Friday, September 7, 2018
This was our first site visit. We met at Butterfly Park and walked around the neighborhood. This was our first contact with Camille Mays, and thankfully not our last. We talked for a while about the neighborhood and then started a lap up and down 38th and 40th. There was a decent amount of trash on the ground, but there were also bags hung on the fences. At first glance, you didn't realize people wanted to clean up, but there was nowhere for the trash to go, not a single trashcan down the street. I focused mainly on empty lots, as there were many of them. Most had signs posted by the city to keep people off of them. We passed an enormous pothole. It was probably 12" in diameter and 24" deep. Camille said they had been trying to get it fixed for some time. It was also interesting to note how inaccessible the houses were. There were many steps up to the front door, making it nearly impossible for anyone with impaired mobility. It was a short visit, but it started to set the tone for the rest of the semester.
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Saturday, September 8, 2018
We came back after our first walk around the neighborhood, hoping to get more of a feel for it. We were asked to draw sections of our assigned street, so we went back to get better photos of the homes cut through our sections. I was given 38th street between Wright and Clarke St. When we started walking down the street, a car pulled up next to us. It was a bit odd, but the guy driving asked us what we were doing, because he had "never seen white people here." We told him what we were working on, and the guy in the passenger seat hopped out, happy to talk to us about growing up on 38th. He told us his story, all the ups and downs. Definitely the thing I picked out most was his love for where he grew up. Despite troubles he had, his tone showed how much he really cared about the neighborhood. This was a recurring theme while talking to people throughout the semester, the neighborhood had it's issues, but the people were the prize. As I was leaving, a group of boys walked up and asked what I was doing. I told them about our project, and they wanted me to take pictures of them. I said yeah, and would print them out for the next time I visited.
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Saturday, September 15, 2018
I had intended on taking photos up and down the street of the houses on my section of 38th and compiling them into a photo elevation. That didn't really happen. One of the boys who I had taken photos of the previous trip came up and I gave him the photos I took of them. Apparently word got around and two young girls came up and wanted me to take a photo of them and their mom. I took photos of them, and they loved it. The kids wanted to use my camera so I gave them one rule, always wear the strap around your neck. Everyone followed the rule carefully and got to take their own photos. They had a blast and I loved watching them. I never did get around to making that elevation, but I think what I got from that trip was much more useful.
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Tuesday, September 18, 2018 - Jane's Walk
We all met at Butterfly Park for the Jane's walk. The police presence was overwhelming, but given the presence of the Mayor and the neighborhood's reputation, I was not surprised. There was a small intro speech and we started walking. We walked past that pothole I saw on day one, and it had been fixed. I wonder if it would have been fixed had the Mayor not been walking by. We started our walk down Grant Boulevard, which seemed odd since I had thought the focus was to see what could be done in the neighborhood, and Grant looks lovely. We did circle back around Center and walked down 38th back to Butterfly Park, but we stopped to focus on the pretty things. I just found it odd that more was not mentioned about helping the neighborhood. It seemed just like a victory lap for a forgotten neighborhood.
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Saturday, October 13, 2018 - Community Event
We held a community event to try to get a feel for what the community actually wanted. We didn't want to come in and plop something that we as outsiders thought they needed but really didn't. We set up a few stations and had food for the people who came. The station that I was working was the balloon dreams station. We had residents come and write their dreams on a balloon, then take a picture with a frame. Everyone seemed to enjoy it and it was nice to see people with similar dreams. The kids especially loved it. Who doesn't want to write on a balloon?
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Sunday, November 4, 2018 - Catalyst Completion Event
Today was the day we "opened" the catalyst space. We had installed the Friday before, but this was the first official event day. We got together and talked about how this could hopefully propel future projects in the space. Our group had little chalkboards, so we wrote a welcoming message and left chalk for the kids. We went to Cheri Fuqua's porch to talk to UWM's Marketing department, and to just come together for the conclusion of the project. While we were on her porch, a couple of kids walked over to our project and wrote something. When we were finished, we raced over to see what it was. Turns out, they had written a profane word, but when they did, they spent a decent amount of time trying to properly and nicely close the little door. I think they really cared, but they were just having fun. I approve. Any fun to be had with the project is a success, family friendly or not.
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I am not from Milwaukee, so I had no previous idea of what Sherman Park was. I just knew it was low income and primarily African American. After this semester, I know it is much more. It is a group of people, with pride for their community, fighting the reputation given to them by the city. Everyone I met was nice to me. They didn't have to be nice, I was an outsider wandering around their space. What struck me most were the kids, who always came around when we were there. They always wanted to have pictures taken of them. I think that the pictures they and I took will be what I remember most. The spirit of Sherman Park is the laugher on the faces of the kids.