Murals transforming East Side path into Black Cat Alley

Read the full article from Milwaukee Journal Sentinel here

An alley between Prospect and Farwell avenues on Milwaukee's east side is under transformation from an unlit walkway into a destination for street art.

Twelve artists are creating works for the alley between E. Kenilworth Place and E. Ivanhoe Place across from a pair of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee buildings. An opening celebration will be held Sept. 18 when installation is complete and the site is part of Doors Open Milwaukee. The name, Black Cat Alley, is an homage to the UWM Panthers.

“We want it to be like an art gallery, so when you walk through the alley you’re bombarded with different voices and ideas,” project consultant Stacey Williams-Ng said.

In July, international street artist MTO painted a 40-foot lime-green frog with a mustache on the Oriental Theater’s wall facing Kenilworth. MTO, a French artist known for black and white portraits with splashes of color, was commissioned to paint the theater wall.

A four-person jury sorted through more than 100 submissions to select the mix of local and national artists who will paint Black Cat Alley. Murals from Milwaukeeans Jeff Redmond and Tia Richardson will be displayed alongside those from national artists like Bunnie Reiss. Two students – Renee Aless Martinez, a printmaking major at Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, and Ian McGibbon, a painting major at UWM – are also installing work in the alley. The murals will range in size from 12 to 40 feet wide. Some will be as tall as 70 feet.

The project began when UWM professors and community neighbors sought a way to deal with the troublesome alley between Prospect and Farwell avenues. Initial ideas of installing lights to deter crime evolved into Black Cat Alley.

For Williams-Ng, Black Cat Alley marks Milwaukee's entry into the street art movement.

“Milwaukee is a city full of makers and artists and we want to see its street art get on the national level,” Williams-Ng said.

Chicago, for example, has added thousands of feet of murals through the public art initiatives. In two weeks this year, more than 40,000 square feet of murals were installed in the South Loop.

Williams-Ng said there is a plan to add an additional 12 murals for the next two years. The budget for the project – $50,000 – was raised from business sponsors and private donors.