Mikal Floyd-Pruitt [An article by Evelyn Patricia Terry]

Mikal Floyd-Pruitt, chosen as one of five recipients of the prestigious Mary Nohl Fellowship in January 2023, receives additional funding toward production and career development. Administered by the Lynden Sculpture Garden, The Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s Mary L. Nohl Fund and Joy Engine provided funding for the Nohl Fellowship Awards.

Mikal Floyd-Pruitt, chosen as one of five recipients of the prestigious Mary Noh Fellowship in January 2023, models a cape he designed. Photo credit: Charlotte Floyd-Pruitt

Winning in the top category of “established artist,” Floyd-Pruitt’s multi - faceted practice includes interactive events and installations, painting, sculpture, clothing design, assemblages, rapping, music, and filmmaking. Floyd-Pruitt co-directs HomeWorks: Bronzeville, a development initiative, based in Milwaukee, focusing on local creative entrepreneurial talent by way of property ownership. He also created I Am Milwaukee, a lifestyle brand promoting unity and creativity.

Partnering with many community sectors, Floyd-Pruitt contributes uniquely to the Milwaukee art scene. Alexander Mitchell Integrated Arts School teacher, Nora Justin, engaged him to work with her class of thirty Latinx 7th-grade students. After asking them to write essays on the meaning of freedom, she wanted her students to share their thoughts with the world. Interested in the power of word play, Floyd-Pruitt recorded the students reading sentences from their essays, reinforcing that their words are powerful and meaningful. The project expanded to include Floyd–Pruitt’s thoughts on freedom as a rap collaboration with the students’ words. He then invited further collaborations with musicians Klassik and Sista Strings to transform the recordings into a fully produced song. Together student and professional artists produced a vibrant video, El Color de la Libertad, co–directed by Floyd–Pruitt and filmed by Wes Tank. It premiered at the Milwaukee Film Festival.

Then there is Splash! Free and open to the public, this energetic community engagement project invites neighbors and other participants to work side-by-side with Floyd-Pruitt and invited artists to create public art. In 2022, driving south on Vel R. Phillips Avenue (former 4th Street), I happened to witness the award-winning artist and diverse participants enthusiastically hurling paint-filled balloons at a two-story boarded-up HomeWorks: Bronzeville property scheduled for demolition. Located on the corner, the unchoreographed performance irreverently covered two sides with erratically splattered colors, soon transforming it into a Floyd–Pruitt “Splash!” public art production. Although exterior house paint, injected into balloons, appears totally random and spontaneous, methodical research enhances the process.

Diverse participants enthusiastically hurl paint-filled balloons at a boarded-up property scheduled for demolition for Floyd–Pruitt “Splash!”  Photo Credit: Wes Tank

Incredibly creative, Mikal Floyd-Pruitt’s amiable humor and intelligence coupled with a pleasant demeanor reminds me of his family members that I have interacted with. My association with the Floyd-Pruitt family resulted from an art presentation I made to a MacDowell Montessori class. Mikal’s older brother, now professional artist Anwar Floyd–Pruitt, and my daughter, now documentary filmmaker Talleah Bridges McMahon, shared a kindergarten class. Following my art presentation, I learned that Anwar convinced his parents, Dr. Eugene Pruitt and Charlotte Floyd-Pruitt, to purchase one of my watermelon pastels—specifying that they choose a large size.

Fast forward, years later, both Floyd-Pruitt brothers graduated from Harvard University, following in the footsteps of their father. Mikal, in 2006, graduated cum laude, earning a B.A. in Visual Art and Environmental Studies with a filmmaking focus. Both eventually returned to Milwaukee. The Terry McCormick Contemporary Fine and Folk Art Gallery, my home gallery space, hosted an exhibition of their artwork with artist Kevin Boatright. Despite our generation gap, I was privileged to watch Mikal perform before the pandemic at Center Street Days and in Jazale’s Art Studio owned by brothers Vedale and Darren Hill. I even experienced my first Splash! painting on the Artery, now renamed the Beerline Trail.

Diverse participants enthusiastically hurl paint-filled balloons at a boarded-up property scheduled for demolition for Floyd–Pruitt “Splash!”  Photo Credit: Wes Tank

Mikal, most significantly during the pandemic’s height, chose mostly to stay inside. Ideas germinated in his mind. Just as before the pandemic, he now ceaselessly produces distinctly dissimilar bodies of artwork throughout the city while also exhibiting and performing nationally. This $35,000 Mary Nohl Award, plus a $5,000 career development award, continues his bold and captivating movement forward after a brief hiatus. Fueled to flourish, look for the opening of his exhibition along with the other 2023 Mary Nohl Awardees in June 2024 at Marquette University’s Haggerty Museum of Art.

Evelyn Patricia Terry | Guest Writer for /CW

Contact: terryevelyn@hotmail.com

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Check out this upcoming SPLASH! event by Mikal

HomeWorks: Bronzeville Development Initiative is "Re-imagining" Gentrification w/ Artist in Mind

HomeWorks: Bronzeville purchases City-owned foreclosure,

 reviving the decade-long vacancy as part of an artist housing cluster

As renovation will soon be on its way, the Press and community is invited to attend

HomeWorks: Bronzeville “Press Launch”, March 26, 2022 at 10:30am at the north east corner of

N. Vel R. Phillips Avenue & W. Meinecke Avenue.

“Community” development is at an all time high in Milwaukee's Bronzeville Cultural and Entertainment District. While this development spike has several stakeholders, critics, and polarizing advocates, its existence grants opportunity for communal investment that has not been seen since the disruption and displacement of the 1960’s. One group of creatives has taken on the idea of community development as a personal call to action, understanding the plight of gentrification with longing for urban life that respects new and existing neighbors. They call it HomeWorks: Bronzeville.

As of March 15th, 2022 the long anticipated acquisition of the final property in their piloted three building cluster has been achieved. The site was previously a City of Milwaukee foreclosure that has been vacant for over a decade. HomeWorks: Bronzeville can now begin its renovation of the south-facing duplex and quad demolition at 322-340 West Meinecke. The duplex will be rehabilitated into a two-story single, Artist Live-Work Space for Local and Visiting Artists (3-bedroom upper with lower level art studio) with initial tenant Alexia S. Brunson and CopyWrite Magazine. The quad will temporarily become Greenspace for year-round art installations and programs by Jazale’s Art Studio, MKE<->LAX, Food4All, I Am Milwaukee, and CopyWrite Magazine. 

“While others build a place and then find the people, we find the people and then build the place,” said Vedale Hill of Jazale’s Art Studio in discussing the need for this type of creative development.

HomeWorks: Bronzeville is a development initiative based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin that emphasizes community development in its physical, economic, and social form by way of authentic arts and culture applications. At the foundation of this initiative are co-owners Vedale Hill, Sara Daleiden, and Mikal Floyd-Pruitt, who are all active members of the arts community. Their collective experiences in navigating real estate for their professional, communal, and personal creative practices have helped them form an effective ideology on creative placemaking and developing community holistically.

HomeWorks: Bronzeville centralizes their development efforts on specific qualities that are meant to challenge traditional practices and emphasize niche community needs including:

• Client Specific - artist and community cultivators who are also entrepreneurs

• Creating Ownership - providing opportunities to add + retain economic, cultural, and influential value 

• Stability - building directional infrastructure for communal longevity 

• Reimagining Gentrification - by changing the “how” not the “who”

• Narrative Shifting - focusing on ownership as a tool for stability and growth

• Transferable value - facilitating experiences that elevate authentic community practices + interest via a creative economy

• Retaining creative talent pool - through genuine opportunity and consistency for artists

“It’s crucial that our shared values and aspirations frame and guide this initiative. If goals and practices aren’t part of the process, they won’t be part of the product. It’s as simple as that.” - Mikal Floyd-Pruitt, I Am Milwaukee

Their collective ideology through real world experience of displacement, eventually led them to find a location in the heart of Bronzeville with a three building cluster that they will turn into the anchor home they all envision [located at the corner of W. Meinecke Ave & N. Vel R. Phillips Ave]. This will be a place that will hold all the programmatic elements of their respective organizations and businesses, residential property for artist housing, rental studios, and community space. As of 2018, HomeWorks: Bronzeville has completed its first fully developed property in the cluster co-developed with Strong Blocks; a fully gutted duplex turned two-story artist live-work space designed for Vedale Hill and family, featuring a public gallery space on the lower level.

“We seek to cultivate Bronzeville by concentrating on properties that surround America's Black Holocaust Museum in the Harambee neighborhood portion of the district. We honor the re-emergence of the museum as a beacon for change and an archive of pertinent history for this community” - Sara Daleiden, MKE<->LAX

Homeworks: Bronzeville notes that without active collaboration reviving the site's decade-long vacancy under this type of incentive would not have been possible. Collaborators include the City of Milwaukee, Wisconsin Preservation Fund, Thurman Grant Architect, CopyWrite Magazine, Toki & Associates, Darren Hill, Jeff Lamar Brown, Gray Development Group, Food4All, Strong Blocks and other cultural leaders from the district and the city. The project has also been guided by City leadership including Alderwoman Milele Coggs, the Bronzeville Advisory Committee, the Department of City Development and the Neighborhood Improvement Development Corporation in connection with the City’s Bronzeville Redevelopment Plan, the Bronzeville Artist Housing Report and the Art and Resource Community Hub (ARCH) Loan Program. 

Through support from the City’s ARCH Loan Program, Greater Milwaukee Foundation and Wisconsin Preservation Fund, HomeWorks: Bronzeville is actualizing on this artist housing cluster, in alignment with the neighboring America’s Black Holocaust Museum.

As renovation will soon be on its way, the Press and community is invited to attend HomeWorks: Bronzeville “Press Launch”, March 26, 2022 at 10:30am at the north east corner of N. Vel R. Phillips Avenue & W. Meinecke Avenue.

Always learning from the world around them, challenging the systems before them, and advocating for authentic progression in creative place-making, HomeWorks: Bronzeville believes “Community thrives on cultures.”

HomeWorks: Bronzeville is currently looking for investors for their future development projects. You can support them through their non-profit financing partner Wisconsin Preservation Fund.

Press Inquiries

Lexi S. Brunson, CopyWrite Magazine, Media Relations

copywrite.mke@gmail.com

General & Development Inquiries

Vedale Hill, Jazale’s Art Studio, Co-Owner

(414) 403-3000

Sara Daleiden, MKE<->LAX, Co-Owner

(323) 630-7272

home@homeworksbronzeville.com

www.homeworksbronzeville.com

About: 

HomeWorks: Bronzeville is a development initiative based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Titled by its namesake, the Bronzeville Cultural and Entertainment District, this initiative emphasizes community development in its physical, economic, and social form by way of authentic arts and culture applications. Learn more at: https://homeworksbronzeville.com/CHARTER

2022? We will be here, doing all the things we do!

No speech this year. You see the world. We see the world. Shit. . . Anything could happen. But one thing for certain, we will be here doing what we do! 2022 we will be staying focused on our mission with humanity in mind every step of the way.

/CW

WoLF Studios Presents: “ReVibe” Vol.2- Soul [Post Event Write Up]

"If you place the emphasis on getting the little things right, and address the everyday problems that come up, you can encourage a culture of attention to detail."

- Richard Branson, Founder of Virgin Records

 If there’s anyone who is all about that it’s Wanyah Leon Frazier, CEO of WoLF Studios, a Milwaukee based Multi-Media Production Company that knows what it's SUPPOSED to look like- whatever “it” is. On November 6th, WoLF Studios presented “ReVibe” Vol. 2 - Soul at MARN Art Bar + Culture Hub, Vol.1 being held last year in the heat of the pandemic at No Studios. Ya’ll, this presentation was splendid! Located in Milwaukee’s downtown area, MARN is already a cozy space to be in with the bar in eyes view as soon as you walk in, the walls and back bar having a vast array of wine, and the wall art, jewelry, and other art pieces from different creators on display and couch seating waiting for us to indulge in it all, comfortably. But WoLF Studios’s presence took it up a notch with a sold out full house audience. With melodic affirmations by Queen Mother of WoLF Studios and hostess Kenza Dawn (“Don’t it feel good to be aliiiiive...”), audience appearances from singer B~Free, visual artist Ashley Dallas, who was presenting art that night, poetry vet Brit Nicole, and some of us from Team CopyWrite, we all shared the experience of being witnesses to the wonderful siren-like vocals of Felix Ramsey, the lovely Lotus Fankh, beautiful interpretive dance demonstrations by DeMar Walker, Tori Lauren, Sophia Leon, Taylor Maurchie-Banks, more wall art displays by Adjua Nsoroma, and spoken word by Deolinda Abstract and Tori Zo. From the lighting to the servitude to the all around production of this event, anyone would want to be apart.

CW: I have to comment on how wonderful this event turned out to be- the setting is perfect, the audience is perfect AND diverse...everything is how it's supposed to be. Would you give [the readers] a background on what ReVibe is, where it came from, how long you've been doing it, how long you planned on doing it- what's the meaning of ReVibe?

WF: So, um, ReVibe is my interpretation of some of what the art community is missing, and it happened during Covid. Basically, during Covid a lot of the white-based organizations all had things [ready for] all for their artists but there weren't many organizations of color that were providing avenues for people to perform during Covid…I wanted to see more color...plain and simple. That's all I wanted to do, so we had ReVibe last year- it was at No Studios, we had a great time, we had a plethora of artists and it was just a vibe, basically. And so I’m like okay I need to do this every time now because as I move into it, even before, there aren't many platforms for us. We don't see them, they're not there, so I am a strong believer- I dont beg for things, I make them. I'm an artist, right? So I was like let’s make more platforms. Let's add more places where performers, of any genres really, can feel comfortable to step in, perform, have new pieces, have that same level of creative freedom that other white-based organizations or any organizations in general are able to provide for their artists and their employees; I want us to have that same level of artistic freedom here.

CW: Absolutely. And of course you want to start pouring that into where you're from- the home city that you grew up in, but do you plan on taking that elsewhere or is that something that  you haven't looked forward to yet?

WF: So my hope- my real goal is to take WoLF Studios national and have a pop up organization that shows up in different cities, set up a base and does similar things to what we're doing here in other places providing that platform- that space where artists of different genres, of different talent levels can get together and produce meaningful works, so I see this as almost like a multimedia-art studio that just sets up shop in another city; we host performances, we have galleries, we have things that showcase and provide that platform for already talented artists to really make it a career. 

CW: You said ‘already talented artists...’ What about the people who may just be figuring out what they want? Is there a lane for them in ReVibe... how do you operate with that group?

WF: We have it set to different levels. Depending on what it is we have entry level performances, which are more so our community performances, performance experiences for artistic development, we have that level of our organization that focuses on building the artists and making sure that the artists has what they need to succeed, and then we have our more professional setting of performances with more established artists  who know what they’re doing and see the platform and showcase it. 

CW: There's been a small wave of attention to detail, quality control, creative direction going around, even with witnessing it tonight with the attention to the lighting, the way that the lights were set to a specific artist, sound direction, the way the audience is positioned- why do you think that is? Why is that energy present in the Milwaukee art scene at this moment? We're leveling up alot. 

WF: So I'm a little bit crazy, Imma say that as a disclaimer but I think that for the most part, the beauty is in the details. It's in those extra things. I wanna make sure that the artist can come and have everything that they need to make their artwork shine to its fullest potential and so in any of the work that I do I think that it's really about making sure that the platform is perfect and all it needs is the artist to play with it, right? And I think that's more so we're realizing even as a people, that quality matters like, it's very important to make the statement and say the thing that we want it to say. When it comes from a place of quality, it has so much more impact. And so how do we create those platforms? How do we provide those spaces, how do we push the artist to make sure every piece that they do has the impact that they intended to have? [By] making sure that we are providing the space that allows them to perform naturally. 

CW: I agree with that 100%. You really care and it shows. Thank You.

/Naomi-Re’a for CW

Rent /CW HQ!

https://copywritemag.com/rentals

Redefining “Street" Art | #CROSSWORDSNORTH Community Interview

There is art in these streets. LITERALLY!

Beautification projects have been popping up all over Milwaukee. Sculptures, murals, installations, and more have become a part of the growing public narrative that art has a significant impact on the community.

However, even though some forms of art create aesthetic dialogues, others work as functioning methods of civic engagement. A new street mural project between the crosswalks bordering North Avenue, on Palmer St. and Hubbard St., addresses a real problem we all have noticed; reckless driving. 

The project entitled Cross/Words/North “is a unique community-based art project that brings together students and families from nearby St.Marcus Lutheran School, neighbors living in the Harambee and Riverwest neighborhoods near North Avenue, and several community organizations, to create four pieces of crosswalk-framed art that express their feelings about the neighborhood.”- their press release noted. 

Each crosswalk features an image that is symbolic of a distinct word: Empowerment, Love, Unity, and Diversity. Throughout several weeks of virtual workshops with partnering organizations Artists Working in Education (AWE) and Safe & Sound, the words and images were selected in collaboration with community stakeholders including students, parents, and residents. CopyWrite joined this amazing group of community members on installation day (July 17th, 2021) to see why this form of street art is more than what meets the eye. 

Three youth artists D.J. White, Joshua Fuentes, and Jazale Hill gave us their perspectives on why the Cross/Words/North project is worthy of their time and space in their community.

CW: “You are all here working very hard on this community project. Why did you decide to be a part of this?”

D.J.:  “I really like art. I like all of the colors and how the pictures tell a story.”

Jazale: “I decided to be a part of this to address the safety of driving. It’s also something positive to do in the summer that I actually like.”

Joshua: “I just really like helping.”

Not only did these youth artists help in the physical application of the painted murals but also were extremely involved in the design of the crosswalks. Both Joshua and Jazale released artist statements about their designs. 

"The houses represent Diversity, as we live in a community where we are all individuals but we are uniquely different. The houses I drew are all homes but each is unique. I wanted to include details such as the porches because, in neighborhoods like mine, this became a space during the Covid-19 Pandemic of togetherness. We were able to talk to our neighbors from the porch and wave to each other while being safer at home,” - Joshua Fuentes

“I feel that the infinity sign and lotus flower conveys the word empowerment well. The infinity sign symbolizes a forever bond. As a community even through tough times we will always be together and work things out in order to live better. The lotus flower symbolizes the work that still needs to be done that will eventually bloom into a greater City of Milwaukee, a better place for us. As a resident of Milwaukee, I want things to be better for my younger siblings, family, friends, and even just people in general. I want my work to make a difference and empower others to feel safe during their everyday life. Being involved by addressing safety concerns of reckless driving in Milwaukee is a start to doing that. This way I know I helped people I care about be a little more safe. I know my work is a part of something bigger than myself.” - Jazale Hill

D.J added that though he was originally coerced into being a part of the project once involved he began to understand how the project could be a service to others and enjoyable.

DJ: “This project matters because you get to be creative while helping against reckless driving. The project was inspired by ourselves and what we wanted to see. It’s important because we are drawing them and that makes it personal.”

As reflective as these youth were about the visual imagery of the project they also had thoughts on the safety of their community when it comes to “trendy '' dangerous driving habits plaguing our city. The colloquial word for reckless driving is baselining. The act of baselining and increase of delinquent car theft has made fatality by motor vehicle and incapacitated injury surge over the last few years. Milwaukee’s Traffic Safety Unit (TSU) reports that year to date there have been 215 incidents that have drastically changed someone's thread of existence, with harm or death (2021). 

Joshua: “I usually feel safe but at the same time I don’t go outside a lot because there have been two accidents by my house already.”

CW: “Why would that keep you from going outside?”

Joshua: “I’m afraid that I might get hit.”

Though the narrative may always unfold with negative statistics tabulating real-world issues as numbers, this “street” art is a reminder to ease up on the speed, the dangerous maneuvers, and focus on the world around us.

Jazale: “I think it will inspire people to slow down in a positive way and look at the beauty.”

But what sparks this plan for communally combative street art?

Greg St. Arnold, a resident and “avid biker”, too had noticed the risk of traveling on city streets. People swerving in and out of traffic, near misses, and stories of collisions are all enough to make any commuter wary. Listening to the City-County Carjacking and Reckless Driving Task Force report, Greg realized that the issue was something that needed actionable attention and could possibly be addressed through collaborative means. He then reached out to Mark Lisowski, community organizer for Safe & Sound, to see how they could create something in the neighborhood that would make the highly traveled streets more bike and pedestrian-friendly.

With a solid idea in hand, they were awarded the City of Milwaukee’s Reckless Driving Mini-Grant, which allowed them to facilitate creative community development workshops through AWE and Lead artist Stephanie Krellwitz. 

Greg: “From there on I was a participant in the process. The Zoom sessions were awesome and a good discussion of what each community stakeholder would like the art to represent.”

In the same way, the youth artists were reflective of reckless driving in our community, Greg too shared thoughts on the impact it may have on them.

Greg: “Who are the people that are reckless driving? It’s young people. So what better way to address that than have them involved”. 

He also cited that projects like this have been pitched in other parts of the city-backed by real research that suggests arts ability to curb more dangerous driving activity. However, not all projects get approved and many people want to know why. 

Greg: “Some people don’t think that the money the city is giving out to address reckless driving is enough. But as a community member, I’m excited to get a grant like this even if it's small. This is an opportunity to directly connect with local government and do something that can actually serve the community.”

As stakeholders in the creative community and supporters of the local, we had to ask Greg if he too has noticed an increase of public art in Milwaukee as a method of civic engagement and where it may be coming from.

Greg: “I have noticed more public art and I’m seeing more murals around. I think there has been an uptake in awareness, engagement, and activism. There seems to be a link between that and now people are more continuous on how it creates impact. I hope that's the case. I hope I'm not just imagining this.”

As society shifts into more public acts of accountability, so must the way we combat negative actions like reckless driving and practice acts of social responsibility. A part of this shift is using language and symbolism to communicate what we stand for as communities. Redefining “street” art as a way to slow down baselining, bring comfort to our residents, and save a few more lives, is just one way we can cross the road together.

See you in these streets.

Lexi S. Brunson /CW

Milwaukee Police Department Traffic Safety Unit. (2021, June 9). TSU Statistics. Traffic Safety Unit. https://mpdtsu.org/tsustatistics/. 

We Outside!!! Keep up w/ your /CW Fam as we cover #OutOfTheBoxMKE

blackboxfund.org

Join us this summer as we provide authentic /CW style media coverage at Out Of The Box, six-week summer series. Your /CW Fam will be in the field catching all the vibes that change the narrative, highlight the community, and looking at everything through a creative lens. Tag us at @copywritemag and #copywritemag #OutOfTheBoxMKE #BlackBoxFund so we can help show off the local every step of the way!

/CW

Juneteenth Celebration Press Interview w/ Vedale Hill

/CW Editor-in-Chief, Lexi S. Brunson spoke to lead artist for the Juneteenth Mural in Milwaukee WI, Vedale Hill, on how art elevates the holiday & its history.

/CW

East Side Art Lot's 2021 Call to Artists | Press Interview w/ Larissa Gladding of The East Side BID

Apply to create a public art piece!

Deadline Thursday, May 6th at 11:59 PM.

The East Side Business Improvement District is looking for artists to participate in its second year of The East Side Art Lot. This seasonal outdoor space is offering new pieces of public art and seating to those that use and enjoy the space.

Their current call to artists is to request applicants 18 and older to submit a proposal to create their designs on one of the provided bench seating. Each commissioned artist will receive $500 and materials. 

With a high prioritization of BIPOC/ LGBTQ+/Women artists in the selection process we wanted to insure that all members of our creative community heard about this great opportunity. Larissa Gladding, Special Projects Manager from The East Side Business Improvement District virtually sat down with /CW Editor-in-Chief, Lexi S. Brunson to give us the 411 on the project details, advice on applying, and other insight that may make this public art programing worth your while.

View the East Side Art Lot's 2021 Call to Artists HERE.

Deadline Thursday, May 6th at 11:59 PM.

Meet us for a new era of the Jazz Gallery Center for the Arts! Sunday, March 28th!

Diversity and inclusion are buzz words right now. But we know an organization that is actively trying to engage by way of inclusivity with the creative community in a real way. Come [virtually] to learn about the new Jazz Gallery Center for the Arts and how it may serve you!

Watch on facebook live!