From Shane McAdams, Curator in Residence at Saint Kate:
Olivia’s work came into my life through a chance connection with Arts for All Wisconsin, an organization based in Madison dedicated to supporting artists with disabilities. One day, its director, Christina Martin Wright, called me out of the blue. We had one of those rare conversations that stays with you—a discussion about the organization’s mission that left me deeply moved. That conversation eventually led to an exhibition and, more importantly, to the work of a remarkable 13-year-old artist named Olivia Brusky, whose presence was every bit as luminous as her portraiture.
At the opening reception for The Art of Family, we took a photograph together in front of her work. I’m not sure I’ve ever felt more fulfilled as a curator. That image, which was later published in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, still hangs on my refrigerator as a daily reminder of what art can make possible.
That first meeting grew into an enduring friendship with Olivia and her family, affirming art’s extraordinary ability to connect us in meaningful and lasting ways. Her work radiates the same warmth, vitality, and generosity of spirit that she brings to the world.
For all the Yale MFAs and museum-made art stars who shape the contemporary art landscape, I believe it is artists like Olivia Brusky who nourish its enduring soul. They remind us why we create in the first place—and where our deepest inspiration can always be found.
