Monica majored in both psychology and history at Notre Dame and received training in art at the University of Minnesota. Believing that art can be a therapeutic tool, she has shared her knowledge and talents with disadvantaged youth. She owns and operates a contemporary ceramics studio in the Uptown area of Minneapolis.

Peter, who studied classical architecture at Notre Dame, is an independent architectural and urban-design consultant. He has helped over 40 communities in eight states with community-based urban design. He is dedicated to the concept of New Urbanism, advocating the elimination of zoning by promoting the traditional neighborhood as the fundamental building block of urban growth. He has won a national affordable-home-design award.

Artist's Statement During the 20th century, single-use subdivisions gradually replaced traditional American neighborhoods. And single-use zoning separated and segregated homes, offices, and shops from one another. These developments have contributed to the current housing crisis. It is now very difficult to build smaller homes affordably or rebuild them efficiently. Many people fear that concentrating affordable units will adversely affect surrounding property values. Our Bullet Creek series consists of 12 watercolors, each depicting the main street of a village laid out in the traditional neighborhood pattern. We believe it is possible to design and build places to live, work, shop, play, and gather that are affordable and connected. The answer lies in the return to traditional neighborhoods, which allow a more natural, human-scaled, mixed pattern of growth.

Visual Art | Monica Infante-Musty and Peter Musty