MILWAUKEE — The Pfister Hotel is now featuring its 14th artist in residence. The residency is a chance for artists to connect with Pfister guests who visit from here in Wisconsin and from around the world.
Nicole Acosta is the Pfister’s first Latina resident artist.
She said she thinks of herself as a multi-disciplinary artist who likes to change things up and dabble in different mediums. Right now, her focus is on hoop earrings.
“The hoops project is a body of work that is about — I’ve been traveling the country photographing women in their hoop earrings and I collect their stories about what hoop earrings mean to them,” said Acosta.
Acosta said she has interviewed and photographed over 100 women from around the country about their hoop earrings. She’s writing a coffee-table book that will be filled with their stories.
She said some people think their earrings offer protection, others feel they bring them closer to their ancestral roots and most feel a strong sense of power from their hoops.
“They’re very symbolic for folks of color, predominantly Black, brown and Indigenous people, so there’s a lot of different meanings for every culture, and every person who shares their stories with me, it’s never the same story,” said Acosta.
Briana Greer is the chief concierge at the Pfister Hotel. She said the residence program gives guests the chance to see more than just the Victorian art displayed throughout the hotel.
Greer said she believes it’s an opportunity for local artists to showcase their work to a vast audience.
“It is so special to have an artist come and stay with us for six months to a year and open up their art and their views and for guests to come in and be really wowed that we have other views of art,” said Greer.
Acosta said she hopes to “wow” Pfister guests and the people who read her book once it’s published.
“For a lot of people, they mean memories, they mean tradition, they mean resistance and so there’s not just one answer to what hoop earrings symbolize,” said Acosta.
Acosta said she plans to keep asking these questions as she creates what she calls a “modern day archive” of people’s personal stories and what hoop earrings mean to them.