Over the years Cortney Heimerl has been an active participant in, and visible ambassador to, Milwaukee's creative community.
Heimerl has been involved in a laundry list of creative ventures around town as one of the early members of the defunct fashion collective Fasten, co-author of "Handmade Nation: The Rise of DIY Art, Craft and Design", a volunteer at Faythe Levine's since closed Paper Boat Gallery and Boutique and one of the organizers behind the recent Hover Craft arts and crafts fair.
She was on the west coast leg of a promotional tour for the book when she found out she and fiance Andy Menchal from indie rock outfit Decibully would be having a baby.
"I was sleeping on a floor in LA when I was pregnant with Abe. We were still on our book tour when I found out," said Heimerl, "Coming off of the book tour I was working at Paper Boat. I quit my bar job and just tried to lay low. We bought a house and my time was pretty pre-occupied with newborn things."
After the intense initial immersion in her new role as a mom, Heimerl said she wanted to re-establish herself as a more hands-on participant in Milwaukee's art scene.
"Now that Abe is a year-and-a-half old my time is kind of freed up. He has a complete schedule. I am working again. Andy's schedule is pretty consistent and I have a little extra time on my hands and I miss being a part of the creative community in Milwaukee the way that I was prior to getting pregnant," Heimerl said.
After some brainstorming Heimerl began pulling together Printshop Forever, a website that centers around a monthly featured artist who in turn will offer up unconventional and limited edition creations available exclusivley through the website.
"It gives me the flexibility where I don't have to go to a brick and mortar spot and get a baby sitter and have to sit there and wait," Heimerl said of the website which officially launches tonight.
The first featured artist is Milwaukee's Cassandra Smith, who along with Jessica Steeber publish the international art magazine Fine Line and curated the since closed Armoury Gallery.
Smith has created a series of painted and sequined deer antlers called "Shed" for the website and future artists have discussed everything from more conventional prints to one-of-a-kind embroideries.
Heimerl said she has enjoyed this new project and the flexibility and portability of a web gallery concept. Like many of her previous endeavors the website will be a blend of art and craft makers with many of the artist falling in the gray area between the two fields.
"I really like the intersection of art and craft and a lot of the artists will work from that angle," Heimerl said.
The website will be updated regularly to act as a resource for visitors and not just an online gallery, she said.
"Of course being a new mom is a challenge but the bigger challenge is just finding time on a day to day basis to interact with a community like that when it changes so quickly and there are so many people that I just don't know," said Heimerl, "I am excited for the advantages of having a website like this and looking forward to exploring them and figuring out a way to further explore that to develop more contacts in the creative community that I am apart of."
