ART House 360 Open House

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Samantha Haas/Samantha Cora Photos

Artist Julio Cachiguango with an in-progress mural at ART House 360.

Artist Julio Cachiguango with an in-progress mural at ART House 360.

media release: The ART House 360 today announced that renovation efforts and murals are well underway at the historic schoolhouse on West Verona Avenue. Several Madison area artists have been invited to express their authentic culture and style through immersive pieces on the building’s exterior and interior walls for the first phase of the nonprofit’s ARTfinity series.

The space will be open to the public during Verona’s Hometown Holidays event from 5-8pm on Friday, Dec. 6, and again on Saturday, Dec. 21st from 10am-1pm. Fundraising efforts are currently at $1.6 million, and interested donors may also arrange for tours at their convenience. 

Commissioned artists include Mexico City, Mexico-born artist Liubóv Szwako (known as Triangulador, which means “triangle-maker” in Spanish); Quito, Ecuador-born artist Julio Cachiguango; Wisconsin-born street artist and muralist Audifax; and Ecatepec de Morelos, Mexico-born Mónica Cliff (founder of Inventiva Works and Teatro ñ). The ART House 360 is already considering other artists for the second phase of ARTfinity, which will include a bathroom poetry collaboration with local students, more murals, and potentially an artist-in-residence. 

ARTfinity is a concept that embraces the creation of new work by local artists in various forms, which will be officially unveiled at future events at the ART House 360 as a way to both invest in the people who live here and highlight their unique talent. 

“The ART House perceives arts as being infinite,” said Cliff, who is one of the nonprofit’s co-founders, co-artistic directors and commissioned artists. “It’s like a consistent loop of giving and taking. The arts are by default generous, and we wanted the community to feel like it’s part of that cycle. I believe that being in touch with that creative side allows us to be in touch with our own wellbeing; therefore, if we’re taking care of our own wellbeing, we’ll be better community members.”

Triangulador’s abstract-lettering mural bearing the “ART House” name is already completed on the southeast entrance of the building facing Century School Park. During the summer Dancing with the ARTS fundraiser, which raised over $30,000 toward the nonprofit’s $3 million capital campaign and programming goal, Triangulador also spray-painted abstract art on a wooden canvas now mounted near the front entrance, just to the right of where the co-founders of the organization have already left their colorful mark around the main door.

Inside, Cachiguango has nearly finished the front entryway mural, reflecting a vibrant and harmonious blend of North and South American flora and fauna on either side of the stairwell. Throughout December, Audifax will be painting the largest art installation on 12 metal panels that will eventually be mounted on a structure in front of the eastern exterior wall so as to preserve the distinctive 1917 red brick facade. The richly-colored and dynamic mural will face Century School Park next door.

After the original wood floors are refinished, Cliff will portray the theme of universal art and amplify the nonprofit’s inclusive vision through a colorful mural in the ART House 360 community hall, which represents the heart of the building and the multicultural, multigenerational and multidisciplinary organization. 

The ART House 360 hopes to offer a “cozy, colorful place that feels welcoming,” giving all ages and abilities the opportunity to access art from “a diversity of artists offering other points of view, styles, techniques and approaches to enrich the learning experience in the community,” Cliff said. “That requires time and space and the right environment for artists to flourish and bloom in their practice.”

Once the capital campaign goal is met and programming is underway, everyone will be invited to participate by taking classes and attending events. The nonprofit is seeking interested volunteers, board members, co-tenants and donors to help them open the doors by Spring 2025.

“We hope that The ART House becomes the jewel of the community, because it’s created by and for the community,” Cliff said. “I see the space as not only a place where we can gather and work, but also as an experience. A home for the arts, a home for the artists, a home for the community to really feel free enough and inspired enough to create and try new things in the arts realm.”