Sharing our vision. Expanding our impact.

Fall is here. The days are getting shorter, the weather a bit more chilly, and the leaves on the trees are shifting from green to yellow. This change is a gradual occurrence we all anticipate around this time of year, yet it can still feel like an unexpected shift in nature. This idea of “change” feels like a motif that keeps coming up at HomeWorks: Bronzeville:

A change in how development is done. 
A change in how we build community. 
A change in how we engage with art as entrepreneurship.
A change in what placemaking means. 
A change in what true collaboration can create.

These changes are pieces of a narrative we have been sharing as we discover what our work looks like in action, as we develop land parcels, demolish buildings we had hoped to save, and invite guests from across the nation to experience our stories, our mission and our community. 

Recently, Cate Fox and Nyia Hawkins from Center for Cultural Innovation and the AmbitioUS initiative joined HomeWorks: Bronzeville & our partners such as America's Black Holocaust Museum and the Beerline Trail Neighborhood Development Project in the Bronzeville District and Harambee neighborhood. Our visitors were curious about our HomeWorks: Bronzeville’s development initiative including our placemaking process and community cultivation through Milwaukee's artistic landscape. 

During the visit we explored how HomeWorks & partners innovate with art & development to enhance sustainability for our economic infrastructure and explore how we can retain artistic talent by building a strong financial and residential foundation for artists. Both Cate & Nyia’s fresh perspectives on ways to traverse historically systemic barriers through real world applications across the country was exciting to hear, and reinforces how important the work we are doing is and can be.

We encourage others interested in experiencing our community and our work to reach out to schedule a site visit so that we may continue to collaborate in reimagining what creative economy and placemaking can look like.