La Familia de Arte continues to grow and create artwork that uplifts and connects with members of the community year-round. Here’s just a small sampling of some of the projects our family of artists have completed.
For a map of La Familia de Arte’s Community Artwork: https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=1WPhE7PWG1GSXl8qG8rxZ81K1GHrs7GfR
PHASE III: Here We Make Our Home (October 2023) - Phase 3 of our bollard project on Cesar Chavez Drive continued the theme of celebrating people who made Milwaukee their home. Artists researched each country of origin as well as learned about and received guidance from members of the countries represented.
Muskego Way (August 2023) - We partner with Muskego way to install bollards along a green space adjoining a senior center, park, and health center. The neighbors had asked us to install a barricade against vehicles illegally driving on the green space, but wanted it to be an artistic installation as well. These neighbors were able to help with the design, inscribe, and glaze the tiles used for the project.
Old McKinley School / NEW Veterans Affordable Housing (2022-2023) - What began as an idea of renovating an old vacant school and turn it into affordable housing for veteran families, became a huge canvas for us when asked by the contractor to create art for the building. Our work started in Fall 2022 with concept ideas for several areas of the building, designing and glazing the tiles to make those ideas reality, creating standing art pieces, and asking community members to engrave words of love and hope on stars that we hung.
PHASE II: Here We Make Our Home/2022 Reflections on the Pandemic Bollards (Oct, 2022) - Phase 2 of our bollards created for S. Cesar Chavez Drive in the Clarke Square Neighborhood was celebrated with music, refreshments, and community. Several bollards were tiled with positive messages and reflections of things learned or enjoyed by members of the community during the pandemic, and the remaining bollards were created to celebrate our diverse Milwaukee community-those who originally were here, and those who came as immigrants up through 1920. Those featured in this installment include the 12 Nations of Wisconsin, the African diaspora, and the Polish, German, and Irish immigrant communities. Members representing each of these communities spoke to our artists about important symbols, colors, and patterns that should be represented on the respective bollard. A continuation of bollards representing Milwaukee’s diverse immigrant community is planned for later in 2023.
Prince of Peace (Summer 2022) - This incredible mural is a true example of community artwork. Our neighbor, Prince of Peace Parish, asked us to create a large outdoor mural that reflects what is important to them and celebrates the wonderful diversity of our Milwaukee neighborhood. Using their input, and with the artistic help of over 950 artists which included our 40 artists, and the students of Prince of Peace, Bruce Guadalupe, and Cristo Rey schools, tiles were inscribed with messages of hope, encouragement and other positive messages, and then images were drawn onto the tiles and glazed by our artists. This beautiful installation was completed in August, and blessed after Mass on August 14th.
Escuela Verde (June 2022) - We partnered with Escuela Verde to create three benches in a green space across the street. Each bench focuses on one of the elements (Earth, Water, or Air) and showcases animals and plants native to Wisconsin as researched by the students at Escuela Verde. Students were taught how to work with ceramic tiles, and helped in the glazing of over 301 tiles per bench. Creation of these colorful pieces was the product of 6 months of collaboration.
La Placita (Fall 2021) - This community plaza (placita) in the Clarke Square neighborhood pays homage to the National Farmworkers Movement and the life and legacy of Cesar E. Chavez (shown), and Dolores Huerta who coined the phrase “Si Se Puede”, “Yes, you can!”- a rallying cry of hope and power for people everywhere working to right injustice and build a better life for all. Community members were invited by our artists to inscribe tiles with how the farmworkers movement inspires them, what si, se puede means to them today, and messages of love, courage, and hope. Tiles were then glazed and installed at La Placita, located at El Rey, 901 S. Cesar Chavez Drive.
Thanks to Clarke Square Neighborhood Initiative, the Zilber Family Foundation, Cesar E. Chavez Business Improvement District, & El Rey.
See La Placita in the news: https://www.tmj4.com/news/hispanic-heritage/new-plaza-and-art-installation-unveiled-on-milwaukees-south-side
Pandemic Memorial (Fall 2021) - We worked with Clarke Square Neighborhood Initiative and the City of Milwaukee to install 12 tiled bollards along Cesar Chavez Drive, just south of National Ave. These colorfully tiled pillars include inscriptions made by 1,800 community residents in the summer of 2021. The six pillars on the east side of the street are filled with those they think of as “Everyday Heroes of the Pandemic”, and the six pillars on the west side of the street are inscribed with the names of their loved ones, the “Falledidos” who died during the pandemic.
For the installation celebration in the news, please click on the links below:
https://www.fox6now.com/news/milwaukee-covid-memorial-victims-heroes-represented-by-1800-tiles
Voices of the City (2019 & Oct. 2021) - Our Voices of the City Project, sponsored in 2019 by Near West Side Partners, City of Milwaukee Arts Board, and private funders, experienced a rebirth in 2021, thanks to the wonderful support and advocacy of NWSP and support from HUD. The temporary installation was taken down and now has a new permanent home at “Fats Triangle”, a green space at N.35th and State streets. This project has always been especially dear to our hearts as it included 1,500 residents from the near northwest side inscribing messages of courage, love, and hope on tiles that were then glazed by our artists and wired to cyclone fencing at N.27th and Wisconsin Avenue. Today, these same messages continue to inspire the community as three colorful post installations.
We Are One (2020) - Our major project in 2020 was the installation of our “We Are One” series. With the help of private donations and Bader Philanthropies, we were able to create and install 60 ceramic posts and murals throughout our neighborhood. We had decided last winter/early spring that in these difficult times, we wanted to fill our community with beautiful art, giving hope and comfort to our residents. These were installed in any neighbor's yard for free, with the only proviso being that they needed to be placed where passers-by could see and enjoy them. Whenever possible, we worked with our neighborhood “hosts” to design pieces that were meaningful to them.
Vecinos Unidos (2020) - Another rewarding installation we did this summer came from a collaborative effort with a ‘sister’ grassroots group: Vecinos Unidos, United Neighbors. These neighbors, just 5 blocks east of us, have been doing wonderful work with a small green space to help neighbors grow healthy foods, and together study all manner of important topics relevant to the community and the world around them. Supported by the City of Milwaukee and private funders, we created some beautiful sturdy seating at the front of the garden, especially for youth waiting for rides. In the back of the garden, we installed 4 pillars made of tiles inscribed by the neighbors with messages of hope and love and then glazed with beautiful paintings by our artists.
Northbrook Valentines (2020) - For Valentine’s Day, we decided to focus on a message of universal love and hope, so we took our studio to our neighbors at Northbrook Church in Richfield to show our commitment to bridging the gap. We partnered with the church to provide over 2,000 ceramic heart magnets, each with the message “You Are Loved” inscribed on the back, to over 800 families attending service that weekend. Each family was invited to take three hearts: one for yourself, one for someone special, and one for someone who needs a reminder.
5th Street School Residence Ceramic Murals (2019) - Our studio was commissioned by the Gorman Company to create four stories of ceramic murals in a newly renovated affordable housing complex for the elderly and disabled located in the Harambee neighborhood. These murals brought color and life to the apartments while directly including the residents in the creative process.
Maddonas in the Ally - We partnered with Prince of Peace School at S. 25th St. and Scott to create a memorial dedicated to the multicultural faces of the Madonna, including Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of Egypt, the Black Madonna, and Our Lady of Czestahova. 450 students inscribed tiles with their own messages of love, courage, and hope.
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-WHITEWATER - We partnered with UW-W to create pillars with tiles inscribed by students with messages of positivity, encouragement and community.
