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Whitewater’s ‘Art in Motion’ to benefit nonprofit arts center

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Photo by Tony DiNicola

Arts in Motion routes

WHITEWATER — Calling all walkers, runners, bicyclists and wheelchair users: The arts for people of all abilities need your support.

Studio 84, 121 W. Center St., a nonprofit arts center that focuses on the creative abilities of all people, is seeking participants for its first major fundraiser, “Art in Motion.”

The event invites people of all ages using all modes of transportation—from their own two legs walking, running or pedaling to their own two arms spinning the wheels of a wheelchair—to traverse one of four courses in and around Whitewater in the name of art.

“We didn’t want to limit it to just bike riders or just runners,” like traditional fundraising races, said center director Deborah Blackwell. “We thought of this concept of ‘Art in Motion’ and thought of how many modes of transportation we can include. We wanted to open it up more to people of various abilities.”

Studio 84 caters to all people but puts an emphasis on serving people with physical and cognitive disabilities. Community members explore music, dance, theater and the visual arts through regular classes and special workshops. Others, including local artists and college art students, use open studio time to work on projects or rehearse.

“Art in Motion” participants pay an entry fee but also may collect pledges to get their registration fee waived. Routes are 1, 3, 13 or 26 miles; the shorter routes go through Whitewater, while the longer routes go out of the city and into the Kettle Moraine State Forest.

All proceeds from entry fees, lunch and T-shirts will go toward programming, Blackwell said. The center founders also would like to start a scholarship fund for people who can’t afford to participate in classes, she said.

Organizers are hoping for a good turnout.

“There are some people who just enter events like this because they want to get out and do it. There are some people who enter events because they support the cause,” Blackwell said. “We’ll gladly accept all of them.”