By Julie Lawrence Special to OnMilwaukee.com Published Jan 13, 2010 at 3:02 PM

It's a winter wonderland once again in Wisconsin and Gallery Night is back to add to the urban beauty. Now 22 years old, the quarterly two-day event features 47 venues throughout the Milwaukee area.

Winter Gallery Night and Day is also hosting Sculptures on Ice, Milwaukee's annual ice sculpting exhibition. Between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Jan. 15 you can watch local artists and sculptors form five-ft. blocks of ice into creative pieces of art in the Third Ward's Catalano Square.

Don't feel like fighting for parking? Catch the free Friday Gallery Night Xpress and enjoy a new six-stop route that will take you from the Third Ward to East Town and back. The 20-passenger bus makes a continuous loop from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday with stops approximately every 15 minutes.

Here are some highlights you might want to check out along the way.

Grohmann Museum
1000 N. Broadway

msoe.edu/museum
Michael Schultz travels both here and abroad to photograph foundries and foundry workers. His work offers a rare glimpse of the processes, people, and spectacular motifs of the industry. "Foundry Work: A View of the Industry" features 22 large-format color photographs depicting industrial settings not often seen, captured beautifully and naturally. Gallery Night opening begins at 7 p.m. and the show is on display through April 5.

A Woman's Touch
200 N. Jefferson St.

awomanstouchonline.com
Come check out the results of "Uplifting Art: Bras for a Cause," a decorative art bra contest and charity auction benefiting ABCD: After Breast Cancer Diagnosis. The women-owned sexuality resource store asked local artists and creative people to decorate or embellish a fabric bra or design original art bras. The community is invited to vote on the sexy display on Gallery Night through Jan. 24. Proceeds from a silent auction of the bras benefit ABCD, which provides free personalized information and support to people affected by breast cancer. 

Armoury @ The Cedar Gallery
326 N. Water St.

thearmourygallery.com
Jessica Steeber and Cassandra Smith of the Armoury Gallery return for their first exhibition since closing the doors on their gallery this past spring. Gathering six of Wisconsin's finest up and coming artists, the exhibition will be held at the Cedar Gallery in the Third Ward through Saturday, March 13. Works by Ginger Lukas, Sophia Flood, Kevin Giese, Katie Kraft and a collaboration between Karin Haas and James LaLonde will fill the two floors of gallery space, which opens on Gallery Night from 5 to 10 p.m. 

Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design
273 E. Erie St.

miad.edu
The acclaimed Culture in Transition series marks its fifth year with "Transitional/Transcultural: New Paradigms for a New Century," an exhibition by eight artists whose work explores the changing character of world culture and the complexity of their multicultural identities. "During a period of rapid cultural change these visual artists from across the globe and diverse aspects of the multi-faceted United States reveal that all culture is essentially personal as well as transpersonal," said director of galleries Mark Lawson, who curated the exhibition with curatorial advice from participating artist Siona Benjamin. The Gallery Night reception runs from 5 to 9 p.m. and the exhibition is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free. The exhibition is on view through Feb. 27, with an Artist Talk and Reception on Thursday, Feb.11, at 7 p.m. 

JW Lawson FINE ART
414 E. Homer St.

jwlawson.com
It's a new year, but gallery owner JW Lawson wants to reminisce for a minute about 2009. He's cleaning up his work studio, known as the WAR ROOM, and turning it into a showroom for his latest exhibit, "50 | 2009 new prints." "I made a few photographic trips in the last year and have quite a treasure trove of images to sift through," he says. "Included are New York, Louisville, Memphis, as well as my annual trip home to East Tennessee."

Portrait Society Gallery
207 E. Buffalo St., Suite 526

portraitsocietygallery.wordpress.com
Milwaukee opens two new shows on Gallery Night. Gallery A will feature new work by Boris Ostrerov, a MIAD grad who works with black ink on white paper. Gallery B will feature "A Winter Chapel," a collaborative installation involving artist Marsha McDonald, welder Kendall Polster, the Urban Ecology Center, painter Dave Niec and others. " A Winter Chapel" will be available to the public on Saturdays for rites and rituals free of charge.

For a list of all Gallery Night participants, click here. Read Bobby Tanzilo's article about David Burnett's photographs of Bob Marley at VP Gallery on Gallery Night and Day.

Julie Lawrence Special to OnMilwaukee.com

OnMilwaukee.com staff writer Julie Lawrence grew up in Wauwatosa and has lived her whole life in the Milwaukee area.

As any “word nerd” can attest, you never know when inspiration will strike, so from a very early age Julie has rarely been seen sans pen and little notebook. At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee it seemed only natural that she major in journalism. When OnMilwaukee.com offered her an avenue to combine her writing and the city she knows and loves in late 2004, she knew it was meant to be. Around the office, she answers to a plethora of nicknames, including “Lar,” (short for “Larry,” which is short for “Lawrence”) as well as the mysteriously-sourced “Bill Murray.”