Tosa Artist a Finalist for Pfister Residency Program

Just one year ago, Pamela Anderson of Wauwatosa closed her gift shop, the Underwood Gallery in the Village, to devote more time to painting.

Within months, she was of the Milwaukee art world after landing a high-profile studio position in the Third Ward and some major commissions.

Now, Anderson has been chosen as one of six finalists for the honor of being the 2012 artist in residence at the Pfister Hotel.

That is no small thing, as all the finalists will gain considerable exposure through the selection process. A win would put her in a position to be noticed by a cosmopolitan audience few Milwaukee artists could dream of.

"There's just so much that it offers," Anderson said. "The culture and the exposure there, internationally, the conversation surrounding it — it would go to energize my work emotionally. It would change my body of work this year."

Work by the six finalists will be displayed at Gallerie M at the InterContinental Milwaukee hotel for January Gallery Night and Day, beginning at 5 p.m. Friday and continuing Saturday. The art will remain on display through Feb 8.

The public gets one seat on a selection committee otherwise chosen by the Pfister. Viewers can vote via ballot box at the Intercontinental showing or online through Feb. 8 on the Pfister website or on its Facebook page. One vote per day can be cast.

As artist in residence, Anderson would have regular, posted hours in a working studio on the first floor of the Pfister, where visitors could not only view her completed canvasses but watch her paint works in progress.

Anderson would also lead twice-a-week tours of the hotel's collection of Italian paintings. The Pfister has the largest collection of Victorian artworks of any hotel in the world and is a member of the international Alliance of Artists Communities.

Anderson’s works are also on show at the Plaid Tuba studio at 120 N. Broadway in Milwaukee's Third Ward.

Her manager, Sonja Rein, said she was attracted to Anderson's art by "her use of color and the emotional vibrancy of her work. There's so much emotion and artistic work, they just jump off the canvas."

"There's also so much joy there, and that's very important to me," Rein said. "Not that all art should be joyous, but — let's say when it is joyous, this is the way it should be."

Rein said that she had seen the work of the other finalists and found Anderson's to be much more abstract. Not to take anything away from the other's talents, she said, it would be a refreshing change for the hotel.

"The Pfister would be very lucky to have her," she said.

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For a private appointment to meet Anderson and view her works and works in progress, email her at Pamela@PaintMySky.com.