Art History grad's talents on display as curator of The Warehouse

Laura Sims Peck’s workplace doesn’t have a lot of windows, but it sure has a nice view.

Lately, her scenery has included photographs from India – a close-up shot of an elephant, two weavers working at a loom, a tiger prowling through golden fields. They’re pieces in the exhibition she helped create in her role as the curator of The Warehouse, a private art museum near Milwaukee’s downtown.

Peck’s job is a little different than the typical curator’s. For one thing, The Warehouse is a museum meant to share the personal art collection of owners Jan Serr and John Shannon. For another, it works directly with local and national contemporary artists on exhibitions. In fact, the Warehouse’s current exhibit, “Jan Serr: A Painter’s Photographs of India,” is one such show, featuring the work of local artist (and owner) Serr. The exhibit opened Sept. 13 and runs through Dec. 13.

This is the fourth exhibit Peck has designed for the space since The Warehouse opened in late 2018. It shares a building with Guardian Fine Art Services, a company founded by Shannon that specializes in storage, logistics, and protection of private and institutional art collections.

“John and Jan think Milwaukee is an incredible arts community that deserves a venue like this,” Peck said. “They want their collection to be cared for, but they also want to see it and they want to share it, which I think is an admirable mission.”

Working as the curator of a private, permanent collection is a challenge, especially when it comes to making those exhibits.

Laura Peck is the curator of The Warehouse, a private art museum near Milwaukee's downtown. Peck stands in front of a painting by UWM alumna Jan Serr, titled, "Trees in Water #2" from Trees in Water Series (1983, oil on linen). Photo by Sarah Vickery.

“There’s a set number and type of objects. My job, when putting together exhibits, is making sure I can find cohesive stories to tell,” she said.

So, when she’s making an exhibit, she works backwards.

“In some ways, it’s reverse-engineering a show. You pick a show based on the pieces that you have and build from there,” Peck said. “I work closely with Jan and John to come up with exhibits by finding pieces that work well together or fit a theme.”

For instance, Serr and Shannon’s collection, which includes more than 3,600 pieces of art, contains several sculptures. Over the summer, Peck created an exhibit exploring the different mediums of those pieces – marble, wood, steel, and more – in a show called “Carve, Cast, and Coil.” One sculpture even incorporated a houseplant.

The current exhibition features Serr’s own artwork, showcasing photographs taken during two separate trips to India in 2009 and 2016, as well as several of her paintings and monographs.

In addition to creating exhibits, Peck works with Guardian Fine Art Services’ staff to handle the art and create hardware for each show, arranges exhibit openings, coordinates artist talks, and helps Serr and Shannon acquire new pieces for their collection.

Peck is good at this type of work because she’s done it before. While she attended UWM and worked toward her Master’s degree in art history and her certificate in museum studies, Peck also worked at the Union Art Gallery. There, she was responsible for curating exhibits, from finding pieces to put together in a show to installing those works of art on walls or in cases.

“That opportunity was valuable because I had many different experiences installing shows and working with students,” said Peck.

It also landed her in her current position: “(Serr and Shannon) knew about me from the Union Gallery. They had seen some of my exhibits there,” she said.

After she graduated in 2015, Peck accepted the pair’s offer of an internship to curate and catalogue their private collection before being announced as The Warehouse’s curator when the venue opened. Serr and Shannon often recruit from UWM; Guardian Fine Art Services and The Warehouse boast a large number of university graduates, including Katie Steffan (‘15, MA History). Serr herself is a UWM alumna.

“Go Panthers,” Peck joked.

As an alum, though, she has some advice for current students: Be open to all sorts of opportunities, no matter how small, obscure, or crazy-sounding they may be.

“I took a chance on the internship when I first got the email offer from Jan and John,” she recalled. “I feel so fortunate to have a job doing what I love.”

By Sarah Vickery, College of Letters & Science