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OUR STORY

TODAY: LUNA CREATIVE COLLABORATIONS

Today, Luna Creative Collaborations is a Latina-owned creative practice and project management business led by founder and Creative Director Katie Avila Loughmiller. While our roots are in the Latine artist collective, our work has evolved significantly since those early years.

 

Luna Creative Collaborations now works with artists of color across disciplines to develop and execute meaningful creative projects in partnership with organizations, institutions, businesses, and communities. Our work includes public art, artist project management, community engagement, workshops, exhibitions, creative strategy, and collaborative cultural projects.

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We believe artists should not have to fit a particular mold—or have a certain level of institutional experience—to participate in meaningful creative opportunities. We work with artists where they are, meeting them at their current stage of practice and helping them bring their ideas, skills, and creative vision to life. We do not use a lack of traditional arts-world experience as a barrier to collaboration.

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Our commitment to artists of color is central to our work. We exclusively work with artists of color, while creating opportunities that recognize the wide range of cultural backgrounds, artistic practices, experiences, and perspectives within our communities.

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Luna’s history as a Latina-founded and Latina-owned organization will always be an important part of our story—and that remains true today. Luna Creative Collaborations has grown and evolved since we began, building on those roots while expanding the scope of who we work with and what we create together. We carry forward the relationships, values, and community-centered approach that shaped us, while making space for a broader community of artists of color and new possibilities for collaboration.

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Owner, founder & CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Katie Avila Loughmiller is a Milwaukee-based interdisciplinary artist, educator, producer, and creative consultant whose work sits at the intersection of art, community, and civic life. As the Owner, Founder, and Creative Director of Luna Creative Collaborations, she works with artists and organizations on public art, community engagement, project management, and creative consulting, with a focus on creating meaningful and equitable opportunities for artists of color.

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Katie has taught and directed theatre at UW–Milwaukee since 2019 and has worked across Milwaukee’s cultural sector in community engagement, partnerships, programming, and creative production. Most recently, she served as a Community Partnerships Consultant with the Milwaukee Public Museum and has spent the past four seasons consulting with Milwaukee Chamber Theatre on partnerships, community engagement, and impact.

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Her creative practice also extends into film, including work as Coordinating Producer and Assistant Editor on the documentary Out of the Picture, which premiered at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and screened nationally and internationally. Her work has been recognized with the City of Milwaukee’s Vel R. Phillips Trailblazer Award and Milwaukee Magazine’s Unity Award.

PAST: LUNA (LATINAS UNIDAS EN LAS ARTES)

Luna Creative Collaborations began in 2017 as LUNA (Latinas Unidas en Las Artes), founded by Katie Avila Loughmiller and Gabriela Riveros in response to the lack of Latine representation they saw in Milwaukee’s arts community. What began as a group of artists grew into a collective of more than 30 members, producing exhibitions, community events, workshops, and public art while creating new opportunities and visibility for Latine artists throughout Milwaukee. In 2019, after being selected as a Brew City Match recipient, LUNA became an official LLC and opened a temporary space on Cesar Chavez Drive. The experience helped launch and expand the careers of many LUNA artists while laying the groundwork for a more sustainable creative practice. Over time, the work evolved beyond the original collective model. Luna Creative Collaborations remains Latina-owned and deeply rooted in its history of supporting Latine artists, while now working exclusively with artists of color more broadly. This evolution reflects a commitment that has always been at the heart of the work: creating meaningful opportunities for artists and connecting their creative practices with communities, organizations, and audiences.

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COLLECTIVE HIGHLIGHTS

When LUNA was a collective, it was big part of Milwaukee's art scene highlighting Latinx artists in the area. Here are a list of LUNA's exhibitions, events and accomplishments that happened during the collective years:

EXHIBITIONS 

  • Hyphenated Americas at Latino Arts March-June 2021

  • Dia de Los Muertos Ofrenda at Latino Arts, October-November 2020

  • Leaders that We Love Virtual Exhibition August 17-20, 2020 (during the DNC)

  • #TEAMLUNAMKE at Hangout MKE Cafe & Lounge, November 2019-January 2020

  • Superstitions at LUNA Pop-Up Store & Studio, October-December 2019

  • Hoops at Urban Ecology Menomonee Valley, September-November 2019

  • Sol at Genesis MKE, July-August 2019

  • LUNA at Leenhouts Gallery in First Unitarian Society, May-June 2019

  • Debut LUNA Exhibition at Muse 33, July-August 2018

CO-FOUNDERS OF THE COLLECTIVE

Katie Avila Loughmiller and Gabriela Riveros, who met as co-workers at a local Milwaukee arts nonprofit and quickly bonded over their shared commitment to creating more space for Latine artists in the city’s arts community. Katie brought her background in social practice, community engagement, and arts programming, while Gabi brought her experience as an artist, designer, and creative collaborator. What they built together grew beyond what either could have imagined and became a chapter of their careers and community work that they remain incredibly proud of.

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EVENTS + ACCOMPLISHMENTS

  • Commissioned by former County Executive Chris Abele to design and install a mural for the Milwaukee County Courthouse in March 2020.

  • LUNA artists were selected to vend and showcase work at MAM After Dark: Miami Nights in January 2020.

  • One of the 12 diverse businesses selected for the Pop-UP MKE program in Fall 2019.

  • Finalists and Third Place Winner of the Clarke Square Small Business Contest in 2019.

  • Sponsors of Frida Fest MKE at Farmhouse Paint and Sip in. July 2019.

  • Invited guests at the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), which is a program of the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs, Office of International Visitors in July 2019.

  • Created a temporary mural for Lopez Bakery as a part of Temporary (Re)Surfacing on Historic Mitchell Street in May 2019.

  • Featured artists Milwaukee Art Museum Kohl’s Art Generation Family Sundays: Wisconsin Artists Program, Home: Celebrating Our Refugee Communities at Lynden Sculpture Garden, Riverwest 24, FemFest 2019, Silver City International Festival and Ciclovia MKE (May 2019-September 2019). 

  • LUNA artists were selected to showcase work at  the 2019 LULAC Convention and Exposition.

  • LUNA donated work to the Milwaukee Women's Art Library, created by curator Ashley Janke, currently housed at the Charles Allis Museum.

  • We've been panelists and  guest speakers at Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, the Milwaukee Women's Art Library, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Startup Milwaukee Week.

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