Championing Arts + Culture in Milwaukee
- Elisabeth Gasparka
- Apr 8, 2024
- 1 min read
In part 2 of our discussion about the Vel R. Phillips Plaza public art commission, Elisabeth and guests City of Milwaukee Commissioner of City Development Lafayette Crump and arts leader Marilu Knode reflect on the wider context of the project. (Click here to listen to Part 1)
Crump and Knode discuss the relevance of public art and the presence of artists to the city’s 2040 downtown plan, the power of the arts on individuals’ lives, as well as the collective power of Milwaukee’s creative industry. Knode shares specific suggestions of how the city can continue to turn the tide towards a more robust and supported creative sector:
A dedicated arts office within the city; a 1% Law: Art for All, and increased public support for the arts. To that, Crump adds on the need for more affordable housing for artists, so that they can live, work and contribute to Milwaukee’s culture, long-term.
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.
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Full Interview Transcript (Click to Expand):
Marilu Knode:
Our arts community will never pack up and leave the city the way that the businesses can and do leave a city. You know, they find better tax benefits someplace in the south, perhaps, you know, because our arts infrastructure does not leave the city, we are a very good, reliable public investment partner.
Elisabeth Gasparka:
Welcome to Creative MKE, a podcast production from Imagine MKE. I'm your host, Elisabeth Gasparka. Each episode we feature conversations with arts leaders in Milwaukee and beyond, who are impacting Milwaukee's arts culture, and creative industries. We explore the cultural assets that make our community so special, and opportunities to help Milwaukee become a more vibrant city for all. Join us as we delve into topics, including the urgent need for funding for the arts in Wisconsin and Milwaukee. How arts organizations and creative entrepreneurs are fueling our economy, public art projects, and much more. Welcome back to my conversation with City of Milwaukee Commissioner of City Development, Lafayette Crump, and arts leader, Marilu Knode about the Vel R.. Phillips Plaza, and the plan for public art to honor Phillips' life and legacy. Vel R. Phillips was a trailblazing black woman, an attorney politician, jurist, and civil rights activist, who served as an alder person and judge in Milwaukee, and as Secretary of State in Wisconsin. She was the first female and black graduate of UW Madison Law School, the first woman to serve on Milwaukee's common council, the first woman judge in Milwaukee County, and the first black judge in the state of Wisconsin. Phillips remained active and engaged standing up for social justice, equity and education initiatives until her death in 2018. The Vel R.. Phillips Plaza located south of Wisconsin Avenue between North fifth Street and North Vel R. Phillips Avenue, and across the street from the Baird Convention Center, will contain a major public art commission In her memory. Construction on the plaza is underway, and the artwork installation is slated to be completed by early 2025. Crump and Knode both serve on the arts committee that has overseen the process, including the call for art proposals, reviewing of art proposals, and the selection of artists finalists. Our conversation was rich and contained many meaningful reflections about the state of Milwaukee's arts and culture, how the arts can define cities and what this space will mean to the Milwaukee community. To listen back to the first part of the conversation, stream it wherever you stream podcasts, or visit us on the web at imaginemke.org. While you're at it, please like and subscribe to the podcast or share it with a friend. Your engagement goes a long way to help us reach new audiences. In the second portion of our discussion, we touch on the relevance of artistic spaces and the presence of artists to the city's 2040 downtown plan, the power of the arts on individuals lives, as well as the collective power of our creative community. And now for the second portion of my conversation about the Vel R. Phillips Plaza Art Commission with Lafayette Crump and Marilu Knode. So in 2023, for the first time ever, SMU Data Arts named Milwaukee as one of the top 40 communities nationwide in terms of our arts vibrancy for a combination of, of reasons, including what you just described, Marilu. I mean, a community led neighborhood arts activations on the ground, you know, our incredible wealth of venues, large and small for performances, but also this kind of DIY artistic ethos and the seemingly endless, you know, pool of talent that exists here in Milwaukee. But at the same time, we've seen, you know, talent migration, particularly of young diverse talent from Milwaukee. So I wanna talk about sort of the bigger picture here and the city of Milwaukee's plans to address this. Let's just talk about the 2040 plan and dive into what role you see creatives and their retention and attraction to the city of Milwaukee in the success of that plan.
Lafayette Crump:
Sure. Well, thank, thank you for mentioning that. We recently completed and got approved by city council and signed by the mayor, our connecting MKE downtown 2040 plan that we did in conjunction with the downtown bid. They've come up a couple of times here, great partners of ours at the Department of City Development. But as we've imagined what downtown Milwaukee should look like and who it should be for over the next 10 to 15 years. Absolutely. Artists are a crucial part of that. We talk about connectivity to other parts of the city. We talk about catalytic projects. We talk about increasing density in downtown, and that has to include affordable housing, workforce housing has to be housing that artists can afford. And where, where artists can continue to think about what, what their next steps are. We, we don't want, you know, artists to feel like, you know, there's no opportunity for us. So we are moving into either a different field that is perhaps less creative, or we need to leave and go to another community that is more supportive of the arts. And as much as we can talk about how vibrant Milwaukee is and how we punch above our weight in this respect, and all of the, you know, the amazing creatives we have here, the rich pool of talent, there does need to be more public support for artists. I'm happy to hear that we rank well on that list, but there are other lists we all know that we rank lower on. You know, while we facilitate the Milwaukee Arts Board, you know, through the Department of City development, when it comes to municipal funding, when it comes to state funding we are punching below our weight here in Milwaukee. And that's something that over time I am very hopeful and optimistic that we will change. Because if you do not have artists, if you do not have those folks here who are pushing the boundaries, and you touched on it earlier, art and activism there is something about art and activism that does seem to go hand in hand, and we need people pushing us. You know I I talk about you know, public meetings that we have and other ways that we're engaging with the community, and I want us to be challenged. And often artists are a part of that you know, demanding that we think differently, demanding that we think more expansively. A lot of the creativity or boundary pushing that does come out of city government, you will somewhere you will find an artist pushing pushing on us to, to do that just because of the way they see the world, the way that they think differently. We were able to recently facilitate the city's first public artist in residence program. And so we had someone working in conjunction with the Department of Public Works and design by our, our department as the, the lead on that department of city development. But they were working on how to advance traffic calming elements in the city of Milwaukee, how to get young people thinking about the impact of reckless driving and finding ways to connect with people to connect those dots creatively takes an artist's mind to do that. And so if we want a safer city, we want a city that people feel comfortable in you know, regardless of their background, regardless of where they live, regardless of, you know, where they need to get to in the city. Artists are an important part of that, and I'm excited that our downtown plan takes that into consideration. And our other city plans will have 13 other area plans that make up our full comprehensive plan. Need to take that into consideration as well.
Elisabeth Gasparka:
Thank you for highlighting those programs. You know, unfortunately, the reality is that the, the city of Milwaukee's vast budget for 2024, you know, of $1.9 billion within that, I, I hope I'm correct here when I say only $250,000 has been earmarked for direct arts spending through the Milwaukee Arts Board. So it's, it's just very interesting because as you said, our city is known to be this arts rich environment, and it's, it's perhaps an arts rich environment, but despite a lack of investment. So I really appreciate that you, that you called out the need for increased investment in, in the arts. Yeah,
Lafayette Crump:
I mean, it's something that's unique about the the Velar Phillips plaza that we were able to get you know, a sizable artist commission there, it, $600,000 marylu. Yeah, right. But a, you know, a singular infusion. And imagine what it would be like if we had those dollars available every single year, the long-term impact that, that would have.
Marilu Knode:
<affirmative> and I, I, I appreciate all this conversation because I think it's really at the heart of what we're talking about. There was a panel at Marquette recently where the Wisconsin Policy Forum mentioned that we are now the 50th out of 50 states for arts investment. I think the city of Milwaukee, you know is unique because we do have such, it's a big city. We do have such a diverse environment here, but artists also live everywhere. And that's something that, in, in a way, that's a statewide policy that we really need to deal with. But I wanna get back to your question about, you know, sort of how the city sees the arts helping with the 2040 plan. You know, data has shown that workers want cities that are active and vibrant at night, as well as during the day, and that we have as many cultural offerings as we do green spaces and sports franchises. And so the, the sports and arts are not mutually exclusive. However, I think that we need to recognize the fact that the arts industry, if we consider it an industry, is a lobbying group. We're actually quite a very large group. And if we were to lobby for the value of our unique experiences, the events and opportunities that we produce and that help define our community, we add to the economic and social vitality of the city. And I think that that's really quite wonderful. One thing that I would just observe is, you know, our arts community will never pack up and leave the city the way that cities, that businesses can and do leave a city. They, you know, they find tax better tax benefits someplace in the south, perhaps, you know, because our arts infrastructure does not leave the city, we are a very good reliable public investment partner. And that's something that I wanna just say that it's not just about supporting our legacy institutions, it's about those next generation of startups that will one day become our legacy institutions. So, the fact that sculpture Milwaukee is seven years old, it was an idea. Steve Marcus had a decade before then people thought he was a bit crazy. His intention was to fold, though it was about economic development, but it was also about cultural development. Then during Covid, when all our museums and institutions closed, you know, you can go see public art at any time. The educational materials were still there. You could still enjoy yourself. And, and the works that we would bring in framed the experiences that you could have in the city. So I just wanna argue for the arts, as you know, as an industry, we are a very important industry. That we function 24 hours a day, seven days a week that we're not limited to just burly guys tossing a ball around <laugh>. As much as we love those burly guys tossing balls around, we are very diverse in the people who can participate. And I think that that's really important. We're talking about where public dollars come from. I vote for my tax dollars to be distributed equitability as well. We have to support our infrastructure and the important things that government does. But I just think that this is an opportunity for us to think about how our tax dollars are distributed Nationally as well, right? <Affirmative>, there's, there's an artist pair, Komar and Malamed who in the eighties were talking about, you know, what if you were to spend monies equitably in the way that, you know, so where you come from. So if you're not in the sports, what else do you want to do and spend your time doing? We want people to be educated, but we want them to be engaged too. You know, if we don't have people who are engaged, you know, what are they doing with their time? And, and I think that that's a really interesting question. That's the activist part of what arts are. You know, keep your mind busy, keep your hands busy, keep you engaged in the community.
Lafayette Crump:
I, I'm, I'm glad that you went there. If your mind's not busy, if your mind's not focused on our, what, what, what else might you be engaged in? Which of course makes me think about young people, right? It makes me think about how, how they spend their time, and if they feel that there are enough individuals in the community who care about them and care about what they're doing. If they don't believe that, then how do they end up spending their time? I have a daughter who goes to the Milwaukee High School of the Arts amazing music program there, wonderful theater program as well. She's, she's a singer. That's her, her major, and her kind of where she wants to go with her life. She would, she would love to be a singer. There are things, you know, I can't get her to focus on some things for five minutes, right? But that she will spend hours perfecting a song. She'll spend hours looking up you know, other renditions of a song, thinking how she can tweak the music to match her voice. You know, working on a particular stands of the song, and then coming back to it again and again and again. And the way that the arts can help people focus and think about you know, get getting something right. And, and I don't wanna say say perfectionism, but finding the way to, to get something just right. It, it's truly a, a magical thing. And I've seen it not just with her, but with some of her peers as well. You know I talked about how I was interested in arts when I was a kid and, and loved to draw. But what I wasn't great at was, was painting something after I had drawn it. I just, I didn't have the patience. And I've always been amazed at those, those true artists who have the patience to just spend time and again, just slowly getting something just right. And I see that in my daughter and her work ethic and patience for, for the arts is phenomenal. And if we provide avenues for the young people who do have those interests and do have that willingness to put that, that time in the transformational nature of that that we could have on this community is just, I mean, the sky's the limit on that. And so when we talk about the resources that we plug into this, when we can't find the resources, well, it's quite obvious that we're gonna spend our resources in some other way. If we're not pouring into young people you know, specifically through the arts, we're gonna pay for it in other ways. And so we, we've got to have a shift in that to, to change lives and then ultimately change the community.
Elisabeth Gasparka:
I am so glad you shared that, and that's so cool that your daughter's into singing. So, you know, employers more and more cite creativity as the number one trait that they're looking for in new hires across all different sectors. So you're absolutely right, Lafayette, but I wanna go back to the lack of infrastructure and support that we're, that we're enduring right now as a community. It really seems to me like there needs to be a mindset shift of thinking about cultural amenities as a nice add-on to actually thinking of them as part of a strategic economic agenda. And I'm just wondering what you, what you think it will take to make that a reality?
Marilu Knode:
Boy, that's a, a really big question, and I'm happy to go first. Although, again, no leverage to make some of these happen. Things happen. But what
Lafayette Crump:
I do, I don't think that's true, <laugh>. I I don't think that's true. I think that your voice is leverage and your ability to, to, to galvanize folks, to, to find like-minded people there, there's leverage there. So I'm sorry to jump in, but I, I don't ever want people to think that there isn't an opportunity to move the needle if people are willing to speak up and, and not be quiet about it.
Marilu Knode:
It, I appreciate you're saying that because they think that's what's so important with an organization like Imagine MKE and that advocacy and lobbying efforts that I think are really important. Again, you know, the data shows that we're an enormous industry. We have great impacts in terms of tax revenue, and I think it's really important for us to recognize the fact we do have our primary, you know, artists who sing or paint or, you know, et cetera. But there are so many people who actually are sort of adjacent to and support artists. So I'm a curator. I've worked in nonprofit museums my entire career. You know, there's lots of people who different, do different things in those spaces to support the artists. There's marketing people, there's installation crew, there's security crew, there's fundraisers, et cetera, et cetera. So, so it's, it's a huge industry that has that allows people to contribute in a lot of different levels. You know, you know, if you're not the singer, but you can be working in, you know, the, at the Paps Theater, right? You can be working all kinds of places. So it's an industry that we tend to sort of reduce to one thing, which is production. But that's only one, one small part of it. I always joke that as a curator, if I can even just maintain a core sort of focus on the art itself, I don't mind all the administrative stuff that goes alongside of it. And I think that's true for everybody who really has a passion for what it is that they do. So I think, I think ultimately, you know, because Milwaukee is in a very interesting position right now, you know, we've been sort of outed nationally for things that are not just true for us, that are true across the country. Every city in America has the same problems, that it's a legacy of historical circumstances, but we solve our problems uniquely for the people that are in Milwaukee. And, and the arts are part of that unique solution that we can maybe have for the city itself. So I think, you know, there's that sort of what we are as an industry, the lobbying value and voice that we might have together. Absolutely. But there's also sort of the support to say, but the city can move forward and we can be part of that. And I, I'm, I think that that's exciting.
Elisabeth Gasparka:
Any, any additional thoughts about how Milwaukeean who identify as arts supporters or arts lovers can help to affect change and influence increased opportunities within the arts and creative industries?
Marilu Knode:
Well, funny you should ask that question because I actually have three tangible things. In thinking about this, what could we do to see sort of that kind of investment, you know, happen? The first one, and, and forgive me, Lafayette, I'm about to say this and I'm kind of looking at you. I'd like to see the arts recognized permanently at a high level within city government. And I know that there are people working on that. I just think that the minute the voice is in the room, it's like having an artist in residence at the city and artist can, has all kinds of skills that can be helped be applied to what the engineers do. Engineers have to be creative too. They have to navigate geography and geology and, you know, history, development, et cetera, et cetera. I think together the combination is incredibly powerful. I think another thing I would like very much to talk about is that be, maybe it's because I've been working in public art over the last two decades. I'd love to see our 1% for all art law activated. And this is something through the Milwaukee Arts Board. You brought them up earlier. And that the 1% law has been on the books nationally since the early sixties. Philadelphia is one of the first adopters for public art in the public realm. I was just in Philadelphia. It's astounding how much art is around the city, but again, a sculpture on a coroner is only one very specific form of way of the way the arts can be manifest in a city. There are developers in the community who recognize the value of bringing art into their buildings already. They're doing it voluntarily. It'd be really great to see our 1% for art law sort of instituted. And often it's for buildings above a certain value. It's not for every single thing. But I think also the idea of art being integrated into a building process at the beginning of it, not at the end of it, really makes a great combination. And there are great sort of cost savings when you do that as well. And then the third point I wanna just make is the data is clear. The arts deserve public investment because of their tangible, economic and social benefit across the community. So, you know, I would love very much for, you know, the residents of our community to sort of say this is a value that they hold, that they benefit from, and then support all the things that the city does to really invest in the arts. You know, we, we do so much to invest in small business. If you consider every artist a small business, that would be a really great place to say, you know, how can we sort of figure out, tailor some benefits to them specifically?
Elisabeth Gasparka:
I just wanna take a moment here and acknowledge shout out to DPW who is diligently drilling outside the studio right now. So apologies for that. Tonal interference in the background. Lafayette, do you wanna weigh in?
Lafayette Crump:
Yeah, I'll just, you know, add into that. An important thing for artists is a place to live <laugh>. And so more affordable housing options, I think is, is extremely important to take, you know, one more thing off artist's plate that you know, that they don't have to spend their time thinking about. Where am I going to live? How am I going to make, make enough money to pay my rent? If, if my art's not selling, or if I'm deep in a project that's going to, you know, be successful down the road, but I am, you know, but it's not bringing in income at the moment. How do we make sure that, you know, artists feel safe and have someone somewhere that they can call home. But in addition to that, when you, you mentioned small businesses Mary Lou, and yes, recognizing that arts is a business and, you know, I think we sometimes have the tendency in particularly in in city government where our spending is on infrastructure, on real estate development. We often think of business strictly in terms of construction. And that is such a small segment of our population of folks being involved somehow in the construction industry. Now there's a design element to that, right? So there, there are architects and engineers who, who play a role in that, but so many other kinds of artists that we want to make sure we're supporting. So finding ways to support their growth as small business owners, but also doing the things we do for other businesses, creating collaborative spaces, creating incubators providing back office support. All of those kinds of things happen have to happen for artists the same as they do for other businesses as well.
Elisabeth Gasparka:
Thank you. Well, this has been a wonderful, rich conversation. I'm so appreciative to both of you for your time today. I just have one more question for the two of you, and hopefully the drill will hold off before we jump into this. So how can people learn more about Bell Phillips Plaza and follow along as that project evolves?
Marilu Knode:
So, the, the de DCD, the Department of City Development's website has information about the Bell Phillips Plaza. We will be posting things there normally whenever there's something to be seen. And I wanna say too that you know, the, the Plaza is part of our Uriel Phillips activities that we've sort of self-declared, because one, it's important, and two, nobody can really stop us <laugh> when we really wanna sort of celebrate someone as important as Vel Phillips to the community. So you know, the Vel Phillips Plaza is sort of the anchor part of that for this year in the city of Milwaukee. That you know, the, the Wisconsin Historical Press is coming out with a biography of LL Phillips late in the year. We'll have the work in Madison installed sometime this summer this Sunday, February 18th, which is actually LL Phillips birthday. The, the team there led by Dr. Cantera Suran, is organizing a whole day celebrating Vel Phillips. So the mayor is doing a proclamation at 10 about declaring it Vel Phillips Day. There's gonna be all kinds of activities with a lot of our partners. The Wisconsin Black Historical Society is gonna be there talking about Derek Adams mural, exploring the black community genre. Urban Arts is going to be doing a panel. So there's all kinds of partners across the community who are going to be sort of highlighting Vel Phillips, America's Black Holocaust Museum represents her every day in their gallery. So, you know, we're, we're really sort of looking to sort of connect the dots between the organizations and the people who are celebrating Vel Philips and her legacy, her, what she means to us today, what she did to fight for everybody's rights to be, you know, in a good equitable, you know, beautiful city. And then what that might look like in the future as well. So I, I think I think the city's a good place to go for just seeing how they, how people can sort of honor Vel R. Phillips in their own way.
Lafayette Crump:
Milwaukee.Gov/Dcd <laugh>.
Elisabeth Gasparka:
Well, thank you so much. On behalf of Imagine Mke. We're so grateful for all the work that you do in championing the arts and culture in Milwaukee. Great.
Lafayette Crump:
Thank you. Likewise. Thank you.
Elisabeth Gasparka:
Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend, like subscribe or leave a reading and review. Follow Imagine MKE on socials to hear and see more Milwaukee Arts stories, learn about arts events and opportunities, and to receive arts, advocacy, news and alerts. To get involved or learn more about the work of Imagine MKE, visit us on the web. Creative MKE is produced and edited by me, Elisabeth Gasparka, with support from Adam Braatz. The Season's episodes were recorded in downtown Milwaukee and in Washington Heights, with support from the good folks at PodCamp Media and the Washington Park Media Center. Our show's music is by Bobby Drake. Additional audio support provided by Think Tank and Silver City Studios. Thank you to WUWM for the opportunity to broadcast Creative MKE on the radio. And thanks to the Shepherd Express for their ongoing partnership. For more than 40 years, Shepherd Express has proudly advocated for arts and culture in the Milwaukee area. You can hear more podcasts like this one at shepherdexpress.com.
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Mentioned in this episode:
Marilu Knode Bio (Click to expand)
Arts leader Marilu Knode is currently working for the City on the Artist Commission at the Vel R. Phillips Plaza in downtown Milwaukee and is part of the Vel Phillips Legacy Initiative commissioning a sculpture of Vel Phillips on the Wisconsin State Capitol grounds in Madison.
She recently completed STRIVE Jones Studio Adventures in Architecture, a monograph exploring the firms’ forty-year history creating a sustainable architecture of place. She was one of the founding team for Sculpture Milwaukee, where she served as co-curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs from 2017-2020.
Marilu is the former director of Laumeier Sculpture Park, St. Louis. She has organized dozens of exhibitions in the US and abroad, exploring diverse social and cultural topics. She has authored numerous catalogues, organized conferences, participated on panels and written for local, national and international magazines and museums.
At the core of Knode’s curatorial practice are the hundreds of commissioned works for museums and public art programs with artists from around the globe. Knode was the American Commissioner to the Cairo Biennial, working with Nancy Spero, in 1998, and co-founded the first curatorial practice program in the Middle East at the American University in Cairo.
Lafayette Crump Bio (Click to Expand)
