DESIGN
Some couples collect coins. Sue and Tim Frautschi prefer contemporary art.
Step inside a local couple’s art-filled home.
IT ALL STARTED on their honeymoon, back in 1981. Sue and Tim Frautschi were in Greece, and they spotted an olive oil pot sitting in someone’s backyard. They purchased it, and had the 4-foot-tall behemoth shipped back to the States.
There were more (five, to be exact) olive oil pots and other acquisitions to come. But after Sue started studying to be a docent at the Milwaukee Art Museum, the couple’s collecting impulse homed in on paintings, sculptures and other works of art.
For the most part, their tastes align. “We like contemporary art, thought-provoking art,” says Tim, a retired lawyer. “As for differences, I’m more of a risk-taker and Sue is more conservative. Sue worries whether a piece might be offensive and I don’t.”
Their two-story loft in the Third Ward offers the perfect showcase for their collection. “We never had a decorator,” says Sue. “It’s a very personal space and reflects our lives together.” If there’s a problem in this art-filled paradise, it’s that, with so many windows, there’s not an enormous amount of wall space on which to hang things. That, according to Sue, leads to “some very lively conversations about where things will go.”
More than just a hobby, the couple’s shared passion for art has become integral to their marriage. “It gives us a common and enjoyable interest,” says Tim. “It’s a subject of conversation and debate on an intense and intimate level. What could be better for a relationship?”