Doug McDonald, President & Co-founder of JOY ENGINE

It all started with a wish upon a moon. In 2019, my co-founder Deb Kern and I saw an opportunity to build upon the city’s vibrant arts and culture community by expanding access to public art programming. As a visual artist and loyal supporter of Milwaukee’s arts scene myself, I knew how much joy art brought to my life—and wanted to find ways to highlight our creative community. 

That summer, we launched Black Box Fund and presented our first event: “Under One Moon,” a three-day pop-up festival in Catalano Square featuring a giant, 23-foot inflatable replica of the moon by British visual artist, Luke Jerram. We were blown away by the response. 73% of Americans say the arts are a “positive experience in a troubled world.” (Americans Speak Out About the Arts) 

But just a few months later, the pandemic struck and public arts programming took a big hit. Intense periods of civil and political unrest followed, and we realized we needed to do more. So, we went back to the drawing board, refocused our vision and became more intentional in how we engaged public art experiences to deepen community impact.

Today, we are JOY ENGINE and we’re on a mission to spread hope, inspiration and healing through public art. 

I’m standing in front of a mural by artist Ben Talatzko. The project was supported by JOY ENGINE/Black Box Fund. 

 This month, we announced the 2022 JOY ENGINE Community Challenge. We’re offering five grants of up to $10,000 to help artists creatively express feelings of ‘joy’ in their neighborhood. 

We invite artists to visit  joyengine.org/communitychallenge/ to review eligibility requirements and to submit an application. 

We’re excited to see what Milwaukee comes up with. 

Visit: JOY ENGINE

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Photo Credit: Erol Reyal

Doug McDonald