Ben Tyjeski, Paul Druecke are named Milwaukee Arts Board's Artists of the Year

The Milwaukee Arts Board has named visual artists Ben Tyjeski and Paul Druecke its 2023 Mildred L. Harpole Artists of the Year.

Tyjeski, a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee fine arts graduate, makes handmade tile art as the proprietor of Tyjeski Tile Co. He also is a self-directed scholar of architectural ceramics who's working on a book about Belgian ceramist Carl Bergmans and the Continental Faience & Tile Co. of South Milwaukee. He has been a Milwaukee Public Schools art teacher since 2016. "Ben also works to create a safe and supportive environment for his LGBTQ+ students," the arts board said in its statement announcing his honor.

The work of interdisciplinary artist Druecke has been included in New York's Whitney Biennial, a leading national showcase of contemporary art. But countless Milwaukeeans have walked past his work, too. His "Shoreline Repast" (2017), which looks like a historical marker sinking into the grass but has a prose-poetic text that no historical committee would write, has been part of Sculpture Milwaukee. Since 2018, Druecke also has produced Milwaukee Kitchen, a distinctive made-for-YouTube cooking show.

The arts board also named art collector and advocate Jenelle Elder-Green and independent film advocate and curator Carl Bogner its 2023 Friends of the Arts, awards given to individuals who give exceptional service to the local arts community.

Elder-Green, who began collecting prints by Black artists, has collected art from Senegal, Haiti, Jamaica, Egypt and South Africa in wood, fiber, glass, amber and photography. She has participated in exhibits with the Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee County Historical Society, Inner City Arts Council and other groups.

Bogner, a UWM graduate, teaches film, video, animation and new genres at his alma mater. He was the longtime director of Milwaukee's LGBT Film/Video Festival. A good rule of thumb: If there's an experimental film event in Milwaukee, Bogner has been involved with or has drummed up support for it.

Artists of the Year receive a $1,500 cash award. Funds for the award come from arts board members.

Former alderman and playwright Wayne Frank launched the board's Artists of the Year program in 1995. The Artists of the Year Award was renamed in 2020 in honor of late arts board member Mildred L. Harpole.

This is the first year that the Milwaukee Arts Board accepted award nominations from the public. The award winners will be honored during an event at 4:30 p.m. June 13 at the Milwaukee City Hall rotunda, 200 E. Wells St.

Past winners include Nirmal Raja, Ck Ledesma, Klassik, Anne Kingsbury, Rosy Petri, Ras 'Ammar Nsoroma, Rosemary Ollison, Ray Jivoff, Tia Richardson, Sheri Williams Pannell, Jane and Chris Flieller, Dasha Kelly Hamilton, Della Wells and Barbara Leigh.

More: Ruth Foundation for the Arts gives $240,000 to Wisconsin groups to fund local artists

More: 2023 Nohl Fellowship winners include Mikal Floyd-Pruitt, Janelle VanderKelen

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Tyjeski, Druecke are named Milwaukee Arts Board's Artists of the Year