Uniquely Milwaukee

Allied in the Fight: Jews, Blacks and the Struggle for Civil Rights, an exhibition presented by Jewish Museum Milwaukee, is back as a traveling exhibit for local organizations to use to foster discussions.

For three decades, Milwaukee has celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday with a celebratory event hosted at the Marcus Performing Arts Center. The free program is packed with performances from numerous cultural arts organizations but at the core of the event, the main focus is the contest winners.

Within the Milwaukee area, one in three Milwaukee families who are renting spend over 50 percent of their total income on housing alone. According to data, residents living in Harambee, the median household income is roughly $20,000. The average price point for a small one-bedroom apartment is around $850, at it's lowest.

Ruben Flores grew up almost like every other kid in Milwaukee. He went to Riverside High School and became valedictorian. He loved playing the piano and was passionate about robotics. In 2009, during his senior year of High School, just like his peers, he was applying for college and had ambition but he was faced with the information that he was undocumented.

About 10 years ago, Lynn Tachick started her own pottery business and like most people who open up shop, she didn’t realize her home pottery studio would turn into a space breast cancer survivors to share their stories.

In 1984, Robert Berry, a Milwaukee public school teacher, helped to start a tradition at his Roosevelt Middle School of the Arts. He added a student-run dinner theater to its annual productions where students would serve attendees a catered meal before the opening night show. Even after switching schools a retiring, he is continuing the tradition alive at Clement Avenue Elementary. Meet Mr. Berry in this audio story.

Where do people go in the daytime if they are homeless or in a housing crisis to work and improve on their situation?

The year 2015 was the year of self-publishing blogs. It was during that period of time anyone can make something or say something as long as they have the means to connect to the internet. That’s exactly what Julia Nusbaum did, she found an avenue that was untapped and decided to roll with it. Nusbaum is the founder and editor of chief of HerStry, an online literary magazine that provides a platform for women to write. Both here in Milwaukee and globally.

Have you ever watched a good film and think to yourself, “I wonder how that was made? Who are the brains behind this project?” If you’re anything like myself, you might go on a tangent and start thinking about local filmmakers, how they might make it to the big screens and how they could walk among us waiting for the big opportunity.
Now you don’t have to wonder because Saint Kate Hotel presents a monthly curated screening known as Saint Kate's Filmmaker Show + Tell, where local filmmakers show their work and talk about it afterward. Filmmakers Kristin Peterson and Martin Kaszubowski are the ones behind this simple yet brilliant idea.

Black Arts MKE is a non-profit organization that collaborates with artists and art organizations here in Milwaukee. Executive Director, Barbara Wanzo said the main goal of the organization is to spread representation by providing a space for African American artists to be creative.