2024 We Read Bubbler Artist-in-Residence
2024 We Read Bubbler Artist-in-Residence
The We Read Bubbler Artist-in-Residence (formerly Bubbler Artist in the Neighborhood) runs June to August 2024. This program connects the vision and expertise of local teaching artists to individual library communities - creating connections to literacy, creative self-expression, and hands-on learning for children and families.
Each year, the Bubbler Team matches a community teaching artist to each of our nine neighborhood libraries for a summer long residency, encouraging repeat interactions and art making with patrons to build relationships, explore creative practices, and have fun together.
Find a time to get to know YOUR We Read Bubbler Artist-in-Residence and make something together!
Read more about We Read, the program, and check out the past artists on the IMPACT blog and in the residencies archive.
Explore the library’s full event calendar.
We Read Bubbler Artist-in-Residence
Alicia Ashman Library
Rita Salm (they/them)
Website
Rita Salm is a non-binary and queer illustrator and artist currently based in Madison, Wisconsin. They like to focus on making illustrations that are meant for everyone! Rita often uses a colored pencil texture and hand-rendered typography in their work. Their favorite things to draw are plants, animals, and people.
Goodman South Library
Ellie Braun (she/her)
Website
Ellie is a midwest-based artist currently residing in Madison, Wisconsin. Her work explores the tradition of craft, textile and home decoration. Ellie engages in a variety of mediums including drawing, painting, mosaics, ceramics, and textiles. Much of her work comes from the influence of folk art: Grottos, shrines, and textiles serve as main inspirations. Through extensive exploration and trial-and-error, she has created her own protectors, manifestations, and representation of my environment in her work. The decoration of spaces can be used for ceremonies or everyday life. Ellie is focused on creating work that celebrates the everyday and embraces chaos.
Central Library
Kati Fernandez Lambert (she/her)
Website
Kati is a children’s illustrator and artist and the founder of Coyote Fire Arts (Nature+Art Outdoor Studio). She has a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a background in Nature Connection mentoring, outdoor and arts programming for people across the lifespan, as well as a Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Kati will interrupt a conversation to acknowledge a bird and can recognize beloved plants from a car driving at 55 miles an hour, sometimes 60. If she’s not painting or drinking coffee, she’s tracking animals with her family at the pond behind their home on occupied Ho-Chunk land.
Hawthorne Library
Savannah Starlin (she/her)
Instagram
Savannah was born and raised in Madison, Wisconsin. She is an inspiring self taught painter of 3 years, although she’s kept her hands busy with art projects since she was 4 years old! A main goal of Savannah’s art practice is to bring the community closer together through sharing unique creative ideas and bringing those ideas to life.
Lakeview Library
Elias Mittelstadt (he/him)
Website
Elias is a designer and artist based in Madison, Wisconsin. His practice is inspired by technology, nature, history, and cartography and utilizes 3D printing, digital design, and found objects. In addition to his practice, he assists local artists and specializes in CAD design for products and 3D printing. Elias has created courses, workshops, and programming for people of all ages and enjoys working with an array of materials. This is his second summer working with the Bubbler.
Meadowridge Library
Lashay The Artist! (she/her)
Instagram
Lashay The Artist! a resilient mother of four who embodies the spirit of creativity and entrepreneurship. She is one who truly enjoys working with youth and encouraging positive change. Despite the challenges she faces, Lashay's passion for art and her entrepreneurial drive propel her forward in life. As an artist with many facets of lived experience, she channels her emotions and experiences into her work, creating pieces that resonate with others on a profound level.
Lashay the Artist! shares her way of expressing through poetry, motivational speaking, and hair styling. Her entrepreneurial spirit and drive to inspire others shines through in her ability to turn her passion into a thriving business, managing both the demands of motherhood and the responsibilities of running her own enterprise. Lashay is not just a mother; she is a beacon of strength, an active community liaison, who consistently displays creativity, and determination, while inspiring those around her to pursue their dreams against all odds.
Monroe Street Library
Poornima Moorthy (she/her)
Instagram
Poornima is a South Asian American female professional Madison based, Wisconsin artist. She pursued her love of art by completing a B.A. in Studio Arts from Alverno College and earned a B.F.A. in Communication Design from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design.
In her early works, she used ink pens along with graphite pencils on gessoed upcycled book pages and watercolor paper. Poornima then transitioned to using her iPad and Apple Pencil to create her artwork. She has permanent work at theUW Madison Hospital and Clinics as well as projects with clients like the Isthmus (Madison Farmers’ Market), Madison City's Utility Box Design Program, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin and Dane Arts.
Pinney Library
Renee Gavigan (she/her)
Website
Renee is an artist and elementary art teacher from Waunakee, Wisconsin. Her passion as an educator is to create welcoming environments for artists to take chances and make art they are intrigued by.
In Renee’s practice she work frequently in watercolor and quilting, but loves experimenting in all media. She is looking forward to creating art installations in the Pinney space, as well as lots of other fun make & takes.
Sequoya Library
Meghan Rosing (she/her)
Instagram
Meghan is a local Montessori teacher and loves making art alongside children. Her artwork reimagines a hodgepodge of fairy tales, poetry, children's stories, and Victorian novels. She loves working with ink, brushes, and dip pens to bring these inspirations to life, as well as adding texture by tearing up pages from old books and layering them over her drawings. The layers of overlapping collage evoke the many layers of narratives that inspire her work, especially folk tales that have been told through the centuries, with each teller adding their own layer to the story
These artist residencies are funded by the Friends of Madison Public Library, Friends of Monroe Street Library, Friends of Sequoya Library, and Madison Public Library Foundation.