Theme: Our City/Our Canvas

DEC 2 7:00P.M.
FIRESIDE LOUNGE, UWM UNION
Milwaukee is a city of extremes. Extreme segregation, extreme entrepreneurship. Daunting crime rates, impressive institutions of education and healthcare. Underneath all of these extremes is the foundation of our city. This foundation is colored with art. From graffiti to murals, urban greenspaces to localized startups, how have these impacted our communities and youth? Our City/Our Canvas will delve into what Milwaukee's urban art can teach us about social justice, education, history, and more. Join us for an evening of discovery as we explore what our foundation has to offer.

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 53211
United States

TIA CHANTI RICHARDSON

Artist

If you are from Milwaukee you are familiar with the experience of being out somewhere on any given side of town and frequently crossing paths with other people you recognize. Is Milwaukee's smallness an obstacle to opportunity and success? Can we creatively use our overlapping circles as a strength? My radical invitation is that we see and understand ourselves as family; an organism of interdependent parts where everyone has something of value to bring to the table. How does stepping into community art as a supportive, creative framework help our attitudes shift towards each other? How does it actually build healthy connective tissue in our communities? I practice community art with organizations and people across all sectors of Milwaukee using visual art to share stories. When we become more empathetic and cooperative with each other, our organism is healthier - more responsive, wondering, seeing itself as an interdependent part of a whole.