By OnMilwaukee Staff Writers   Published Oct 21, 2014 at 1:36 PM

This afternoon, the Museum of Wisconsin Art (MOWA) – in partnership with Ansay Development Corporation – announced Milwaukee artist Lois Bielefeld as the first winner of its Artist-in-Residence Program in Luxembourg, the first opportunity of its kind offered through MOWA for Wisconsin artists. 

The Milwaukee-born Bielefeld works as a conceptual photographer and filmmaker whose pieces stretch across many artistic fields, including fine art, commercial and fashion photography. She left home for New York, where she earned her BFA in advanced photography from Rochester Institute of Technology before heading to Brooklyn. Seven years later, in 2010, she came back to Wisconsin.

Bielefeld currently has two solo exhibitions – "Room & Board" at ArtStart in Rhinelander and "Androgyny" at UW-Parkside – opening in the next month. Meanwhile, her commercial and fashion photography work has earned her high-profile clients, including Time Magazine, Kohl's and Prestige Hong Kong.

The MOWA's Artist-in-Residence Program in Luxembourg is a biennial program available to artists working in any medium, either currently living in Wisconsin or with past transformational art experiences in or linking them to the state in a recognizable and significant manner. 

The program will provide Bielefeld with travel, housing in Bourglinster Castle – 15 miles outside of Luxembourg City – and a monthly stipend for three months, where she will have the opportunity to work with five to six fellow artists from across the globe and make connections in Europe.

"I am incredibly grateful to MOWA and Ansay Development Corporation for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Bielefeld said. "My work is grounded in the lives, habits and environments of Americans, and I am extremely interested to see how my work develops and is influenced by photographing outside of the U.S. and examining the lives and cultural habits of another country. This residency will allow me to focus solely on my work and will immensely benefit my career as a professional artist." 

"Lois Bielefeld is the ideal first winner of the Artist-in-Residence Program in Luxembourg," said Laurie Winters, executive director and CEO of MOWA. "Her successful background as an emerging Wisconsin artist paired with her passion to take her career as a professional artist to the next level are exactly what this program is about. We can’t wait to see where this experience takes her." 

To see some of Bielefeld's work, visit her website.