Melissa Muller
Melissa is an artist, designer, and art’s advocate based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She specializes in fund development for artists and nonprofits, serves as a curator of public art, and is an active community organizer.
Melissa is a dedicated ceramic artist who is passionate about transforming clay into vessels of useful beauty. She has a profound respect for the timeless aesthetics of craftsmanship, working to seamlessly blend traditional techniques with contemporary innovation. Her pieces resonate with harmony, simplicity, and refined elegance.
First Dinner
Melissa is a vital part of Milwaukee. She works and volunteers long hours to ensure that our communities have spaces to show work, play music, and feel connected. Her desire to validate the work of artists and musicians comes so naturally to her that I don’t think she always notices when she dispenses invaluable advice for free.
I feel fortunate to have crossed paths with her long before our first collaboration in 2019.
Ephemere
Ephemere was born from that first dinner where I asked Melissa to jump out of her comfort zone and start building bowls, plates, and tumblers in sets of 12. We have both come a long way since then.
Until March 2020, Ephemere was a series of multi-course, themed dinners that Melissa was hosting in her home. Melissa would make the majority of the ceramics and pour the wine. I would make and serve the food. Like others with similar stories, Covid put a wrench in the plans.
Reevaluating Priorities
The immediate halt in our community meals reminded us just how important it was to have opportunities to come together over food. As I tended my garden that summer, taking in not only the beauty that surrounded me but also the protesting in the streets, I felt deeply that I needed to shift focus in how I shared my food.
I began to explore ways in which to redistribute abundance. It started with sharing produce from my garden. Now I host Ephemere dinners for free.
Present
It is important to me that all people feel welcome at my table, which is why I do not want the people who are experiencing the dinner to also be the ones paying for it. Melissa and I are still trying to figure out how to fund this project (donations and suggestions appreciated). I am an artist who wants people to feel cared for, valued, and connected. I am not a restaurant, caterer, or non-profit.
Melissa and I are currently collaborating on several projects (more details on that later). I look forward to and deeply enjoy our work meetings that feel like anything but work.
If you would like to collaborate with Melissa in any way, please contact her through her website or Instagram.