30 episodes

Join Elisabeth Gasparka for this conversation show from Imagine MKE, where we hear from creative leaders in Milwaukee and beyond, to highlight all the incredible transformative power of their work in our region. We hope that after listening to the pod you’ll be able to imagine Milwaukee's arts and culture ecosystem—and all the awesome artists, organizations and creative assets within it, in a new way.

Creative MKE Imagine MKE

    • Arts
    • 5.0 • 5 Ratings

Join Elisabeth Gasparka for this conversation show from Imagine MKE, where we hear from creative leaders in Milwaukee and beyond, to highlight all the incredible transformative power of their work in our region. We hope that after listening to the pod you’ll be able to imagine Milwaukee's arts and culture ecosystem—and all the awesome artists, organizations and creative assets within it, in a new way.

    Vel R. Phillips Plaza Art Commission

    Vel R. Phillips Plaza Art Commission

    The Vel R. Phillips Plaza Art Commission 
    In part one of this special two-part episode, Elisabeth speaks with City of Milwaukee Commissioner of City Development Lafayette Crump and arts leader Marilu Knode to discuss the plans for the Vel R. Phillips plaza. It’s a development project for which Crump and Knode are both serving on the art committee to select an original sculpture installation concept that, once completed, will memorialize and animate the legacy of Phillips, a trailblazing Black woman, attorney, politician, jurist, and civil rights activist, who served as an alderperson and judge in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and as secretary of state of Wisconsin.
    The group reflects on how the arts are a special ingredient to development—that art can help  our city to stand apart and also function as an economic engine. Crump shares how investing in the arts is often a “less obvious” aspect of infrastructure to decision makers, but an incredibly important ingredient to a city that can retain and attract diverse residents and visitors. With a new generation of leadership in place in Milwaukee under Mayor Cavalier Johnson, the city has made a one-time investment in public art through this $600,000 commission. But the plaza and the artwork will not just be about aesthetic beauty: it will have activations, spaces for vendors, food and beverage offerings and programming to encourage people to linger, engage and learn about Vel Phillips.  
    In her life, Phillips was a boundary pushing figure, and, as Knode reflects, “she forecast the direction the country would be going in with her leadership.” The intention is that the plaza installation and the social and artistic activations it invites will build upon this legacy. “Often people think public art is always “man on horse” or “woman in fountain.” Vel Phillips had a different form of leadership,” reflects Knode. “Let’s use this an opportunity to reformulate how we think about leadership.”  
    But should artists have to be activists? Knode suggests that in this day and age, everything is political. According to her, “going into the arts itself” is political. At the heart of this commission plan is the acknowledgement that artists are often the ones who drive social change in society. 
    “A lot of creativity or boundary pushing that does come out of city government... somewhere you will find an artist pushing on us to do that,” says Crump.  
    Vel R. Phillips Plaza will be constructed by July 2024, and the public art installation is estimated to be completed in 2025. Learn more about the project.
    References and resources  
    Brad Pruitt  
    America’s Black Holocaust Museum 
    The Mountaintop, presented by Milwaukee Chamber Theatre 
    Lexi Brunson 
    CopyWrite Magazine 
    Mike Phillips 
    Downtown Bid #21 
    Westown Association  
    a...

    • 29 min
    The Connection Between the Arts and Economic Prosperity

    The Connection Between the Arts and Economic Prosperity

    “When we invest in the arts, those dollars aren’t just disappearing down some black hole of goodness. It’s giving back to the community and government to help pay for its needed services. There’s undercapitalization happening here. It’s just hard to imagine how much more arts and culture activity and impact and benefit to local businesses would be happening with greater investment.” -Randy Cohen, Vice President of Research at Americans for the Arts.  
    In this episode of Creative MKE, Elisabeth and Adam speak with Randy Cohen from Americans for the Arts about the Arts and Economic Prosperity 6 Study. Last year, Imagine MKE collaborated with Americans for the Arts to conduct this audience intercept survey in Milwaukee to learn about their induced and direct spending in relationship to arts and culture nonprofit events. Additionally, another survey was shared with hundreds of arts nonprofit organizations—large and small—to learn about their own economic activity, including employment figures. Nearly 100 arts orgs participated, and the results showed Milwaukee to be massively benefiting from jobs, spending, and tax revenue generated through the work of art nonprofits. A sampling of the findings:  
    $334.6 million generated in economic activity  4,550 jobs supported  $7.1 million in Milwaukee county and city tax revenue  
    The group discuss how this hallmark arts and economic study has changed over the years to become much more inclusive and to center diverse communities, the dire lack of investment for the arts in Milwaukee and in Wisconsin, and the qualitative and quantitive impact of the arts on individuals and communities.  
    Learn more about the groundbreaking sixth iteration of the Arts and Economic Prosperity study. 
    Study conducted by Americans for the Arts and Imagine MKE.  
    Support for the AEP6 Study from: First Stage The Milwaukee Rep Theatre & United Performing Arts Fund - UPAF 

    • 29 min
    Milwaukee: an Arts and Culture Society w/ VISIT Milwaukee

    Milwaukee: an Arts and Culture Society w/ VISIT Milwaukee

    It all begins with a visit. If you ask the leadership of VISIT Milwaukee, they believe that in order to attract people to live, work, and play somewhere, they have to first experience and connect to the culture of that place on a deeper level.
    The attraction of the outside world to Milwaukee is not an accident, and is, in large part due to the work of VISIT Milwaukee—lead by Peggy Williams Smith, President & CEO, Joshua Albrecht, VP of Marketing & Communications and Claire Koenig, Senior Director of Communications and Public Affairs—who champion and lift up the city’s culture every day through their work and entice media representatives to visit and learn more about what Milwaukee has to offer. At the same time, Milwaukee continues to struggle with population decline and a loss of talent, particularly within diverse communities.
    The attraction of the outside world to Milwaukee is not an accident, and is, in large part due to the work of VISIT Milwaukee—Peggy Williams Smith, Joshua Albrecht, and Claire Koenig—who champion and lift up the city’s culture every day through their work and entice media representatives to visit and learn more about what Milwaukee has to offer. At the same time, Milwaukee continues to struggle with population decline and a loss of talent, particularly within diverse communities.
    Elisabeth, along with Imagine MKE’s Executive Director Adam Braatz, discuss with the VISIT Milwaukee team how the arts and culture of Milwaukee is one of its chief assets, and a powerful economic driver. The group discuss how intrinsic the arts are to tourism, and how Imagine MKE and VISIT Milwaukee are both working to amplify the region’s creative economy and shape the narrative about Milwaukee. If the narrative shifts, and our arts sector can be better supported and broadcast for all its brilliance, it all adds up to Milwaukee stepping into its greatness as, in Albrecht’s words, as a new “arts and culture society." They see a future where Milwaukee is known as an innovative place that embraces, supports, and celebrates all that is creative and expressive, and where talent and lovers of culture will see themselves, feel a sense of belonging, and want to build their lives.
    Learn more about the work of VISIT Milwaukee, and follow them on Instagram.
    Additional Resources
    MKE Theater District
    a...

    • 29 min
    Community Art at the Jimmy Banks Memorial Stadium w/ Tia Richardson and Jordan Banks

    Community Art at the Jimmy Banks Memorial Stadium w/ Tia Richardson and Jordan Banks

    The arts. Sports. Oftentimes, they are thought of as in opposition to each other, but the pursuit of arts and sports have a lot of overlap. One remarkable local "artist" in the field of soccer and coaching was the late Jimmy Banks. Banks was a trailblazing Milwaukeean who was discovered in his young teens, playing pick-up soccer outside the Westlawn housing project where he grew up. He went on to play professionally for the Milwaukee Wave, and then for the U.S. Men’s Soccer team—where he was a starting player in the 1990 World Cup. His ascendant career was followed by a whole other career—as a leader, coach, and mentor in the Milwaukee community to young players of diverse backgrounds, including the MSOE Men’s soccer team and leading the Simba Soccer Club. Banks passed away in 2019, but his impactful legacy lives on. To commemorate his work, values, and spirit, Milwaukee Public School’s Custer Stadium, where he played as a school kid, has been renamed the Jimmy Banks Memorial Stadium.  
    Now, a mural celebrating Jimmy Banks will be added to the facility. Community artist, Tia Richardson, who will be leading the artistic arm of the project, and Banks’ son Jordan Banks—who is himself a soccer player, coach, and educator—joined Elisabeth for a conversation about the mural project, which is seeking support.  
    In the conversation, they speak about the importance of representation for young Black kids growing up in Milwaukee, youth development, and the value of creativity, public art, and the many rich connections that exist between art making and sports—which both foster self-exploration, collaboration, relationship-building, and skill development. Richardson and Banks hope that the spirit of the mural will inspire youth who play on the Jimmy Banks Memorial Stadium field for generations will see the mural, think of Banks and what he accomplished, and expand their own concepts of themselves and the positive impact they can have within their communities.  
    You can support the work and learn more at Friends of Jimmy Banks Memorial Stadium’s website. 
    Check out Tia Richardson’s artwork and follow her on Instagram at Cosmic Butterfly Design. 
    Jimmy Banks
    About Jimmy Banks Memorial Stadium 
    Pelé 
    Al Jarreau 
    Jordan Banks’ Peak of Artful Soccer—World Cup Final 2022 
    Lil Kickers Milwaukee 
    Milwaukee Simbas Sports Club 

    • 29 min
    Girls Rock MKE w/D Kirschling

    Girls Rock MKE w/D Kirschling

    In this episode of Creative MKE, Elisabeth speaks with D Kirschling, a board member and the volunteer coordinator at the non- profit organization Girls Rock & Ladies Rock MKE. Participants of Girls & Ladies Rock MKE attend camps and workshops where they experiment and learn music in a safe space, working on traditional elements of a rock band including voice, instrumentation on guitar, drums, bass and keyboard, and song composition and performance.
    Despite the name, Girls & Ladies Rock MKE programs are inclusive: they are open to all on the gender spectrum, and are designed to empower participants through collaboration, expression and exploration of technical skills.  
    Guided by volunteers who are often local musicians, participants are encouraged to lean in to the process of self-reflection and self-expression through creativity. It’s a process that Kirschling and organizers hope sparks rockers to challenge themselves—and maybe even change their perception of who they are and what they can accomplish. 
    Kirschling shares how Ladies Rock—an offshoot of Girls Rock MKE-- emerged from the interest of parents of kids who were part of Girls Rock camps, and saw the benefits it had for them. Ladies Rock became an answer to the question of how adults who had interest in music but little experience could find space within Milwaukee’s music scene, and rock music itself, which is often experienced as a “boys club” by marginalized artists.  
    Ultimately, the mission of both programs is to move the Milwaukee music scene forward to become a more equitable place, and to enrich the lives of individuals.  
    “We want to create healthy and balanced people. The arts are part of a healthy and balanced life,” said Kirschling. 
    In the conversation, Kirschling also reflects on how arts organizations, including Girls Rock, as so focused on basic survival that they struggle to expand on their programming and their footprint in the community. She imagines that with more support, individual artists in Milwaukee would live healthier, more fulfilled lives—which would in turn make our community a healthier place.  
    You can find Girls and Ladies Rock on Instagram: Girls Rock MKE, and Ladies Rock MKE.   
    Support Girls Rock at the upcoming Backyard BBQ from WMSE!  
    Negative/Positive 
    Camp Board of Directors and Co-Founders 
    Mary Joy Hickey’s Founding of Ladies Rock 
    Reyna 
    a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/ShleBerry"...

    • 29 min
    Milwaukee’s Creative Sandbox: If You Don’t See It, Make It w/ Michael Lagerman

    Milwaukee’s Creative Sandbox: If You Don’t See It, Make It w/ Michael Lagerman

    Michael Lagerman recently joined Imagine MKE as Development Coordinator, but he’s also an accomplished artist, collaborator, and programmer within Milwaukee's art scene. Lagerman has a background in photography and infused his “thinking about images” with a study of philosophy in college. He went on to obtain his MFA at UWM’s Peck School of the Arts, which provided catalyzing opportunities for professionalizing his artistic practice, including running the photo documentation lab. 
    In his studies at PSOA, he noticed how filmmakers’ application of theory to moving images was in alignment with his artistic interests, and Milwaukee's vibrant community of filmmakers drew him in. But Lagerman is wary of the limitations of categorization within his practice. In his decade plus living in Milwaukee, he's built a sense of belonging within the film and art communities, experienced working in several different studio spaces, put on solo and group exhibitions of his work and contributed to diverse arts programming. With a sense of dedication, Lagerman has translated his artistic impulses into a multidisciplinary creative practice that has earned him residencies—including a current residency at the Charles Allis Art Museum—and grants, including a recent gener8tor X Sherman Phoenix grant.  
    In the conversation, Lagerman delights in the “creative sandbox” of Milwaukee—a place where artists can dream and build.  He speaks about Underscore, his experimental, collaborative artist run space, co-run with artist Grace Mitchell. Together, they’ve built a high degree of trust at a level that Lagerman describes as "telepathic." Through Underscore, they seek to invite artists to reset and “do something that they haven’t done before.”  
    Lagerman also reflects on the liminal space between emergent and established artist. He has experienced a requirement to self-identify his career stage, as well as his medium: an external pressure that he feels “leads to a kind of homogeny.”  Today as an artist, he wrestles with how to best express his ethos and inspiration within these structures. As Lagerman says “It can be strange to know your own ambition... and what you might be capable of...” in relation to how organizations might label you.  
    To him, Milwaukee feels like it’s in a state of perpetual renaissance, always pushing forward, but not quite resulting in shared returns on creatives’ efforts. But he sees potential in an artist-empowered future. From DIY arts spaces, to a new wave of community arts resources—he sees the scene building to a brighter, more diverse cityscape, one that includes an art market that supports more artists, and results in more public art and events to energize the whole community.  
    Learn more about Michael Lagerman’s artistic practice, and Underscore.  
    The Alice Wilds 
    Winnepeg Underground Film Festival  
    a...

    • 29 min

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