Bronzeville Center of the Arts holds community engagement sessions before embarking on $55 million art museum

Listen to this article

The Bronzeville Center of the Arts (BCA) held its second public scoping session on Wednesday, letting community members give feedback on designs for a proposed African American Arts Center in Milwaukee.

BCA wants to build a $55 million, 50,000-square-foot museum and events space in the footprint of the previous Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources building at the corner of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and North Avenue. The nonprofit is working with M& Architects + Engineers and HGA. Milwaukee-based Emem Group is the owner’s representative for the project.

So far, community members have asked for immersive experiences and to engage and connect with art, Robert Parker, BCA director and CEO, told The Daily Reporter. He said the BCA team’s vision lines up with those requests, including demand for a black box theater and programming for youth. Some aspects of the project, like the public plaza and event space, are guaranteed in the plan books.

The first scoping session was in late June, and another happened on Wednesday at America’s Black Holocaust Museum, museum officials said. Another scoping session is slated for later this summer, officials added.

BCA will seek comment at a national scoping session with the Association of African American Museums from July 26-28 in Nashville, officials noted.

“We realized people want immersive experiences, they want to engage and connect to African American art. They want to see themselves in this space and representation that looks like them, rooted in history and culture of their descendants. So, I think it’s important we make certain we listen to the community both locally and nationally,” Parker added.

The nonprofit isn’t focused on building a historical museum, but a space for local artists to develop and out-of-town artists to visit and showcase their work, Parker said. Through BCA’s efforts, the museum would also be a location for regional and national tourists, he added.

BCA has a set vision for a venue for leasing private events to generate revenue to maintain the public spaces, Parker said. The first round of design proposals includes an exhibit space, maker space, a lobby atrium and ample exhibition spaces, he added.

A round of renderings, which Parker noted he hasn’t seen yet, are in the cards in the next several weeks as BCA continues its conversation with the community.

While writing his proposal for the capital budget, Gov. Tony Evers recommended $5 million for the BCA’s African American arts center project through the State Building Commission. When it was time for the commission to vote in March, Republican members deadlocked the vote on each item and ultimately rejected $3.8 billion for state infrastructure.

Those projects, including the request for BCA’s art center, were passed to the Joint Finance Committee which eventually dropped the proposal. At the time, lawmakers said the budget called for too much public spending while Wisconsin experienced a surplus of more than $7 billion.

BCA is now searching for a new director of institutional advancement before seeking private dollars from individuals, corporate donors and grants from the federal government, Parker said.

“We want to exhaust all fiscal resources that are out there,” Parker noted. “We continue to seek opportunity and explore possibilities to bring in funding for this project. This first goal is to hire a director of institutional advancement.”

BCA has plans to launch a capital campaign when a new director is announced, Parker added. On top of offering opportunities for local entrepreneurs, he mentioned the $55 million project will also be a construction and tourism drive.

“We see ourselves being a part of this revitalization that is currently happening in the Bronzeville district. With a space like the Bronzeville Center of the Arts, we will in fact increase tourism. Bringing more visitors to the community means bringing more dollars to the community. There’s this economic prosperity that becomes part of our existence… Our institution will not only have an impact on the Bronzeville district, but the city of Milwaukee and state of Wisconsin. With what we think is going to be is a $55 million-plus project, that means construction drives,” Parker added.

The Bronzeville neighborhood is seeing its own development blitz: Milwaukee-based Royal Capital Group’s Thrive On King, the Dr. Howard Fuller Collegiate Academy and BCA’s own 507 Gallery are under construction only blocks away from the museum site. A separate developer proposed an art and technology center for North 6th Street and West North Avenue to the city last year.

Before coming to Milwaukee, Parker worked as executive director for the Chickasaw Nation – Chickasaw Inkana Foundation in Tupelo, Miss., BCA officials said. He led the design and development of a $36 million Chickasaw Heritage Center, which raised $30 million in two years through a fundraising campaign, officials added.

Specializing in building organizations from the ground up, Parker brings 25 years of progressive leadership experience to the new role. Most recently, he served as the inaugural Executive Director at The Chickasaw Nation-Chickasaw Inkana Foundation in Tupelo, Mississippi, leading the design and development of the new $36 million Chickasaw Heritage Center (CHC). This included spearheading a fundraising campaign that raised $30 million in just two years.