Last week, a national tour came to Milwaukee. Bay Area artist James Shields is on his third nationwide tour to interview Black farmers about Black agriculture and history.  

Previous legs of the tour brought Shields across the South and Northeast. Now he’s tracing the Midwest, stopping in Milwaukee to interview farmers at Alice’s Garden. He conducts his interviews on a hand-made watermelon couch he tows with him across the country. 

Lake Effect’s Sam Woods joins Shields on the couch in Alice’s Garden to discuss the project, the commonalities he sees across regions, and what stands out about Milwaukee.