Previous Making Justice Residencies.

Madison Public Library''s Bubbler Making Justice "Look Within" mural residency with Audifax

Separate from the Bubbler''s official Artist-In-Residence program taking place in libraries and out in the community, the Making Justice Project Residencies brings a local teaching artist to Dane County Juvenile Detention Center, Dane County Juvenile Court Shelter Home, Dane County Jail, or GROW Academy to offer intensive exploration and development of a skill or project. When possible, we aim to align the residencies with public school vacations to provide more in-depth learning experiences for teen residents while the on-site teachers are out of the office during Winter Break, Spring Break and Summer Break.

RADIO INTERVIEWS

Listen to the local WORT radio station interview teaching artists after their Making Justice residency.

Rob Dz interview   |   Victor Castro interview   |   Rodrigo Carapia interview   |   Carlos Gacharna inteview

  • ROB DZ, SHAH EVANS, MARIA SCHIRMER DEVITT, TYLER BRUNSELL & CARLOS GACHARNA - Grow Academy - Spring 2023
    Piloting the new Rebranding Self project, the super team of mentors used printmaking, hip-hop and fashion design to guide participants through the creation of their own unique brand that reflects their inner brilliance
  • JERRY BUTLER - Youth Justice & Prevention - Summer 2023
    After a building renovation and cafeteria mural project at the Youth Justice & Prevention building was complete, youth and staff worked with Jerry Butler to design and paint the cement parking bollards in front of the main doorways to the YJP building.
  • AUDIFAX - Youth Justice & Prevention - Spring 2023
    After a building renovation at the Youth Justice & Prevention building, eight local teens joined Audifax after school for one day each week over the course of two months as they worked together to design and then paint their creation on a large plain wall in the YJP cafeteria.
  • EMILY POPP, JENNIE BASTIAN & BIRD ROSS  - Dane County Jail - Winter 2023
    After working with the Bubbler to create a mascot mural to brand their classrooms with positivity and color, students in the Metro Jail classroom followed up with a request to learn how to sew and to create their own graduation gown with Metro Panther colors to be used for future graduations in their classroom. Emily, Jennie and Bird worked as a team to walk students through the production of individual first draft projects followed up by a collaborative final gown made of leather that future students will continue to wear during their high school graduation ceremonies.
  • MARIA SCHIRMER DEVITT, CHRISTINA THEOBALD & SAVANNAH STARLIN - Juvenile Detention Center - Winter 2022-2023
    Before anyone started painting during this winter break mural project, artists Maria, Savannah & Christina ran a series of workshops over two weeks with the purpose of building relationships with and among students, and to create a spirit of trust and openness about the creative process as the group began to collaborate toward a final mural design for the wall where students make phone calls to family, friends and advocates.
  • CARLOS GACHARNA,  - Juvenile Shelter Home - Summer 2022
    Teaching artist, Carlos Eduardo Gacharna, came home to Madison to facilitate the Bubbler''s inaugural Shoe Design residency with a week-long series with youth residing at the Dane County Juvenile Court Shelter Home. Carlos and the students, along with Carlos''s teaching assistant who originally suggested shoe design to Carlos as a teen participant in a different Bubbler program one year ago, worked together to experiment with different types of footwear and different levels of design while documenting their processes and sharing all of their findings -- all in an effort to begin building the foundation of an in-depth shoe design program for Madison teens.
  • SHAH EVANS - GROW Academy - Summer 2022
    Boxing & Body Control. While mentoring students during our 2-week media production series at GROW Academy in the Spring, the students learned about ShaH''s boxing education background and gym ownership, The Blast, and requested to gain access to a boxing course at the facility in the future. Within 2 weeks we were able to support ShaH getting back over there to lead a twice weekly Muay Thai kickboxing pilot throughout the Summer and Fall. These non-sparring sessions were paired with their weekly yoga sessions as part of physical education credit focused on body control.​ The pilot was so successful that GROW Academy took on the contract to continue on the same schedule in 2023 and beyond.
  • ROB DZ, TYLER BRUNSELL & SHAH EVANS - GROW Academy - Spring 2022
    Rob (Bubbler) joined forces with Tyler & ShaH (UCAN) to offer a 2-week open-ended media production series to the residents at GROW Academy every 4 months. All three mentors are teaching artists with different skill sets -- that when working together they bring all the right complimentary options forward to engage and build toward any goal that current group of youth aims to produce. The mentors show up ready to create and guide through the steps of an undefined digital media project that only begins to take shape after the first few days of getting to know each other and the project options. While the youth are focused on working towards a final product, the mentors are more concerned with relationship building, basic skill development and connection to the community.
  • SARA JORDAN & GABRIELLE JAVIER-CERULLI - Juvenile Shelter Home - Fall 2021
    Sara Jordan and Gabrielle Javier-Cerulli are professional art therapists practicing their work in Madison, WI. While both are talented artists in their own right, it is the art of facilitating an inclusive process while building meaningful relationships that was shining throughout this 2-month outdoor mosaic mural project.
  • AUDIFAX - Dane County Jail, Juvenile Detention Center, Juvenile Shelter Home - Fall 2021 - Fall 2022
    Students at the Dane County Jail classroom developed an idea for a new classroom mascot and requested to work with Audifax on the production of a mural to transform their limited learning space. Upon completing the first Metro classroom mural, plans were made to visually connect all four Metro classrooms by engaging the different students in producing new versions of the original panther mural.
  • AUDIFAX - Juvenile Shelter Home - Summer 2021
    Audifax built such a great rapport with staff and students during the Spring that she was asked to come back during the summer while school staff were on break in order to run another series of workshops. Teen residents at the Juvenile Shelter Home had the opportunity to engage in projects twice each week, which eventually concluded in an 8''x4'' mural.
  • AUDIFAX - Juvenile Shelter Home - Spring 2021
    Audifax is a Wisconsin artist who found the best way to connect to your true potential is to push yourself out of your comfort zone, and challenges herself to share this passion with teens and adults in order to bring strength and inner peace through a combination of mindfulness, creativity and community connection. Teen residents at the Juvenile Shelter Home had the opportunity to engage in this mural project over Spring Break, when their on-site teachers were on scheduled leave.
  • EMIDA ROLLER & SHILOAH COLEY - Juvenile Shelter Home - Summer 2020
    Emida Roller and Shiloah Coley teamed up to bring experience, energy and mentorship as the youth and staff invited us for the first big in-person project during COVID, while paying close attention to how the youth were feeling amid the local and nation-wide protests over the summer. Teen residents at the Juvenile Shelter Home had the opportunity to engage and build relationships with both artists during this mural project over the month of August, when their on-site teachers were on scheduled leave and as we began to figure out how to work with each other during the COVID lockdown.
  • JERRY BUTLER - Juvenile Detention Center - Winter 2019-2020
    Jerry Butler is a former middle school teacher and Wisconsin artist who found new and exciting hands-on ways to engage youth within his own passions. Teen residents at the Juvenile Detention Center had the opportunity to engage in this mural project over Winter Break, when their on-site teachers were on scheduled leave.
  • AUDIFAX - Juvenile Detention Center - Spring 2019
    Audifax is a Wisconsin artist who found the best way to connect to your true potential is to push yourself out of your comfort zone, and challenges herself to share this passion with teens and adults in order to bring strength and inner peace through a combination of mindfulness, creativity and community connection. Teen residents at the Juvenile Detention Center had the opportunity to engage in this mural project over Spring Break, when their on-site teachers were on scheduled leave.
  • PETER KRSKO - Juvenile Court Shelter Home - Spring 2019
    Peter Krsko listens to nature and creates objects and experiences to share his observations. His approach combines science and art; participatory, interactive and community arts; and play with hands-on education. In 2006, while working on a Ph.D. in Biophysics and Materials Science, Krsko discovered a way to use a traditional scanning electron microscope as a focused electron beam lithography instrument, enabling him to create artwork viewable only with a microscope. Peter spent Spring Break 2019 at Dane County Juvenile Court Shelter Home engaging teen residents in the design and production of a microscopic food mural inside their dining room.
  • D.d. ARMSTRONG - Juvenile Detention Center + Dane County Jail - Spring 2019
    A formerly incarcerated author and playwright in London, UK, D.d. Armstrong is the creator of The Beyond Words Anthology and teaches Self Development Through Creative Writing to prisoners in the UK and the United States. D.d. was a UW Madison visiting artist in 2019, at which time he workshopped and published a short story collection, "Madison Uncut", written by local youth residing inside the Dane County Juvenile Detention Center and the Dane County Jail.
  • CARLOS EDUARDO GACHARNA - Making Justice Program Leader - Fall 2016 -- Spring 2018
    Carlos Gacharna is a Colombian artist who has made a life out of creating interactive spaces for others to explore. His hope is for these spaces to bridge gaps between communities – in the classroom, in the gallery, and across the globe.  As an artist and maker, he constructs material explorations of matter and light to express contemplative ideas surrounding identity, ritual, and the human touch. As a program leader Carlos is gifted with the ability to create safe spaces to learn and build relationships, and he is dedicated to prevention by connecting at-risk and court-involved youth to a diverse community of artists and mentors -- and experiences.
    • Check out the Juvenile Detention Center''s Intake Hall mural!
    • Check out the Juvenile Court Shelter''s Classroom mural!
    • ​Check out video and pictures of the Black Light Chalk workshops Carlos uses to bring fun chemistry lessons to teens.
    • And definitely take a look at two semester-long Teen Bubbler projects spearheaded by Carlos over the 2016-2017 school year, providing teens the opportunity to produce and present a portfolio in public art exhibitions like "Too Much Sauce" and "Air It Out".
    • Listen to Carlos''s experiences with this interview on WORT!
  • LESLEY ANNE NUMBERS - Juvenile Detention Center - Summer 2017
    Lesley Anne Numbers is a printmaker, illustrator, and art educator based in Madison, Wisconsin. She currently teaches screen printing at The Center for Printing Arts at Madison College, plays around at Polka! Press, Madison''s printmaking cooperative, and creates prints for people and organizations she loves. With a background in art education and a lifelong love for old objects and the outdoors, Lesley and one of her students from Madison College, Lauden Nute, spent the month of August developing and producing a mural with teen residents. Lesley engaged the teen residents over the August break period when teachers were out of the office between the end of summer school and the beginning of the regular school year. This mural is located in the long hallway between visitation and lockdown.
  • CHRIS MADDOX - Juvenile Detention Center - Spring 2017
    Chris Maddox is a Madison-based artist who engages the world via equal parts research and studio practice. He is quietly intense about the nature of geopolitical boundaries, barriers to human perception of space and information, and interrogation of escapist strategies common in contemporary society. The subjects of his work lead him to visual forms typical of advertising, graphic design, cartography, editorial and entertainment media. Chris is the 2017 Barstow Artist-in-Residence at Central Michigan University, and will participate in artist residencies at Haystack Mountain School of Craft and Vermont Studio Center in the coming year. Chris engaged the teen residents with this mural project over the winter break period when teachers were out of the office.
  • RODRIGO CARAPIA - Juvenile Detention Center - Winter 2016
    Local mural artist, Rodrigo Carapia, grew up legally tagging buildings in Mexico City but had to adapt his craft to include acrylics and canvas after moving to Madison. Inside or outside, Rodrigo enjoys connecting with local teenagers by helping some of them find a way to positively express themselves and helping others to find a little zen in the process. Rodrigo engaged the teen residents over the winter break period when teachers were out of the office with a mural project.
  • ROB DZ - Juvenile Detention Center - Summer 2016 
    Local hip hop artist, Rob Dz, has been running teen workshops around the city for years and recently joined forces with the Bubbler as a resident sound engineer in the library''s Media Lab at Central Library. Of the many things Rob can do, two of our favorites include a powerful set of workshops in Personal Branding and also in Music Production. Back by request after several successful past residencies (listed below), Rob will run a 10-week series at the Juvenile Detention Center in June, July & August, and will rotate between personal branding and music production workshops each week: 
    • Personal Branding workshops dig into the way you define yourself and the power of the messages and signals you send to those around you. 
    • Music Production workshops allow teens to use words and poetry to make their voice heard. Examples of music created in these workshops, and other workshops around the city, can be found in Rap Sessh.
  • BIRD ROSS - Juvenile Court Shelter Home - Spring 2016
    Bird Ross is a Madison-based studio artist working in textiles, mixed media and mundane objects, and currently energizes her studio practice through collaborative work, both nationally and internationally. Bird has brought over and setup her sewing machines and other tools at the Shelter Home and will spend two mornings each week for 3 weeks in March and again in May, teaching the residents how to make pillows, backpacks and other necessary items or clothing repairs.
  • ROB DZ - Juvenile Detention Center - Winter 2015
    By request after a successful summer series, Rob ran a 5-week series at the Juvenile Detention Center in December and January where he experimented with building a progression of songs every Wednesday with a different set of teens each week. 
    • Examples of music created in these workshops, and workshops around the city, can be found in Rap Sessh.
  • RODRIGO CARAPIA - Juvenile Court Shelter Home - Winter 2015
    Local mural artist, Rodrigo Carapia, grew up legally tagging buildings in Mexico City but had to adapt his craft to include acrylics and canvas after moving to Madison. Inside or outside, Rodrigo enjoys connecting with local teenagers by helping some of them find a way to positively express themselves and helping others to find a little zen in the process. During the first two weeks of the new year, Rodrigo worked with teens in the Shelter Home every day to transform some of their interior wall space. 
  • ROB DZ - Juvenile Detention Center - Summer 2015
    Rob ran an 8-week summer series, every Monday and Thursday. Mondays were the powerful Personal Branding workshop that digs into the way you define yourself and the power of the messages and signals you send to those around you. Rob spent Thursdays presenting his energetic workshop in music composition and audio recording. 
    • Examples of music created in these workshops, and workshops around the city, can be found in Rap Sessh.
    • Listen to Rob''s interview on WORT!
  • VICTOR CASTRO - Juvenile Detention Center - Spring 2014
    ARTinside was an 8-week spring project where teens worked with teaching artist, Victor Castro (aka Tetrapakman, aka USGathering) to transform the empty spaces of the county''s detention center, creating a site specific art installation that was developed by the group and that used their inorganic debris generated every day, such as juice cups, milk cartons, and cereal containers. The project was on display for 18 months and a photodocumentation binder resides in the detention center library.
    • Use sorting tools to observe the different aspects of the art installation project, ARTinside.
    • Listen to Victor''s interview on WORT!
  • NATE CLARK - Juvenile Detention Center and Shelter Home - Spring/Summer/Fall 2013
    For most of the year, Nate led weekly stop-motion animation or video game design workshops at both locations. His experience in the media production industry and his knack for engaging young learners was instrumental for the Teen Librarian to build a relationship with court administrators and build the trust needed for other Bubbler artists to enter the facility with workshops and projects.
    • Examples of the creations from these workshops, and similar workshops around the city, can be found in Stop-Motion and 3D World Building.