National Velvet

April - December 2025

Can we build a cake structure out of pipe cleaners, frosting out of caulk or fabric, sprinkles out of sequins?? What cake from your past do you have the strongest memory of? Do you want to try recreating it with spackle and spray foam?

Elevating the 150th Anniversary of Madison Public Library throughout 2025, artist-in-residence, National Velvet (they/them) will help us celebrate -- with CAKE AS ART!

National Velvet will be setting up shop and converting the Bubbler Room into a “Fake Bakery” for the community to explore making CAKE AS ART! While none of National Velvet’s cakes are actually edible, their “baking” process calls for material problem-solving, imagination and innovation. This deliciously creative space will cater to all ages with intentional workshops geared towards certain age(s) and groups throughout the year.

In their art practice, National Velvet sees cakes as vessels for storytelling. Cakes often hold a memory, a moment in time, a relationship, and as an artist they are fascinated by how objects can carry meaning beyond their form. National Velvet will invite others into this world—a world where art is playful and experimental, where the line between what is real and imagined gets deliciously blurry. In this year of celebration National Velvet will engage the community through programs, hands-on workshops and outreach prompts that will collect responses from the community, working towards a collective, community art piece unveiled in December 2025.

Who is National Velvet?

National Velvet (they/them) is an artist who shapes worlds and stories through comics, zines, cakes, and a little bit of magic. By day, National Velvet is a fairy-scientist-shapeshifter; by night, they draw comics and bring visions to life with unexpected materials. They create work rooted in their own experiences as a queer, trans, neurodivergent artist, often at the intersection of joy and grief, searching for the moments where they meet and transform, where vulnerability and play can coexist.

National Velvet earned their MFA from UW-Madison and is currently residing as an artist in Madison, WI. In addition to their own practice, National Velvet works as an Artist Mentor at Artworking, an organization that supports professional artists and entrepreneurs with disabilities in meaningful careers.

Bubbler Artist-in-Residence, National Velvet, has created two non-edible cakes that will travel around to outreach events across the city of Madison in 2025.

These cakes will be used to collect responses from our community members helping us celebrate this momentous occasion!

Participate Online Here!

Workshops

Mini Cake Sculptures: An Art Workshop with National Velvet

Do you love all things tiny? This is the workshop for you! Join Artist-in-Residence National Velvet as we shrink our cake creations down to bite-sized. You'll design and sculpt miniature cakes and pies using Sculpey clay and a mix of playful, unexpected materials like plastic lids, beads, buttons, felt, yarn, toothpicks, and more!

Everything is cuter when it’s mini. Whether you’re crafting a classic tiered cake, a wonky slice of pie, or a surreal dessert from your imagination, you’ll explore color, texture, and detail as you turn everyday objects into frosting, fruit, sprinkles, and more.

Thursday, June 26 from 2:00-3:30pm —No registration required
in the Youth Services Area (Lower Level) at Central Library
Youth focus, ages 5+, drop-in
**this workshop is a part of the We Read Maker Meet-Up series held on Thursdays at Central Library

Saturday, August 9 from 10:00am to 12:00pm —Register here!
Bubbler Room (ground floor) at Central Library
Adult focused, ages 16+ welcome, registration required (max participants 12)

Saturday, October 11 from 10:00am to 12:00pm —Register here!
Bubbler Room (ground floor) at Central Library
all ages welcome, registration required (max participants 12)

Fake Bakery Open Studios w/ Frosting!!

The Fake Bakery is Open! Drop into the Bubbler Room at Central Library during open studio hours, where Artist-in-Residence, National Velvet, is taking cake sculpting to a whole new level. During this time, all the best (and messiest!) materials are brought out for exploration. Can you build a cake out of pipe cleaners? Frost it with caulk? Cover it in velvet? Add sequins for sprinkles?! This is a space for all ages to explore wild, wonderful possibilities in cake-inspired sculpture.

Is there a cake from your past that lives in your memory? A birthday, a graduation, or one you’ve only ever dreamed of? Let’s (re)create it using unexpected materials like fabric, spackle, spray foam, and more.

Drop-in, no registration required.

Thursday, June 26 from 4:00-6:00pm
Thursday July 3 from 4:00-6:00pm
Thursday, July 10 from 4:00-6:00pm
Thursday July 17 from 4:00-6:00pm
no open studio on July 24
Thursday, July 31 from 4:00-6:00pm
Thursday, August 7 from 2-3:30pm **this workshop is a part of the We Read Maker Meet-Up series held on Thursdays at Central Library. It will take place in the Bubbler Room (ground floor) and focus on youth and families.

Making Fake Cakes: Dream Big! (2-part Workshop)

Do you have big cake dreams? Does frosting one little fake cupcake just not cut it? Do you want to make a unique structure out of cardboard, paper mache it, then add frosting and intricate decorations? This special 2 session workshop is just for you. The first session will be cake form construction and paper mache. The structures will have time to dry in between sessions. The second session will focus on painting, frosting, sprinkles, decorations, and candles.

This workshop is open to all ages (6+) we anticipate that most kids ages under 10 will need direct, hands-on adult support. The workshop takes place on 7/12 & 7/19 at Central Library in the Bubbler Room (ground floor) All registrants must commit to attend the entire session on both days.

Saturday, July 12 from 10:00am - 12:00pm - register here!
AND Saturday, July 19 from 10:00am - 12:00pm - also register here!

*Please fill out a registration for both sessions. Both youth patrons and adult patrons should be entered separately so we can account for the correct amount of supplies.

Paper Cakes & Story Layers: An Art Workshop with National Velvet

Join Central Library Artist-in-Residence National Velvet in the Fake Bakery -- a whimsical transformation of the Bubbler Room where cakes are more than dessert—they’re storytelling vessels. Although none of these cakes are edible, they are rich in imagination, problem-solving, and artistic play.

In this hands-on workshop, you’ll create your own layered cake entirely out of cut paper. Explore shape, texture, and detail in two-dimensional form as you design a cake that reflects your personal memories, stories, or daydreams. You’ll also have the chance to write, draw, and share the meaning behind your sweet creation.

Cake collages and their stories will be collected and featured in a collaborative zine at the end of National Velvet's residency.

Thursday, June 12 from 6:00-8:00pm — register here!
All ages, registration required (max participants 12)

Thursday, July 24 from 6:00-8:00pm — register here!
Adult focused, ages 16+ welcome, registration required (max participants 12)

Thursday, August 21 from 6:00-8:00pm — register here!
All ages, registration required (max participants 12)

A Celebration Workshop: Crafting Crowns, Cakes, and Cards!

Join Artist-in-Residence National Velvet for a fun, hands-on workshop where kids of all ages will create their own paper crowns, (non-edible) cake collages, and handmade cards! Using colorful paper, scissors, glue, markers, stickers, and all kinds of sparkly and textured embellishments, you’ll build, decorate, and personalize your masterpieces.

This workshop is a part of the We Read Maker Meet-Up series held on Thursdays at Central Library. It will take place in the Youth Programming Room on the lower level. Drop-in anytime!

Thursday, July 17 from 2:00-3:30pm —No registration required
in the Youth Services Area (Lower Level) at Central Library
Youth focus, ages 5+, drop-in