Faythe Levine opening a new art gallery

There were a lot of sad faces in the Milwaukee arts community last May when artist Faythe Levine and business partner Kim Kisiolek closed up shop at Bay View’s well-regarded Paper Boat Boutique & Gallery. But almost exactly a year later, Levine has put herself back into the local gallery game at a location just down the street from where Paper Boat used to be. Her new art space will be situated at Sky High Skateboard Shop (2501 S. Howell Ave.) and open June 5 with an outdoor skate jam, barbecue, and the first installment of the Temporary Milwaukee Artist Mural project featuring Alyssa Schulte.

Levine told The A.V. Club that she plans to invite a different Milwaukee artist to paint an original 8-by-8-foot mural every two months. And she’s not stopping there: The gallery, which will be a non-traditional space tucked in the back of the skate shop, is already booked through the end of the year. The first official show featuring San Francisco artist Joe Roberts will open during Summer Gallery Night July 23 and 24.

“Since I made the commitment to stay in Milwaukee I wanted to make sure to keep contributing to the creative art community by sharing local and national work that I am excited about,” Levine told us in an e-mail. Sitting up a gallery in a skateboard shop might seem like a strange match, but for Levine partnering with Sky High owner Aaron Polansky was ideal. “We are both committed to visual culture and our local community and this mix of skateboarding and the arts is a perfect blend,” she said. For more information go online here or follow Sky High on Facebook and Twitter.