Emiliano Lake-Herrera is an artist living and working in Milwaukee who utilizes a full range of media to create his work. He finds great inspiration from popular forms of art in Latin America, and is interested in the preservation and promotion of traditional folk arts. He crafts the viewer’s experience by altering cultural contexts, and elevating the importance of vernacular art. His work plays with the borders of his socio-cultural identities, while continuing to deliver soulful and fulfilling experiences through art. Emiliano aims to showcase the importance and relevance of vernacular and traditional arts to contemporary practice. By incorporating folk processes into his work, it is also ensured that these traditional techniques will survive. Emiliano attended St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa before moving on to earn his BFA in Painting from the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design in 2007. He has since helped in founding the White Whale Artists Collective, a group-run gallery located in Milwaukee’s South side.
EXHIBITIONS
2011
Tasting Cultures, Latino Arts – Milwaukee, WI
Bucktown Center for the Arts - Davenport, IA
The ARTery - Rock Island, IL
2010
Dia de los Muertos, Walker’s Point Center for the Arts – Milwaukee, WI.
Dia de los Muertos, Latino Arts – Milwaukee, WI.
Dia de los Muertos, Augustana College – Rock Island, IL.
Them Among Us, Alverno College – Milwaukee, WI.
New America: A Bilingual Society, Fiskum Gallery – Whitewater, WI.
Group show, Walker’s Point Center for the Arts – Milwaukee, WI.
Mojo Hand, Bucktown Center for the Arts – Davenport, IA.
A Modern View of Mexican Art, Studio 84 in conjunction with National Endowment for the Arts Big Read – Whitewater, WI.
2008
Call & Response, White Whale Artists Collective – Milwaukee, WI. (*solo show)
Jumping the Shark, White Whale Artists Collective – Milwaukee, WI.
Bread & Butter Show, White Whale Artists Collective – Milwaukee, WI.
Inaugural Show, White Whale Artists Collective – Milwaukee, WI.
2007
Beira Mar, BFA Senior Thesis Exhibition at Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design – Milwaukee, WI.
LECTURES/WORKSHOPS
2010
“Explorations of Mexican-American Symbols in Contemporary Art” In conjunction with conference “Them Among Us” Alverno College – Milwaukee, WI
Visiting Artist, University of Whitewater - Whitewater, WI
EDUCATION
2007 B.F.A. Painting - Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design - Milwaukee, WI
