anderson
Webpage with photos from my site visits: https://www.jordanackeranderson.com/artservancy-2024-2025
This residency is sponsored by Ozaukee Washington Land Trust. To learn more about Huiras Lake State Natural Area go to our Find-a-Park page.
Related stories:
Emily Rudolph: Artist in Residence at Huiras Lake State Natural Area
Cynthia Lorenz: Artist in residence at Huiras Lake State Natural Area
This is the latest in our series of featured artists, which is intended to showcase the work of photographers, artists, writers and other creative individuals in our community whose subjects or themes relate in some broad sense to nature, urban nature, people in nature, etc. To see a list of previously featured artists, click here. The work of the 2022-2023 ARTservancy artists in residence is currently being exhibited monthly at Gallery 224. To meet the other ARTservancy artists in residence, click here.
All images courtesy of the artist, except as noted. The featured image at the top of Huiras Lake is by Eddee Daniel. Ozaukee Washington Land Trust is a project partner of A Wealth of Nature.