Milwaukee, WI | Project Completed in 2017

“A Collaboration in Art and Community”

Amani is a neighborhood in the central city of Milwaukee. In this community project, I worked closely with the city forestry department, the AMANI neighborhood COA organization and Brico Fund. The project was to take a simple city plot where there once was a home and create a pocket park. Five large decorative planters act to buffer activity in the park from activity on the street. These planters also act as signage to the park. Amani means peace. It conveys the idea of hope and aspiration.

The planters were constructed with a combination of welded steel/ diamond lath construction and finished with layers of cement. The project was to engage the community with the project to help support the use and upkeep of the artwork. The students and staff at COA created images of peace and completed those sections in mosaic. I created the letterforms, applied the mosaic background the finished mosaic sections. The planters were installed and filled by Marak Landscaping. The neighborhood was to plant trees in the planters and/or they could use them for planting food in an area of food insecurity. The park is located in the Amani neighborhood on Locust Avenue in Milwaukee.