Milwaukee’s main airport is Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport (MKE).
It is the responsibility of all attendees to find transportation from the airport to Alverno College. But don’t worry, it’s only a 10 minute drive.
You can find information about ground transportation at the airport here:
https://www.mitchellairport.com/parking-transportation/ground-transportation
However, we encourage you to share with us your arrival date, time, airline, and cell phone number. We can alert you if a fellow attendee is on your flight so that you have a travel buddy. Please email your information to jeff@fantasyartworkshop.com as soon as you know it.
We encourage you to join the Fantasy Art Workshop Facebook Group if you haven’t already. We have created a thread that is pinned to the top of the discussion feed just for workshop attendees to ask questions and coordinate with other attendees on travel plans (shared Uber/Lyft/taxi rides).
Keep in mind that all members of the Fantasy Art Workshop Facebook group can see this thread, including those members not attending the workshop.
See these helpful tips from Gamblin about traveling with oil paints.
https://gamblincolors.com/tips-for-traveling-with-artists-materials/
For attendees staying in the dorms, you can park in Parking Lot I (see map below) just outside Clare Hall (Dorms). It is a surface parking lot.
For attendees NOT staying in the dorms, you can park in Parking Lot C, D, or E (see map below). Parking Lot E is closest to the art rooms.
There is no fee for parking. It is free to all attendees.
Warning: Please lock your vehicle. Do not keep valuables in your vehicle during the workshop. Neither Alverno College nor Fantasy Art Workshop is responsible for your vehicle or any items left within it.
Check-in is Sunday, June 16th, from 9am – 10pm
We strongly recommend that all attendees, including those not staying in the dorms, check in Sunday the 16th. At check-in, you will receive your dorm key, campus access card (for certain locked rooms), and Fantasy Art Workshop badge, which serves as your meal ticket. After 3 p.m., you may choose your workspace in the art rooms and set out your supplies ahead of day one. You’ll also be right on campus for Sunday night’s social gathering. See below for details.
If you are arriving in Milwaukee before Sunday, you will have to find your own accommodations from a local hotel until check-in day.
Sunday, check-in day, please park on surface Parking Lot I. Enter Clare Hall (number 14 on map) via the west entrance (indicated by a star on the map). There will be someone just inside the doors to assist you.
If you plan to arrive after check-in times, contact us via email at jeff@fantasyartworkshop.com. We will do our best to make arrangements to get you checked in to your dorm room.
Please do your best to check in on Sunday, June 16th, so you can get your campus access card, Fantasy Art Workshop badge, and to attend Sunday night’s social gathering. See below for details.
If you decide to skip the Sunday check-in and social gathering, you may arrive Monday, June 17th, at 8am for breakfast and to set up your work area in one of the remaining spots in the art rooms. Park in lots C, D, or E (see map above). Go directly to the cafeteria, also called Founders Hall (number 4 on map), at 8am for breakfast. The easiest way to get to the cafeteria is to enter at the main entrance, also called the Sister Joel Read Center (number 3 on map). Head indoors and walk down the long hallway to the left. The cafeteria will be on the right at the end of the hall.
Skipping breakfast?
If you can’t make it to breakfast (you should because you paid for it), make sure you get to Lampe Recital Hall (number 7 on map) by 9am for the mandatory welcome presentation. To get there, park in Parking Lot E (see map) and head into the doors (Alexia Hall – number 8 on map). Go past the stairway and turn right into the hallway to get to Lampe Recital Hall.
You will be able to set up your workspace in one of three art rooms after 3pm on Sunday, June 16th. There are no assigned spaces. It is first-come, first-served. Art rooms will be clearly marked as Art Room 1, Art Room 2, Art Room 3 (Oil Painting Room).
If you arrive on check-in day before 3pm, but have a lot of stuff to set up (easel, computer system, etc.), you will have to keep those items in your dorm room until the 3pm set up time. If you are not staying in the dorms, it is best if you arrive just before 3pm so you can park your car in Parking Lot E near Alexia Hall (the closest entrance to the art rooms) to unload your supplies.
Attendees working in oil paints
All oil painters will be setting up in Art Room 3 (oil painting room). This room has a special ventilation system to deal with oil paint fumes.
Attendees working in a medium other than oil paint
You are free to set up your workspace in any room you wish, including the oil painting room IF there is room for you there. Priority in the oil painting room is given to artists working in oil paints.
Digital artists
If you bring a desktop computer to set up, it can be left in the art room each night. If you work on a laptop, iPad or other small device, we suggest you take it with you to your dorm room or back home (if you’re not staying in the dorms) each night for safe keeping.
Fantasy Art Workshop will have power strips and extension cords for digital artists to plug in their devices. However, you must bring all other necessary cables for your device.
On Sunday, June 16th, at 7:00pm., we will have a casual get together in the 3rd floor lounge of Clare Hall (dorms). This is optional, but we encourage all attendees to come and get to know each other. Drinks and light snacks are provided.
If you are not staying in the dorms during the workshop, you should still come to Claire Hall (number 14 on map) on Sunday the 16th to check in and get your campus access card and other materials. This will allow you access to the 3rd floor lounge of Clare Hall for the social gathering Sunday night.
Check-out time is 11am on Saturday, June 22nd. However, if you need to check out on Friday, June 21st, please let Jeff or Silvia know as soon as possible. You can email us at info@fantasyartworkshop.com
Let’s leave Alverno with a good impression of Fantasy Art Workshop. Please leave your dorm room clean, including emptying out your refrigerator. Be sure to take all your belongings. You must hand in your room key and campus access card, but feel free to keep your Fantasy Art Workshop badge as a souvenir. We wish you safe travels.
See the information below about the trip to the Milwaukee Art Museum we have planned for Saturday, June 22nd, in case you feel like joining us. It is not mandatory.
All attendees traveling via airplane, train, bus, etc. are responsible for arranging their own transportation to those locations. However, try to coordinate with other attendees at the event to share Uber/Lyft/taxi rides.
Shipping a wet painting home.
If you decide to work in oil paints or any other slow-drying medium at the Intensive and your painting is not dry by the time you need to return home, Silvia and I will store your wet painting at our home. Once it dries, we will box it up and ship it to you. Of course you will need to pay for shipping and handling fees, but at least you know the option is available for you to not have to transport a wet painting. And we’re happy to do the same with anything else you want to ship back home, like art supplies.
There will be a form for you to fill out at the Intensive if you wish to take advantage of this option.
Dorm rooms are single occupancy rooms. The residential hall (Clare Hall) that houses the dorm rooms has air-conditioning, laundry facilities, a fitness center, and a common lounge area with full kitchen. Each dorm room is spacious and features a mini-refrigerator, microwave, drawers, closet, desk, chair, and bed. Linens are provided. Each room also has a sink and mirror.
Rooms also include:
There is a shared shower and bathroom facility for women and a shared shower and bathroom facility for men. The shower facilities feature single shower stalls for privacy.
Note: The mattress on the beds is thin. If you have a sleeping bag, roll of memory foam, or some other travel mattress, you should consider bringing it. If you can’t bring an additional travel mattress due to travel constraints, there is a Walmart located near Alverno College where you should be able to purchase something if you desire.
Fantasy Art Workshop’s Illustration Intensive “Schedule at a Glance” is also in the program booklet, which you will receive during check-in.
Below is a PDF version of the Illustration Intensive program booklet. Every attendee will receive a physical copy of the program booklet during check-in.
What you need to do:
Download and read through the assignments.
Note for digital artists: Even though you are creating digital art, we still need to pin your rough sketches to the wall at the workshop. So please bring print outs.
You must bring your own art supplies. That includes the painting surface you plan to paint on. So if you’re painting on gessoed panel, canvas, watercolor paper, etc., you need to bring that with you. However, if you are unable to travel with your painting surface, there is a Michael’s art supplies store near Alverno College where you can purchase a painting surface or any other supplies you need.
We will be providing some community supplies that every attendee is free to use. Various items for oil painters have been graciously provided by our sponsor, Gamblin (see list below). M. Graham has generously provided a limited amount of watercolor paints for every attendee. Fantasy Art Workshop will also provide additional community supplies (see list below). However, these provided supplies are for sampling. They will not be enough for your entire project, so please bring your own or plan to purchase them here.
Digital artists need to bring their own equipment including all power cables. Alverno College does have projectors in the art rooms, so we should be able to provide cables for hooking up to a projector if needed. But if you have cables for that, please bring them.
Watercolor Paints (mini sets of red, yellow, and blue)
We will have a “Tip” bucket next to the printer to help us cover the cost of printer ink. It’s very expensive. Thank you.
The art rooms have a limited selection of tables, easels, and drawing horses (for figure drawing). If you are driving to the Intensive and you have a favorite standing easel, tabletop easel, or some other setup you like to use, feel free to bring it.
Photos of the art rooms:
For attendees not staying in the Alverno College dorms, below are a selection of area hotels.
Hotels near the airport are only a 10 minute drive to Alverno College.
Hotels in downtown Milwaukee are about a 20-25 minute drive to Alverno College.
The only restaurants in the Alverno College area are fast food type restaurants. For casual, sit down restaurants or fine dining, you will want to visit downtown Milwaukee or the Third Ward area just south of downtown Milwaukee.
Note: There is a Michael’s Arts and Crafts store within walking distance of Alverno College. They have plenty of art supplies.
On Thursday evening from 8:15pm to 11pm, we will host a costumed life drawing session in one of the art rooms. Note, the image above was from last year. We will not have these same models or costumes this year. This session is not mandatory. You can otherwise choose to continue working on your illustration or catch up on sleep 🙂
This is a great opportunity to practice drawing from life. If you have done life drawing before, this will be a great refresher.
You are allowed to take photographs of the model, but you should then tip the model. At least $10 is customary. Please have cash on hand.
You can draw or paint during this session. You must bring all your own drawing or painting supplies.
On June 22nd, the Saturday after the Illustration Intensive, Jeff will be heading to the Milwaukee Public Market in Downtown Milwaukee for breakfast followed by a trip to the Milwaukee Art Museum. All workshop attendees are welcome to join him for this informal, fun trip. This is not a mandatory event. Everyone is responsible for paying for their own food at the Milwaukee Public Market.
We’re in luck this year in that the Lakefront Festival of Art will be taking place that weekend at the Milwaukee Art Museum. The event boasts hundreds of artists inside and outside the museum, as well as music and food. Everyone is responsible for paying their own admission to the museum. It will be possible to buy advance tickets from their website as it gets closer to the event. Parking may be tough to find, so consider carpooling.
Sunday, June 22nd Schedule:
9am – meet at Milwaukee Public Market
If you park in the Milwaukee Public Market parking lot (under the freeway), bring your ticket with you inside and get it validated from your food vendor. This will give you free or reduced parking.
11am – meet at the Milwaukee Art Museum
Because the Lakefront Festival of Art is happening, it will be a bit chaotic at the museum. Jeff will be near the entrance to the museum from 11 – 11:15am waiting for anyone that wants to hang out with him at the museum. After that, he will be walking around looking at all the amazing art. You can stay with him or wander around the museum on your own or with another group.
? – Bradford Beach (maybe)
Last year, a handful of us decided we’d seen everything we needed to see at the art museum after a few hours and we jumped in a car and drove a few minutes down the road to Bradford Beach to feel the warm sand on our feet. We may or may not do this again. If you don’t want to miss out on this, then stay close to Jeff or make sure he has your cell phone number so he can text you when we plan to head to the beach 🙂
By attending Fantasy Art Workshop’s Illustration Intensive, you agree to our Code of Conduct policy and Anti-Harassment Policy. Please download these policies and read them carefully. Thank you.
