The Peck School of the Arts is once again well represented among this year’s Mary L. Nohl Fund Fellowships, with alum Michelle Grabner (BFA 1984; MA 1987) and alum/lecturer Sarah Ballard (MFA 2024, Cinematic Arts) receiving fellowships. Alyx Christensen (BA 2015, Art), as part of artist collective Open Kitchen, also received a fellowship.
The Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s Mary L. Nohl Fund Fellowships for Individual Artists program awards funds for artists across a variety of visual arts fields. These funds aim to help artists create or finish work in the greater Milwaukee area.
For this year’s round of fellowships, Grabner was one of two recipients in the Established Artists category receiving a $20,000 fellowship. Ballard and Open Kitchen were among the three recipients in the Emerging Artists category receiving a $10,000 fellowship.
“The Nohl fellowship supports artists who have dedicated their lives to experimentation and the artistic imagination contributing to cultural discourse both locally and at large,” Grabner said.
Grabner has been a major name in both Wisconsin and American art for decades. She specializes in painting, ceramics, and cast metal.
“For 40 years, Grabner’s work has rearticulated familiar patterns and commonplace formal arrangements,” the Nohl jurors wrote, as reported in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
When asked about her work and the award, Grabner said she believes the Nohl Fund jurors “recognized [her] commitment to ideas and to experimentation” throughout her impressive and diverse body of work.
The Mary L. Nohl Fund seeks to amplify the work of underrepresented communities, a mission that resonates with Ballard.
“The fund’s mission reminds me of the importance of uncovering these overlooked stories and the possibility of connecting them to broader, collective experiences that resonate with contemporary ‘societal illnesses,’” Ballard said.
Ballard has been immersed in the Peck School of the Arts culture for some time as both a Master’s recipient and current lecturer in the Department of Film, Video, Animation & New Genres (FVANG). Ballard said that the school’s community of artists has been a positive contributor to her work and success.
“The support of the FVANG faculty and extended community was vital to my growth as an artist and played a significant role in my ability to apply for and receive the Nohl Fund award,” said Ballard. “The connections I’ve made here continue to inspire me and reinforce the importance of cultivating a supportive artistic community.”
Open Kitchen (OK) is a Milwaukee-based art collective founded in 2017 by Rudy Medina and Alyx Christensen with Alan Medina. Through events, installations, and a residency program, OK fosters public dialogue on food, identity, and ecology.
In 2020, OK became artists-in-residence at Lynden Sculpture Garden where they steward the Cultural Garden and Lynden Apiary, exploring methods of growing diverse foods and flora that integrate Indigenous environmental knowledge.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, this year’s 22nd Nohl Fund competition drew 157 applicants with five individuals receiving fellowships. These five Milwaukee-based winners will be a part of a Haggerty Museum of Art exhibit in 2026.
In addition to Ballard and Grabner, two Nohl finalists also have strong PSOA connections. Assistant professor and alum Ben Balcom (MFA 2015, Performing Arts) was a finalist in the Established Artist category while alum Michael Lagerman (MFA 2021, Art) was a finalist in the Emerging Artist category.
Story by Jason McCullum ’25
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include Alyx Christensen, who as part of Open Kitchen, also received a 2025 Nohl Fellowship