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OR by appointment, contact us at info@jazzgallerycenterforarts.org
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Exhibition
April 18th, 2026 – May 30th, 2026
Opening Reception
Saturday, April 25th, 2026 from 4 – 6 PM
Where The Wild Things Are: Thomas Schlenker, Works in Wood
Jazz Gallery Center for the Arts is excited to announce the second annual solo exhibition for a Milwaukee resident, mid-career or established artist, selected by outside arts professionals. The artist selected from this year’s pool of very qualified and talented applicants is Thomas Schlenker.
About the Artist: Milwaukee artist, Tom Schlenker, learned to carve wood as a young man in Antigua, Guatemala, a sixteenth century capital of the Spanish empire that, even today, remains filled with elaborately carved wooden doors, wall pieces, statues, furniture and church altars. There he trained in a workshop that created colonial-style furniture, learning to carve in relief (designs that are fashioned flat rather than 3-dimensional sculpture in-the-round). On his way home, he spent time in Mexico and became an enthusiast of the brightly painted masks, toys and decorations displayed in markets.
A third foundational influence on Schlenker’s work is the Milwaukee Art Museum and its extensive American Folk Art collection, especially the work of seminal wood carver, Elijah Pierce and the contemporary wood artist Latoya Hobbs (whose exhibition at MAM moved him).
Schlenker has translated the relief wood carving tradition into his own style exploring a rich variety of subjects that interest him. Some of these include portraits of artists he admires, explorations of children’s stories and fairy tales, art historical masterworks, and even simple still life glimpses from his day-to-day experience. Over time, Schlenker’s work has evolved from simpler, unpainted figures to more complex painted compositions drawing from children’s books, fairy tales, art history, current events and historical figures. All of his work is done by hand using a hand-held mallet and chisel.
Schlenker’s son Samuel also became a prolific artist and occasionally their imagery and works live collaboratively, as in the carved frame that Schlenker created to relate to the themes and colors in his son’s drawing, or the piece titled Drowning King which is Thomas’s wood/3D interpretation of Samuel’s original drawing.
To view more of his works go to TomSchlenker.com.