A New Westside Home For Creatives

Washington Park Media Center, with Wes Tank on the ground and Sara Daleiden on the roof. Photo provided.

A two-and-a-half-story building across from Washington Park on the city’s West Side is now home to two creative businesses and could be joined by several more.

Sara Daleiden of MKE<->LAX and Wes Tank of TankThink completed their renovation earlier this month of the 3,500-square-foot building at 4303 W. Vliet St.

Now known as the Washington Park Media Center, the space is designed to “serve creators of all skill levels, in any stage of their media-making journey.”

The partners provide space and equipment for filming, photography, pdocasting, live streaming, hybrid events and multimedia installations.

“We believe Washington Park Media Center is a place to create the next big thing in media-making. We are excited to engage our neighbors around Vliet Street along with our global network of professional creators in media production, strategy, and training,” said Daleiden and Tank.

Tank uses the space for his TankThink production company. Much of the work featured on the organization’s social media channels is focused on other community-focused small businesses and organizations in Milwaukee, but Tank has drawn an international audience for his pandemic-inspired rapping of Dr. Seuss‘s stories and other children’s stories. He’s also one of the artists involved in the upcoming Nitelight projection experience on W. Historic Mitchell St.

Daleidein, who has played a role in several community arts and public space projects, operates MKE<->LAX from the space. The business, whose name is a reference to the fact that Daleiden splits her time between Milwaukee and Los Angeles, is a media strategy and production agency.

The center, located in the Martin Drive neighborhood, is currently open by appointment or for special events. Interesting individuals can inquire about availability via the center’s website or via its Instagram and Facebook pages.

The center hosted its first public events in the last week.

The building was constructed in 1895 according to city assessment records. Eat Cake, a bakery, previously occupied it.

An affiliate of the partners bought the property for $275,000 in August 2022. It was purchased from longtime owner Pat Mueller‘s Heritage West Properties, which had restored the property and several others in the area.

“Every neighborhood in the state of Wisconsin needs a Pat Mueller,” said then-Near West Side Partners executive director Keith Stanley in September 2020 when the community organization celebrated the opening of the Vliet Street Oasis, located a half mile to the east.

New Near West Side Partners executive director Lindsey St. Arnold Bell is pleased to see the growth in the neighborhood, which includes the Washington Park Media Center as well as two new restaurants and a beauty professional training school. “Near West Side Partners is thrilled to welcome these new businesses, each one bringing their own special and unique potential to our neighborhood,” said St. Arnold Bell in an Aug. 22 press release. “An important goal of Near West Side Partners is to bring new development to the community, and the addition of these four businesses shows the continuing growth of assets and effort to create resources.”