Don’t Miss Bronzeville Week

Milwaukee’s growing Bronzeville Week celebration returns from Saturday, Aug. 6 through Saturday, Aug. 13 with something for everyone.

“Eight days, from Saturday to Saturday, that helps to explore, helps to attract and helps to uplift the great things that are already happening in Bronzeville, the great people, the great businesses and the experience that people can have, along with showing what’s possible,” said Alderwoman Milele A. Coggs, the event’s champion, in a press conference Wednesday.

The annual event is a celebration of African-American culture, history, art and entertainment and is held in the quickly reemerging Bronzeville entertainment district.

The fun starts Saturday morning with the HaRUNbee 5K Walk/Run. The 3.1-mile race loops through the neighborhood around the intersection of N. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. and W. North Ave. The “week” ends Aug. 13 with an art walk and Afro-Caribbean cultural celebration on King Drive between W. Garfield Ave. and W. Meinecke Ave. between noon and 5:30 p.m.

The Bronzeville Center for the Arts will host a community mural project on multiple days throughout the week. The final product, expected to be 192 square feet, will be affixed to the side of the former Department of Natural Resources building at 2312 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. The new nonprofit plans to redevelop the property into a 50,000-square-foot “world-class art and cultural center” and, in a press release, says it will leave the mural up until construction begins. The project is being led by Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design professor Brad Anthony Bernard and designed by student Dasia Bryant.

The Milwaukee Youth Arts Center, 325 W. Walnut St., will host a conversation with actor, dancer and Milwaukee native Jacob Latimore on Wednesday at noon (registration is required).

Activist Tracey Dent will again host a “sleepover for education” where he stays outside all night at the corner of King Drive and W. North Ave. collecting school supply donations. He will be at the intersection from 7 p.m. Aug. 12 until 8 a.m. Aug. 13.

A street festival will place Sunday, Aug. 7 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on W. North Ave., just west of King Drive. The family-friendly event will include vendors, food trucks, live entertainment stages and a kids’ zone.

More than two dozen other events are planned, including trolley rides, neighborhood bike rides, special brunch offerings, a trivia night, outdoor church service and art classes.

The full schedule is available on the City of Milwaukee website.