CEDARBURG CULTURAL CENTER
Julie Ashlock
As Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence at Milwaukee Area Technical College, Julie is committed to helping faculty adapt to contemporary approaches to teaching and learning by consistently developing within their profession. Her education includes a Doctor of Education in Higher and Postsecondary Education – Teaching and Learning, an MFA in Painting and Drawing from the University of Oregon and a BFA in Art from Colorado State University.
As an artist, Julie investigates an interaction between her physical and spiritual body and the natural world. She typically begins her work by going out and gathering sketches from life, paying close attention to the sensations she feels, hears, sees, smells, and tastes; translating them into visual form. She allows the sensuality and beauty of lived experiences to come through in color and mark. To enter her work requires taking a risk, not knowing exactly where one is, or what adventures might be ahead. Julie has 20+ years of experience as an academic leader and teacher in postsecondary education.
Julie completed The Artist’s Way program five years ago and looks forward to utilizing her experience in teaching this program at the CCC.
Alice Struck
Alice Struck is a local artist, instructor and art therapist who has been working in southeast Wisconsin for 35 years. From early on, she wanted to become an artist. She made room for art while raising her family, replacing oil paints with watercolors because they were a safer medium to use around her children. "The most important direction I took was choosing watercolor, which shaped the way I see and approach a painting," says Alice.
Her passion is painting the special qualities of light in landscapes and urban neighborhoods of the Midwest, especially Wisconsin. She paints outdoors on location in a plein air style as well as in her studio. “I hope to capture an emotional expression with the spontaneous beauty of watercolors,” shares Struck. She participates in art shows, solo and group exhibits and plein air events. Her work is housed in numerous private and public art collections locally as well as internationally in Great Britain and Canada.
Alice received her Bachelor of Art from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Master of Science in Art Therapy from Mount Mary College. She is credentialed by the American Art Therapy Association as an art therapist and registered/certified by the Art Therapy Credentials Board.
During her career, Struck served as director for Donna Lexa Community Art Center. She taught as an adjunct instructor of graduate and undergraduate courses in art, interior design and art therapy for Mount Mary College and Marian College of Fond Du Lac. She has worked as an art therapist, therapeutic recreation department art therapist and activity director with Autumn Lakes Health Care. She continues teaching art classes with the Cedarburg Cultural Center and has since 2000.
A longtime leader in the community, she served as president of the Cedarburg Artists Guild and president of the Wisconsin Art Therapy Association and currently serves as president of the Wisconsin Watercolor Society-since 2017. She is a longstanding member of the League of Milwaukee Artists and Wisconsin Plein Air Painter's Association.