The back cottage on Bartlett, complete with rusting folding chairs on the porch and a Col. Sanders sticker on the door, resembled a frat house more than the headquarters of a nationally distributed magazine. Marla Campbell, (aka Fphatty Lamar), founding member and Tastes Like Chicken housemate, led me past a beautiful red and white 50’s formica kitchen table and under a set of ox horns over the doorway that would wow any Texan. The other members met us in the living room, where the walls were neatly lined with an assortment of original paintings and drawings – a pop art salon that Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas would envy.

ArtWalk is the state’s largest walking tour of artists’ homes and studios, neighborhood galleries and various alternative spaces. It is organized and sponsored by the Riverwest Artists Association (RAA). The walking tour includes more than 100 established and emerging visual artists and performers at 40 site throughout Riverwest. Many area restaurants and taverns also participate, giving the event the overall quality of a neighborhood-wide open house for the arts.

When making arrangements to meet with Heidi Spencer, the filmmaker asked, “Wanna grab a beer?” Not having to be asked twice, I agreed to meet her at Paddy’s Pub, which showed movies on a huge screen behind us. As we sipped our pints of Guinness and smoked her American Spirits, Spencer talked about how she always wanted to put her music into films. After getting a C+ in her first film class, she dropped out of film school and traveled all over the country. After “hitting the end of the road so many times” at the age of 25, she decided to start over. She graduated with a BFA in Film at UWM this past December with high honors, and took first place in the Student Film Festival a couple years ago.