Board picks artists of the year
Williams Pannell, Fliellers will be honored June 12
The Milwaukee Arts Board has named theater artist Sheri Williams Pannell and In Tandem Theatre co-founders Jane and Chris Flieller its Artists of the Year.
Williams Pannell has written, acted or directed for many of Milwaukee’s theater companies.
Her recent accomplishments include “Welcome to Bronzeville,” a play she wrote for First Stage about Milwaukee’s signature African-American neighborhood in the late 1950s.
The Fliellers were already established theater veterans when they founded In Tandem in 1998.
Later they rehabbed and built their own venue, the Tenth Street Theatre at 628 N. 10th St. Their many In Tandem productions include the local comedy classic “A Cudahy Caroler Christmas.”
Artists of the Year receive a $1,500 cash award.
Funds for the award come from arts board members who donate the stipend paid for their meeting attendance. Sande Robinson, president of the African American Art Alliance, and the duo of John Shannon and Jan Serr have been named this year’s Friends of the Arts for their service to the artistic community.
Robinson leads efforts to acquire African and AfricanAmerican art for the Milwaukee Art Museum.
Artist Serr and businessman Shannon are well known for their creative philanthropy, including their gift in 2016 to the University of WisconsinMilwaukee’s Peck School of the Arts to create and operate an arts studio and performance space at the Kenilworth Square East building.
They will be honored at a reception and ceremony 4:30 p.m. June 12 at the Marcus Center, 929 N. Water St. The public is welcome to attend. RSVP by June 9.
Former alderman and playwright Wayne Frank launched the board’s Artists of the Year program in 1995.
Past winners include Dasha Kelly, Della Wells, Dale Gutzman, John Riepenhoff, Evelyn Patricia Terry, Barbara Leigh, Bill Theisen and Reginald Baylor.