Converting Spaces to Places

Swing Park. Photo by Dave Reid.

Milwaukee has no shortage of unattractive, underused or downright forgotten spaces. But what can be done about them? Enter placemaking. Both an idea and an approach, placemaking is the idea that led to the creation of the Swing Park. According to the Project for Public Spaces, placemaking is “a collaborative process by which we can shape our public realm in order to maximize shared value.” Placemaking is also at the core of the efforts that created the NEWaukee Night Markets on W. Wisconsin Ave.

Come to a Friday morning discussion featuring individuals leading new placemaking efforts in Milwaukee. Free breakfast graciously provided by the Downtown Kitchen.

Register now.

Program Schedule

7:30 a.m. – 8:00 a.m. – Registration, networking
8:00 a.m. – 8:45 a.m. – Presentations from Milwaukee Arts Barge, Black Cat Alley, ReciproCITY and Temporary Resurfacing
8:45 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. – Question & Answer session

Program Location

The free event will be held at the Mobile Design Box located in The North End (1551 N. Water St.).

Program Participants

Milwaukee Arts Barge: Antonio Furgiuele
Two of Milwaukee’s unique assets, the confluence of public waterways and its performing arts communities converge and newly engage the social fabric of the city through the construction of a floating performance space, the Milwaukee Arts Barge (MAB). The project utilizes Milwaukee‘s most underutilized public space, its network of rivers and lake, as a means to transform the city’s social, political, and cultural boundaries through the performing arts.

MAB establishes a premiere public venue for the performing arts communities to heighten its exchanges with the city and its residents. It offers unique opportunities for both emergent and established arts communities to further propel the city as a space of civic engagement, exchange and creative place-making.

MAB develops new forms of agency for the performing arts communities to choose locations that have both creative and social impact. MAB allows these communities greater access to reimage the future of the city.

Learn more from Urban Milwaukee’s article profiling the project.

Black Cat Alley: Stacey Williams-Ng
The Black Cat Alley will be a new arts destination comprised of outdoor large-scale murals, all in one two-block alley which will serve as an open gallery walkway. It will be located between Kenilworth Blvd and Ivanhoe, in the alley between the Oriental Theatre on Farwell Avenue and Colectivo Coffee on Prospect Avenue in the historic East Side neighborhood of Milwaukee, Wisconsin (view in Google Maps). A dark and quiet space, it is in urgent need of a makeover; in our vision, it will be a beautiful, cultural destination for the public. The alley will become an outdoor gallery, enhancing the local business community by drawing local visitors and tourists.

ReciproCITY: Michael Carriere
ReciproCITY is a mobile cultural center that focuses on community activism, social justice, and urban agricultural issues in Milwaukee and beyond. It is collectively run by historian Michael Carriere and artists Nicolas Lampert, Paul Kjelland, and Fidel Verdin. ReciproCITY launched in early 2012 as an experimental cultural space located inside the Sweet Water urban aquaponic farm in Milwaukee as a means of fostering collaboration between urban farmers, artists, activists, and the greater community. In 2013, ReciproCITY went mobile and now works on various projects and partnerships with community groups and organizations. Central to ReciproCITY is collaboration and community engagement.

Temporary Resurfacing: Demitra Copoulos, Marla Sanvick and Maeve Jackson
Temporary Resurfacing is a cultural event unlike any other in the city of Milwaukee. At dusk, two city blocks of West Historic Mitchell Street are transformed by video artworks created by over 30 regional, national and international artists, simultaneously projected onto the exterior surfaces of buildings, filling entire facades, even small intimate spaces located at street level and pedestrian walkways, business entrances and storefronts. Artists Demitra Copoulos, Marla Sanvick and Maeve Jackson work with business and property owners to produce this one-night-only public video art event. Local food trucks vend on the street during the night and maps of the street with the artist locations and statements are available. The inaugural year was well received by the public: over 500 people were in attendance between the hours of 8:00pm and 11:00pm.

About the Mobile Design Box and Exhibits

Mobility Matters
Mobility Matters brings together a series of projects, collaborative practices and community issues that are transforming the social fabric of Milwaukee. The exhibit displays current work from the Milwaukee Arts Barge and ReciproCITY to explore the links between mobility, agency, and value in Milwaukee. Involving both water and land, from activating Milwaukee’s public waterways to the creation of community agricultural parks, the exhibit and series of events highlight current initiatives underway and create a platform to propel matters of mobility.

How is mobility created and how does it work? Where is it on display? Can it empower various groups and heighten exchanges? Can it address issues of cultural and economic equity in our city? From social to economic mobility, political to geographic concerns, Mobility Matters effect everyday life in Milwaukee. Find new ways to collaborate and transform boundaries into spaces of civic engagement with urban farmers, educators, artists, activists, performing arts organizations, and community groups: let’s make Mobility Matter.

Mobility Matters, the exhibit and series of events, runs from April 15th – June 30th in the Mobile Design Box (UWM – School of Architecture and Urban Design) located at intersection of Water and East Pleasant Streets in Milwaukee. The exhibit and events are open and free to the public. For more information about the exhibit go to www.milwaukeeartsbarge.org or www.reciprocitymke.com.

About Mobile Design Box
Mobile Design Box is a UW-Milwaukee School of Architecture & Urban Planning (SARUP) community outreach initiative aimed at forming a new creative interface between Milwaukee and the School via a pop-up gallery. The gallery showcases school projects alongside creative entrepreneurs from Milwaukee.

Set in vacant retail properties, this mobile initiative activates empty buildings, makes viewers aware of the power of place and design, and encourages civic engagement through conversations. MDB is sponsored by the Mandel Group, Inc.

About YPWeek

YPWeek is a weeklong platform for discovery, adventure and meaningful conversations about the issues that matter among young professionals in Wisconsin. YPWeek brings together key leaders in the community, at purposefully chosen locations that integrate the unique cultural assets with meaningful learning or social interaction. The activities engage the millennial workforce in experiences that are important to you as a YP while educating your employers on the important role these functions play in retaining you as their workforce.

The series of events takes place from April 23rd through April 30th in Door County, Fond du Lac, Fox Cities, Green Bay, Kenosha, La Crosse, Madison, Marshfield, Milwaukee, Oshkosh, Racine, Sheboygan, Stevens Point, Wausau, and Wisconsin Rapids. The week-long series is hosted by NEWaukee.