Faces of Milwaukee: Matthew Gutiérrez

Poet Matthew Gutierrez grew up on the south side of Milwaukee and began writing poetry when he was 15. After obtaining a Bachelors and Masters in Educational Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he became a middle school counselor. Inspired by his experience of being a young creative talent who didn't understand how to develop it further, he has focused on making sure the kids he works with reach their full potential through proper high school selection, matching them with extracurricular activities, and finding community performance opportunities.

He published his first book of poetry, Notes I Wrote Along the Way, in 2020, 20 years after he first began writing. Each poem in the book is included in both English and Spanish to reach speakers of both languages. As he explained in an interview with WUWM,

"I spent my years here, I grew up on the south side and I work in a bilingual school as a school counselor. I know a lot of people who can't read English. I wanted them to have Spanish versions, so they could enjoy this book too,"

Gutierrez provides insight into his artistic process through the publication of short thoughts and phrases to his instagram account @notes2poetry. His second book of poetry, Notes Written on a Universal Tour, is forthcoming.

In addition to the portrait shown above, Lana selected one of those poetic ideas and a stanza from one of his newly published poems to each pair with a chalk piece, giving her an opportunity to both produce a collaborative work, but also to experiment in chalk outside of portraits.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CTkgzZ2FfJr/

From his upcoming book, Notes Written on a Universal Tour

"En Cualquier Lugar Excepto Aquí"