Published Aug. 27, 2005, in the Waukesha Freeman

Story by Matthew Webber

WAUKESHA - Three of the largest art collections in the Waukesha area do not appear on Art Crawl maps. One is within walking distance of Main Street; the other two are miles from downtown.

Ranging in size from 25 to 40 pieces, the collections contain nearly as many paintings and sculptures as the Almont Gallery, where many of the works were sold.

With landscapes, portraits and abstracts decorating the walls and mantels, the buildings resemble galleries or museums. Two of them even have museum-style lighting.

From the sidewalk, though, they look like homes.

Through several years of collecting what they like, Bob Fowley, the Riske family and the Volpano family have transformed their residences into Art Crawl-worthy showcases of Waukesha art.

Their reasons for collecting vary - beautifying a living room, wanting nice things to look at, supporting local artists - but the results are the same.

As Fowley said, "It just touches my soul."

The Fowley gallery

A CD of classical music almost drowned out his voice. But not even the dim apartment lighting could hide the size and beauty of his art collection or his joy and pride at showing it off to a stranger.

"I'm a greedy person," Fowley joked, leading a reporter through his kitchenette, bedroom and living room, where there was more artwork on the walls than white space. Some of his favorite paintings dangled over the window frame. "Every time I go into a gallery, I see all this beauty, and I want it."

Because his apartment in the Saratoga Heights complex has only one bedroom, Fowley must rearrange his collection to accommodate each new painting. He estimates he owns 40 pieces of art, mostly landscapes from local artists but also a few abstract sculptures.

"Every time I go into a gallery and I see a painting I want, I picture, 'I'm going to put it there,'" he said, pointing to a spot between a bookshelf full of books and the window. "I come home and put it there and it doesn't work. So I play around. Somehow (the paintings) find their own home."

Fowley's favorite paintings are scenes of water or fields, but he likes whatever makes him feel good.

"I call this art 'elevator art,'" he said. "I have kind of a depressive personality, and I walk in here and my mood goes up."

The Riske gallery

When Mark and Lisa Riske were having their house built, they designed it with their art collection in mind. Large windows in the living room provide natural lighting. They also installed museum-style lighting to spotlight some of their favorite paintings.

The 30 or so paintings, dispersed into almost every room, are as colorful and bright as the decor.

"It's kind of an eclectic collection," Mark Riske said. "There isn't any particular theme or style. If we see something we like, we buy it. Often, for me, it's color."

Back when they were dating, the Riskes discovered browsing art galleries was something they enjoyed doing together. Married and living in a new house on Charles Street, organizing their large collection of local artwork is their new hobby.

"She's working her way up and down, because we've got a family room downstairs, so I don't know where anything goes anymore," he said.

"We have played musical paintings, moving everything around," Lisa Riske added.

Visitors to the Riske home always comment on the uniqueness of the pieces in contrast to store-bought prints, which is something the Riskes also enjoy about their collection.

"Each piece is one of a kind," she said. "You're not going into a resale shop at the mall where everyone's got it and you've seen it."

"Or where it's one of 300 prints," he said. "It's all original."

The Volpano gallery

For the Volpano family, art is a family affair. The parents, Mike and Vickie, buy and display artwork, including pieces by their two children, throughout the color-coordinated house on Merlin Lane in the town of Waukesha.

When they're not entering art contests, the children, David, 17, and Ellie, 13, buy art, too.

The only art the family seems to dislike is the paint on a bare wall.

Growing from "bare walls and a need" to a walkway, sunroom and every other part of the house filled with a couple dozen local masterpieces, the family's collection is a hobby, conversation starter and show of support for Waukesha all in one.

"It's more than just buying something at the store to fill the space on your wall," said Mike Volpano, agreeing with the other collectors. "We get the story behind each one, and it's always fun to have people come over and talk about that stuff. ... I think Waukesha has a lot to offer to draw people in from other communities."

Surrounded by pieces of "dramatically different" styles and color that "popped right off the wall," Vickie Volpano said she has fallen in love with both the quality and the value of Waukesha artwork.

The entire family, she said, is "enthused about going down to the gallery, seeing the art and attending the art crawls, which are just great fun."

Perhaps surprisingly, Mike Volpano claimed his family are not collectors. Instead, like Fowley and the Riskes, displaying art is something they just love to do.

"People say we're collectors, but I don't feel like we're collectors," he said. "It's just, all of a sudden, we look around and we've got a lot of things here."