Adria Willenson
Arts Mill Boutique Manager
Adria Rosenthal Willenson, resident of Grafton Wisconsin, is a Graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she received her Bachelor of Science Degree with an emphasis in Graphic Design in 1998. At Wisconsin she won a campus wide “Design for Diversity” competition to design a mural for the school of Human Ecology where her mural is on permanent display.
Adria has worked in graphic/web design for over 10 years and she completed her Master’s Degree of Visual Studies at Cardinal Stritch University in 2004. Adria has taught Beginning Watercolor at The Art Escapes Gallery in Thiensville, The UWM-Craft Centre and Silk Painting & Watercolor Painting at The North Shore Academy of the
Arts in Grafton, WI. She served on the Board at Congregation Shalom from 2006-2008 where she served as co-chair for the Art Auction Committee and Young Adult Events.
Adria draws on her inspiration from nature, family and life experiences including travels to Chile and Israel. Carlos Hermosilla Alvarez, her uncle and accomplished Chilean printmaker, has also been an inspiration since childhood. She grew up in a home filled with his prints and artwork. The early Mexican artists and muralists, with their use of rich texture, strong colors, and expressive style and subject matter, as well as Jewish Artists Marc Chagall and Marc Rothko have also influenced her work.
Adria has developed large-scale murals including a recent installation for Camp Heartland, a national charity, in honor of children living with AIDS as well as a mural at Congregation Shalom’s Center for Life-Long Learning in Milwaukee, WI. She has also developed several murals for local businesses as well.
Adria and her husband Neil Willenson currently reside in Grafton, Wisconsin with their beautiful children in a home adjacent to the Milwaukee River, where she is surrounded by her greatest inspiration – family and nature.
Adria’s work may be viewed at:
- Adria Willenson