Northwestern Mutual, The Water Council, Odyne Systems LLC and Discovery World at Pier Wisconsin are among this year’s recipients of the Milwaukee Business Journal’s Eureka Awards.

Launched last year, these awards recognize creativity, innovation and progress in business, the arts, education, health care and other areas. For this year, a Junior Eureka category was created to honor high school and college innovators. The winner in that category is Alex Francis and Isopoint Technologies, a firm operating in the field of microfluidic technology.

“We received numerous nominations again this year, making it a very competitive process,” said Mark Kass, the Business Journal’s editor-in-chief, on selecting winners. “Southeastern Wisconsin is filled with innovative thinkers and organizations, and we’re proud we can honor at least some of them through these awards.”

The Eureka Award winners will be profiled in our May 9 print edition and at an awards luncheon that day in downtown Milwaukee.

Click the slideshow to see this year’s winners including The Pfister Hotel’s Artist-in-Residence Program.

Original Article by Kristine Hansen for FSR Magazine

February 28, 2014 | Gil Haddi  for TrendReports.com 

“I’m going to give you 652 reasons to fire me this year.” Not a line most people would directly tell their boss, but if you’re Chris Anderson, you wouldn’t have it any other way because, as he boldly states, “If I can’t effect change, I become stagnant and am no longer on my own creative path.”

Chris Anderson, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Brand Development
As the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Brand Development, Chris runs everything from sales channels, revenue strategy and all the marketing engines including e-commerce and brand and concept development for Marcus Hotels & Resorts, based in Milwaukee, Wis. Describing the workplace culture at Marcus Hotels, he describes how he is careful to create an atmosphere that is welcome and open to innovation, often partaking in meetings with the various teams he oversees and encouraging people to come up with wild and creative ideas. “Because everything is digital nowadays,” Chris continues to explain that everything his team plans revolves around the way Gen X and Millennials have come to expect instant gratification and real content from real people.

Three questions with Chris Anderson:

1. How do you create a culture of innovation?

As a team leader, I work to create an environment where, it’s not only accepted, but it’s expected for people to dream up new things and put their weird ideas on the wall. If you are not part of the process, you don’t get invited back. We have a few rules when it comes to these dream sessions; the first is that we have to meet someplace different and unconventional because your standard everyday boardrooms are not conducive to our minds being open to new things. We ideate in a new space, which we call a “think space” so that we can come up with creative solutions and strategies. The second rule I follow is to separate these ideation meetings into two sessions with two separate groups. The first phase is where I get all my dreamers to attend so that they can get ideation flowing and come up with a few great ideas without any negative influence in the room… and by negative influence, I mean those who can’t dream. In the second phase, we bring these ideas in front of the realists who act as a sounding board and ground the ideas in reality. I believe there are two different types of people, those that possess Moxy, and those that like to be around those that do. We also like to mix things up, holding meetings at different times of the day, sometimes inviting a fair portion of red bull and wine in a casual reception setting getting people comfortable so that their ideas flow more easily.

The human asset is extremely unique and I’m fine with separating my teams into those who have a propensity to dream and act and those who are comfortable with the status quo. We need both but most people don’t bother separating them, fearing they may offend some. Boldly, I separate them to allow the innovators to dream without interference, then I bring them together to maintain a balance. It also keeps the realists on their toes as I think they all would like to be dreamers one day.

2. What resources do you use to come up with new ideas?

We use different survey tools and brand analytics to aggregate consumer data, but if you just listen to the customer, they will tell you everything you need to know. Getting your customer base to come back and grow is about how you choose to use the data at your disposal. As an example, we have tried to make the arrival experience as seamless as possible. For resorts and leisure travel, it can be hectic for families to make reservations and organize a trip, especially if it’s their first time. As soon as you arrive outside our doors, we strive to make it a comfortable environment, paying attention to the smallest details such as overhead space heaters, welcoming music and a lobby ambassador who talks to and relaxes guests as they enter the lobby. Millennials who are out looking for adventure, on the other hand, experience this very differently than those traveling for leisure. For every situation, or customer stage, it is important to have someone controlling the scenography, making sure the scene is set perfectly in one of our most important stages – the lobby. This is an important room because people tend to sit and converse here, and everyone is constantly coming and going through the lobby, so it needs to feel immediately welcome; a a natural gathering place that has people longing to return once they’ve checked in.

We pore over user-generated information daily so we can tell when one of the pools is busy, when someone is having trouble with their WiFi or if they don’t like the view from their room, and we try to fix problems quickly, while they are still on property. Monthly, we run a trend report to see any recurring issues for each month. We want to know as much as we can as fast as we can to create systems and processes where people sit down with the data and analyze it so we can change perception and understand what our guests are saying about the value proposition we offer. Higher rates may mean guests expect more and a high-demand situation means we pour on the service.

3. Have there been instances where outside influences inspire innovation at Marcus Hotels?

I love looking at innovators in the hospitality industry in general including airlines, restaurants and anyone providing a service. I’m a huge fan and follower of Richard Branson who is one of the biggest risk-takers and innovators out there right now. He is continually hosting think tanks and training seminars, trying to come out with the next greatest thing and millions of people rally behind him. It’s about knowing how you can become part of the trend and using it to make your product or service better for the consumer. Not everyone wants to check in on a mobile app while some people crave the social media connection; you can’t be all things to all people. We spend a lot of time thinking about how and why people buy and what it takes to make our product readily available.

Millennials are always a source of inspiration for us. I find that my youngest team members are great to get together for some fresh thinking. I always tell my team, life is one big R&D department and I reward people for taking risks. We often have cross-over from realists and dreamers because they have a positive influence on each other so I make sure to bring in people from different departments and age groups at appropriate times during our discovery sessions. Remember, there are people in life who have Moxy and then there are other people that like to be around those with Moxy, hoping to find their own, which reminds me of my favorite quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Do not go where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”

March 4, 2014 | Bobby Tanzilo for OnMilwaukee.com 

Milwaukee hotel magnate and philanthropist Walter Schroeder has left traces of himself across this city and the state.

His donations to places like Marquette University, Milwaukee School of Engineering and the YMCA have guaranteed his name lingers at those institutions.

He built seven hotels in Wisconsin and Minnesota – all of which still stand and some of which continue to operate as hotels today – and purchased two others (including one in Michigan).

In some places he’s rumored to have left his spirit to roam, too. But that’s not the case at the Milwaukee Hilton City Center, 509 W. Wisconsin Ave., the more than 25-story, 275-foot landmark – designed by Holabird and Roche – that still makes its case on the Downtown skyline, even if you ignore the soaring broadcast antenna that rises off its roof.

One source puts the antenna’s height at more than 350 feet, making it – if that’s true – considerably taller than the building itself.

“He built this one as his pride and joy,” says the Hilton’s Jacob Ruck, as we stand in the gorgeous, ornate upper lobby of the hotel built in 1927 as the Schroeder Hotel.

Walter Schroeder built the current Hilton City Center in 1927 as the jewel of his regional hotel chain

“It was THE grand hotel in town when it opened. He had other properties in Milwaukee. He had Hotel Wisconsin, which is now the condo buildings right there. He had the Astor Hotel. Those were his three properties here.”

Since Schroeder, who died in 1967, sold the hotel in 1964, it has been a Sheraton, was briefly owned by Towne Realty and has been in the Marcus Hotels portfolio since the early ’70s. It was initially called the Marc Plaza, but became a Hilton franchisee – still owned by Marcus – in 1995.

The 729-room hotel also includes a 12-story addition designed by Kahler-Slater and opened in 2000.

One of the features I love best about the Hilton is its two-story lobby. Guests can enter from Wisconsin Avenue or 5th Street into the lower lobby, which is home to the Milwaukee Chop House (older readers might remember it as The Patio), the Cafe, a barber shop/hair salon, a Starbucks and the Miller Time Pub.

Down here, be sure to note the shiny brass work that instantly marks the building as a Milwaukee art deco gem.

Head up the two flights of stairs that lead to opposite sides of the upper lobby and you encounter an explosion of jazz age decor. Schroeder spared little expense in creating his enduring masterpiece and, fortunately for us, much of it has survived and been cared for.

There are gargantuan pillars – marble at the bottom, gilt above – brass rails and grates galore, a range of elaborate chandeliers and moldings.

“People come in all the time and they compare us to The Palmer House (in Chicago’s Loop) – same architects, same time frame, so it does have a lot of the same feel with the large grand lobby, and the elevated lobby, too,” says Ruck.

“This is how the lobby looked and felt when the hotel opened, there’s a little bit more plant life, some smaller chairs and everything is a little bit more opened up.”

The Monarch Lounge restores the open feel of the upper lobby.

For years, the eastern part of the lobby was walled off to create a ballroom – its tall windows overlooking 5th Street boarded up – but that wall has come down and the space is now once again a lobby bar – now called The Monarch Lounge – restoring the lobby’s open feel, though not its 80-plus-foot serpentine bar, which was the longest in Milwaukee in its day.

In fact, says Ruck, the lobby is more open now than it was in the past. In the beginning, the open staircase up from the lower lobby was covered. However, up a few steps to the north, there is a partition and doors that were not there in 1927.

“Up to the Empire Ballroom there, the partition with the glass and the curtains wasn’t there,” says Ruck. “It just opened up into what was the main dining room for the hotel, before the days of specialty restaurants.”

We take a peek in the Empire Room, which is the site weddings and formal functions these days. The chandeliers are original, though some of the colors on the walls have changed.

Ruck – who is the hotel’s housekeeping manager, but also its unofficial historian – knows more about the changes than many have known in the past, thanks in part to a meeting a couple years ago.

“Two summers ago, we met with Walter Schroeder’s great-great niece, and she gave us a lot of artifacts from his life,” he says. “She had kept a lot of things, and she has a lot of fond memories of this room.”

“Her Uncle Walter would call and say, ‘Hey we’re going to watch the Circus Parade,’ and they would set up and watch out of the windows (that look down onto Wisconsin Avenue). It’s cool to hear stories like that.”

Across the lobby from the Empire Room, just past the elevators, is the Hilton Lounge, which some older readers may remember as the Bombay Bicycle Club. Nowaways, it’s a perks place for top-tier Hilton Honors members.

There’s breakfast in the morning, cocktails in the evening and computers, TVs, magazines, newspapers and snacks mostly all the time. Occasionally, the room is rented for wedding receptions and other events.

“When the hotel opened, it was a private breakfast room,” says Ruck, as we look at a multi-tiered glass case that houses some historical hotel memorabilia. “If you didn’t want to have breakfast in the main dining room, you could rent out your own private dining room. It was actually called the Loraine Room after Walter Schroeder’s niece … he named his hotel in Madison after her, too.

“It’s been a separate space since the hotel opened.”

Upstairs is the Crystal Ballroom, the hotel’s biggest rental space. When it opened, it was called the Silver Ballroom and you only need to see it to understand why. While everything below is polished brass, silver accents are everywhere in this sprawling space.

The Silver Ballroom, now called the Crystal Ballroom, is the largest rental space at the hotel.

There are bird-themed panels, mirrors, fancy chandeliers, heavy drapery and ornate grills that open to reveal radiators.

“With a hotel of this age, most of our heating is done via radiators – a two-pipe system,” says Ruck. “Parts of the hotel have modern, individual HVAC units, but for the most part we’re on a two-pipe system. When it’s warm out, we have the air conditioning on, and when it’s cold out, we have the heat on.”

Though you might not think of it as an ornate place, look again, the Hilton is bathed in ornaments inside. Even outside, there are carved stone panels even up at the roofline – some even face inward toward the roof – where few, if any, could really be expected to see them.

“With the grandeur of the ’20s,” says Ruck. “No expense was spared when it was built. It was built at a cost of $7 million, in late ’20s (dollars).”

We peek in to see Walter Schroeder’s office, with its wood paneling and gilt ceiling. It now serves as a small meeting room.

Ruck takes me on a pretty intensive tour. We see kitchens and even go out on the roof to stand at the base of the broadcast tower (there is no ladder on the tower, which makes me wonder how anyone gets up to the top when that’s required), see the view of Downtown (which is pretty awesome) and peer into the top-floor water tanks, now disused, that once guaranteed water pressure to all floors.

Just below is the 25th floor, which housed an old radio studio, the remnants of which were converted last year into offices and a meeting room. Twenty-five is now home to Hilton University, where new staffers are trained.

He shows me some rooms and explains how the hotel used to have many more guest rooms – about 850 total – than it does today. That’s because the rooms were built quite small and were later enlarged to meet modern tastes and standards.

“When you get up to the top of the hotel, there’s just one hallway of rooms, and that goes from the 20th through the 24th floor,” says Ruck. “When it was the Marc Plaza, it operated as a hotel within a hotel, you know, the Marc Plaza Towers – the largest rooms, best views. (Floors) 20 through 24 are all king sized beds, no doubles or queens, and they all have the best views of the city.”

From the 19th floor down, the hotel floors are H-shaped and there is a wider variety of rooms available.

One room that is anything but small is the Presidential Suite, right where you’d expect it to be, up at the top and with views to the east, north and west. The multi-room – and multi-bath – suite, with attached kitchen, was built as Schroeder’s personal apartment and later hosted President John F. Kennedy, among other noted guests.

“The largest suite in the city and the largest suite in the state,” Ruck says. “The flat rate is $1,500 for an evening. This is the dining room, complete with a fireplace. The fireplace is non-functioning, though, now.

The Presidential Suite was built as Walter Schroder’s private apartment.

“When we have conventions in town, most of the time the head of the convention will stay in the presidential suite, and use this as a prep area. But when Walter Schroeder designed it, it was the kitchen for his apartment. And he had a view; he had the best view of Downtown in the city.”

We find a couple wooden panels that open up to reveal “secret” bookcases that had been forgotten about until Secret Service found them.

“I believe the story goes that when presidents stay here, Secret Service is here checking for bugs and things like that and they found hollow spaces. These were discovered through a sweep before a presidential visit.”

A former walk-in safe is now a bedroom closet. An old telephone room – with acoustic tiles – survives, too.

There are three other specialty suites in the hotel: The Governor’s Suite, The Plaza Suite and the Royal Suite. The latter is suited to honeymoons, with its hot tub, the Plaza is aimed at business travelers and has a room with a small conference table.

The Governor’s Suite is sort of a mini version of the Presidential Suite. The same attention to classic luxury detail, but on a smaller scale and a lower floor.

In the basement, we see where Ruck trains his housekeeping staff and we get to see housekeeping storage, too. Down here there are also three staircases that now go nowhere. They’re all boarded up at the top, but open at the bottom, which has an eerie feel.

One of them leads straight up to the corner of 5th and Wisconsin, to the main street entrance to the Miller Time Pub.

Finally, we head to the sub-basement. Ruck has read my spelunkings before so he knows I want to check it out. We can see the old coal storage bunkers and the remnants of the brick and iron trash incinerators and other infrastructure.

Here we’re two stories beneath Wisconsin Avenue and still, no hint of Schroeder’s ghost. But having just seen much of the two dozen and more stories above our heads, it’s clear that Schroeder has left a tangible legacy in Milwaukee.

February 26, 2014 | BizTimes Milwaukee 

Edward Carrella, Corporate Director of Restaurants, Marcus Hotels and Resorts
Company address: 100 E. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53202
Website: www.marcushotels.com
Industry: Hospitality
Number of employees: 5, 000
Family: Wife (Megan), Son (Luciano), Daughter (Sophia)

What drew you to the restaurant industry?
“I literally grew up in the business. The year I was born was the year my family opened our first pizzeria on the south side of Chicago. I developed my passion for food and the restaurant business from my mother and father. They loved to cook and take care of people. In our family, how you expressed your love was by cooking and taking care of guests.”

What will be your priorities as you settle into your role as corporate director of restaurants for Marcus Hotels & Resorts?
“The biggest priorities will be standardizing brands and working with all the restaurants to increase revenue and drive profits.”

What challenges will Marcus Hotels & Resorts and its restaurants face throughout the year?
“Keeping up with the pace of the industry is always a challenge. It seems that whenever you turn a corner, someone is opening a new restaurant or trying something different that sets them apart. The restaurant industry itself is so dynamic and tough that you always need to stay one step ahead.”

How do you think Milwaukee’s restaurant market differs from that of other cities?
“It’s a smaller market but a powerful one. I think because of the smaller market you can build loyalty very quickly. In bigger markets, it’s hard to build that because there is so much to choose from. It can hurt you as well being in a small market because if you are not a good restaurant, your guests will let you know.”

Do you have a business mantra?
“Real food for real people.”

From a business standpoint, who do you look up to?
“I have always looked up to great restaurateurs like Rich Melman, David Overton and Danny Meyer. They are the best in the business and know how to run a successful business.”

What was the best advice you ever received?
“Don’t be afraid to take risks and challenge yourself. You will never move a business forward if you don’t take risks.”

What’s the funniest thing that ever happened to you in your career?
“When I was working for a restaurant in Chicago, there was a time I had to go help the bartender behind the bar. There were a bunch of people sitting at the bar, and they started ordering shots. So I started mixing the drinks, and I thought it would be cool if I tried doing some flair with the bottles and mixing tin. And oh, by the way, I did not know how to flair. Well needless to say, I starting spinning the mixing tin and all the alcohol shot out the container and all over me. The whole bar starting laughing and one guy shouted, ‘Looks like the drinks are on you!’”

What do you like to do in your free time?
“Spend time with my family, watch sports and play golf.”

What makes a restaurant a good one? What’s your favorite restaurant?
“I think that restaurants that focus on consistent practices in food and service are the most successful. The biggest struggle that restaurants face is guests who receive great service or food one visit and not so great the next time. My favorite restaurants are the ones that are consistent in their execution. A few that come to mind are Francesca’s Restaurant Group out of Chicago and family- owned restaurants that when dine there you feel like family.”

February 26, 2014 | Katie Priebe for WKOW Madison 

MADISON (WKOW) — It’s a place for relaxation and support during their road to recovery.

To view the interview, visit WKOW’s website. 

Hilton Madison launches a Carbone Ribbon Room to support the UW Carbone Cancer Center and raise money for cancer research. The room features journals, personal stories and artwork as a way to band together and support those struggling with cancer.

The artwork is designed by a local Madison artist, Angelina Paoli, who is a cancer survivor herself.

Each night the room is reserved, the Hilton Madison will donate $25 to UWCCC. Patients being treated at UWCCC will also have the opportunity to stay in the Carbone Ribbon Room, as an effort to provide additional relaxation and support during their road to recovery.

As a result of the 1971 National Cancer Act, the Carbone Cancer Center was established at UW-Madison as one of the first six university-based comprehensive cancer centers of excellence. The UWCCC is involved in groundbreaking clinical trials and research studies to find new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer.

Click here for more information.

Home to a collection of more Victorian-style art than any other hotel in the world, the historic Pfister Hotel, which is owned and managed by Marcus® Hotels & Resorts, has hosted a popular Artist-in-Residence program for the past five years. The Pfister’s selection committee has chosen multi-media sculptor Niki Johnson as its sixth resident artist. She will begin working in the hotel’s lobby-level Artist’s Studio beginning April 2014, succeeding current Pfister artist Stephanie Barenz, and will work in the studio for one year.

“I’m thrilled to have been selected as the next artist in residence at The Pfister and can’t wait to get started in the Artist’s Studio,” said Johnson. “The body of artwork I will be creating this year will involve sculpting six child-sized bathtubs out of oil clay, and then casting them in porcelain. Each bathtub will depict heroines from fairytales by the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson.”

Along with the bathtubs, Johnson will create a series of corresponding limited edition commemorative plates; both will depict the stories of Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, The Princess and the Pea, Rapunzel, and Thumbelina. Visitors to the studio will watch her build and shape elements for the bathtubs, such as braiding yards of hair for the Rapunzel tub and dying feathers for Snow White. The creation of each porcelain bathtub will involve Johnson’s molding, casting and firing of these artworks in her home studio. She will document these processes with photos, which will be displayed on a TV screen inside the Artist’s Studio to provide guests with a holistic experience of her process.

Over the past three years, Johnson has taught two discussion sections for the Foundations Department in Contemporary Art History at University of Wisconsin—Madison, as well as several classes at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, including Foundry, Advanced Mold-Making and Casting, 3D Design and 2D Glassworks. She also participates in speaking engagements through the National Council for Education in the Ceramic Arts and is a blogger for the Huffington Post.

“With each passing year, our Artist-in-Residence Program grows stronger and our applicants even more talented,” said Paul Ohm, general manager of The Pfister. “We can’t wait to see the new dynamic Niki will bring to the program and our guests.”

Johnson was one of six finalists included in a four-week public voting period. In addition to the public vote via Facebook, texting, and in-person ballots, a selection committee, consisting of leaders in the local art community, made the final decision in choosing the next Artist in Residence. This year’s selection committee was comprised of representatives from Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts, Northwestern Mutual, BizStarts Milwaukee, and Haggerty Museum of Art.

The winner of the public vote, Dena Nord, will receive the opportunity to display her work in a solo exhibit at Gallerie M, inside InterContinental Milwaukee, while all finalists from this year and years past will be offered additional opportunities to show their work at future Pfister-sponsored exhibits throughout the Midwest.

Multi-media sculptor Niki Johnson will serve as The Pfister Hotel’s sixth artist in residence, replacing current artist, Stephanie Barenz. Johnson, who was one of six finalists, will work in The Pfister’s art studio for one year, starting April 1.

“I’m thrilled to have been selected as the next artist in residence at The Pfister and can’t wait to get started in the artist’s studio,” says Johnson. “I really love this new body of work, and believe that The Pfister is the right environment for it to come into reality.”

The body of artwork Johnson will create during her year at The Pfister will involve sculpting six child-sized bathtubs out of oil clay, and then casting them in porcelain. Each bathtub will depict heroines from fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson.

Along with the bathtubs, Johnson will create a series of corresponding limited edition commemorative plates. Visitors to the studio will watch her build and shape elements for the bathtubs.

“When I am on site in the artist’s studio, I will build and shape elements for the bathtubs, such as braiding yards of hair for the Rapunzel tub and working with a taxidermied wolf hide for Little Red Riding Hood,” says Johnson.

Other processes necessary to create the porcelain bathtubs, such as molding, casting and firing of the artwork, will take place in her home studio. These activities will be shared with visitors through photos which will be displayed on a TV screen inside the Artist’s Studio.

Johnson received her BFA from the University of Memphis, Tennessee in 2008 and her MA/MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2012.

She has taught two discussion sections for the Foundations Department in Contemporary Art History at University of Wisconsin-Madison, as well as classes at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, including Foundry, Advanced Mold-Making and Casting, 3D Design and 2D Glassworks.

She also participates in speaking engagements through the National Council for Education in the Ceramic Arts and is a blogger for the Huffington Post.

Johnson is also known for the creation of Eggs Benedict, a piece that garnered international attention last year. OnMilwaukee.com broke the story shortly after its completion.

“With each passing year, our Artist-in-Residence Program grows stronger and our applicants even more talented,” said Paul Ohm, general manager of The Pfister. “We can’t wait to see the new dynamic Niki will bring to the program and our guests.”

As the current Pfister Narrator (writer in residence), my tenure will overlap with Johnson’s by only one month, but I look forward to the chance to work together, albeit briefly.

Niki Johnson, a sculptor and conceptual artist, has been selected as the Pfister Hotel’s sixth artist in residence.

In April, Johnson will begin a year working in the hotel’s artist studio, just off the lobby of the hotel at 424 E. Wisconsin Ave., and also will guide guests through the hotel’s Victorian-style art collection.

“The body of artwork I will be creating this year will involve sculpting six child-sized bathtubs out of oil clay, and then casting them in porcelain,” she said in a statement. “Each bathtub will depict heroines from fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen.”

Visitors to Johnson’s studio will be able to watch her at work, building and shaping elements of the tubs, including braiding yards of hair for the “Rapunzel” tub and dyeing feathers for “Snow White.” Johnson will mold, cast and fire the porcelain tubs in her studio at home, documenting the processes for digital presentation in the hotel studio. Johnson also plans to create a series of limited-edition commemorative plates depicting the stories of “Snow White,” “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Cinderella,” “The Princess and the Pea,” “Rapunzel” and “Thumbelina.”

Johnson teaches art courses at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design. She made national headlines last year, including appearances on CNN, when she created a portrait of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI from 17,000 colorful condoms. The political artwork was Johnson’s response to the former pope’s comments, suggesting that condoms could increase the spread of AIDS.

Johnson was one of six finalists. The public was invited to vote for their favorite via Facebook, text and in-person ballots. The winner of the popular vote, Dena Nord, will be given an opportunity to exhibit work at Gallerie M at the InterContinental Hotel. Johnson replaces the Pfister’s current artist, Stephanie Barenz. Past resident artists have included Timothy Westbrook, Shelby Keefe, Katie Musolff and Reginald Baylor.