I came to MATC, and right away I knew this was my place. There was such a diversity of people and places. I love having different experiences. I loved MATC from the start.
To Stephanie Bartz, Milwaukee Area Technical College felt like home from the start.
That’s why she decided to attend the school in 1989 to study photography.
“After graduating from high school, I visited the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design and MATC,” said Bartz, who earned an associate degree in 1991. “I came to MATC, and right away I knew this was my place. There was such a diversity of people and places. I love having different experiences. I loved MATC from the start.”
Bartz returned to her alma mater this month with an exhibit that honors Women’s History Month in the college’s Create Gallery at the Downtown Milwaukee Campus.
The exhibit, called “Breaking Barriers: Women in the Workforce,” features photographs by Bartz along with works by women artists Ann Baer, Dara Larson and Roxane Mayeur. Also at the show are pictures taken by several current MATC Photography program students.
See TV coverage of the gallery show
It’s the first time that Bartz’s work has appeared in the Create Gallery, a space that didn’t exist when she took classes. She also was impressed by the extensive amount of paintings, photos and pictures hanging in the campus hallways.
“I walked in the door, and I was amazed by all the art on the walls,” Bartz said during a reception for the gallery show on Thursday, March 13. “It was so great to see that. It makes the place so gorgeous.”
The show features 18 black and white portraits of women in all kinds of occupations, including firefighter, pilot, aircraft maintenance technician, bus driver and plumber. Alongside each portrait is a card describing the subject’s professional journey.
Bartz and Mayeur developed the series in 2024. “I wanted to celebrate these women and their stories, and to inspire young people with amazing role models,” Bartz said. I also want to normalize these fields for all, to show that women and those who identify as female succeed and excel in all work spaces.”
Bartz grew up in Wales, Wisconsin. She started taking pictures before she was 10 years old; her first subjects were her dog and the toys in her room. “I would line up all my stuffed animals and take their picture,” Bartz said. “I just took to photography.”
Her guidance counselor at Kettle Moraine High School encouraged her to follow her dream of being a professional photographer.
After graduating from MATC, she served as an assistant to several commercial photographers before going into business for herself. She opened Stephanie Bartz Photography in 1997.
According to her LinkedIn page, Bartz specializes in “shooting in moving cars, on motorcycles, from water rafts, in a kayak and also on land. Good and patient with shy and or sassy teens, K9s, and grown-ups. Keeping surprise photo shoots hush-hush.”
“There has never been anything I thought I couldn’t do,” Bartz said.
For the “Women’s Work” series, Bartz created a list of possible subjects and added to it through her own connections and with help from Carol Voss, associate dean in the Manufacturing, Construction and Transportation Academic and Career Pathway. She scouted locations for the right backgrounds, and then she experimented with light, framing, posing and composition.
Bartz plans to keep adding to the series this year.
“I have a long, long list of people I’d love to shoot,” she said. “I’m also working on getting some funding because right now I’m self-funding the project. It would be great to get some support for a project like this.”
“Breaking Barriers” runs through April 4 in the Create Gallery at MATC’s Downtown Campus. The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Learn about MATC’s Photography program
About MATC: As Wisconsin’s largest technical college and one of the most diverse two-year institutions in the Midwest, Milwaukee Area Technical College is a key driver of southeastern Wisconsin’s economy and has provided innovative education in the region since 1912. More than 30,000 students per year attend the college’s four campuses and community-based sites or learn online. MATC offers affordable and accessible education and training opportunities that empower and transform lives in the community. The college offers more than 180 academic programs — many that prepare students for jobs immediately upon completion and others that provide transfer options leading to bachelor’s degrees with more than 40 four-year colleges and universities. Overwhelmingly, MATC graduates build careers and businesses in southeastern Wisconsin. The college is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.