Mural Festival

Black Cat Alley will unveil three new works at its Mural Festival 9/22-9/23

(MILWAUKEE, WI) – In September, the East Side will kick off the installment of three new murals at Black Cat Alley, making a total of six new public artworks released in 2018 in the space. Following in the tradition of the original installation in 2016, the Black Cat Alley will hold a Mural Festival in association with Doors Open Milwaukee, to celebrate and “unveil” the new murals to the community.

All three artists are Milwaukee-based. They were chosen by a six-person jury from among over 50 entries that came in mostly from the state of Wisconsin, but many were applying as nationally-known, out of town artists. “The call for artists did not specify Milwaukee as a restriction,” says Program Director Stacey Williams-Ng, “nor did we feel a pinch from budget restrictions. We chose these three proposals because they really stood out, and we are very glad to feature Milwaukee artists.”

The three artists are Ken Brown, David Najib Kasir and Byada Meredith. Black Cat Alley will be releasing more information about their work on upcoming social media posts, and will host a special “Meet the Artists” event in September during the Fall Experiment programming happening at UWM’s Kenilworth campus the weekend of September 21^st and 22^nd.

There will be other new installations to reveal in Black Cat Alley that weekend, including new wayfinding signage, garden updates and recent works placed there in summer.

Black Cat Alley’s Mural Festival, hosted by the East Side BID, will be a part of the Fall Experiment sponsored by Northwestern Mutual, gener8tor, 88Nine Radio Milwaukee, BLK SHP Milwaukee (pronounced “black sheep”) and Milwaukee Film. The entire block of the Black Cat Alley district, including the UWM Kenilworth campus and the Oriental Theater, will be filled with overlapping and surprising experiences which are meant to highlight the incredible talent Milwaukee enjoys in the worlds of tech, art, film and music.

Visitors to the Mural Festival on September 22-23 will enjoy new art installations, dance performances, food trucks and more. All are welcome to enjoy other aspects of the Fall Experiment as well, as most of the events are free and open to the public.

Kristin Godfrey, Executive Director of the East Side BID, adds “This has been an exciting year of happenings in the Alley. The more programming we can bring to Black Cat Alley, the better. It is a place that stimulates conversations and benefits the whole community.”