Where Color Becomes Connection to each other and our mission.
Color arrives before anything else. It spills across the wall in sweeping gestures—petals, creatures and figures emerging in a language that feels both instinctive and intentional. For Emma Daisy Gertel, color is more than aesthetic, it’s an entry point. A way to invite people in, to shift a mood, to create a moment of connection in places that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Based in Milwaukee, Gertel has built a practice that moves seamlessly between studio and street. As a resident artist at Var West Gallery, she continues to evolve a body of work defined by its balance of spontaneity and structure—where loose, gestural forms meet carefully composed figures.
Her murals extend far beyond gallery walls, appearing in schools, local businesses, shopping centers and public art destinations across the country and beyond. No matter the setting, her intention remains the same: to create work that reflects beauty, sparks possibility and reminds us of the threads that connect us.
“The slogan ‘Bold. Proud. Experienced Obsessed.’ is something that really resonates with me,” Gertel said. “It’s so cool for the back-of-house to celebrate that idea and embody life in general and how what people do here is so much part of the experiences they create.”
That vision comes to life in two distinct pieces created for Baird Center. Experience Obsessed brings Gertel’s signature style into the back-of-house environment, transforming overlooked walls into something vibrant and alive. Bold color and organic forms energize the space, offering a visual reminder that every role contributes to the larger experience.
In contrast, Sun Filled embraces the rhythm of transition. Installed outside the staff locker rooms, the piece blends bright and muted tones to meet people where they are, infusing energy at the start of a shift while offering a sense of calm at its close. Together, the works do more than decorate a space; they shape it, turning everyday moments into something felt, shared and remembered.
“My approach for this project was to think about if I was walking through this hallway, what would I want to see to really celebrate the feeling of being bold, proud, and truly experience obsessed?” Gertel said. “True to myself, I paint flowers and I paint botanicals and I use bright colors, so I wanted to incorporate that and just brought life in these spaces.”
Experience Obsessed and Sun Filled are part of the We Energies Foundation Art Collection located at Baird Center. Gertel is one of more than 35 artists, most from Milwaukee, Wisconsin or with special ties to the area who have works featured in the collection. You can discover more about the artists and their works at https://bairdcenter.com/art-collection/.