Art tells the story of people — their origins, their cultures, their histories, their experiences. Inclusive public art builds community, creates public conversations, and can be a foundation for racial and social justice work. Just as urban canopy is vital to each neighborhood so too is the art of the community and the stories of the people who live there.

My Accomplishments

Public art is part of equitable and inclusive city and community building. 

I enjoyed the opportunity of embedding art in every neighborhood whether it was music in schools, concerts in parks, murals, sculptures, painting utility boxes, poetry on buses, or fun temporary projects. 

I served four years on the Madison Arts Commission. One of my favorite annual grants awarded by MAC were the BLINK Art grants where we supported experimental ad hoc projects that popped up throughout the community in open spaces, on frozen lakes, construction sites, and public parks and provided a surprise and view of the world from another perspective. 

I helped sponsor an ordinance in 2017 that requires 1% of city spending on capital projects exceeding $5 million for the purpose of public art. The first project was recently approved when  Jenie Gao’s mural was selected as part of the Metro Transit maintenance facility upgrade on E Washington in District 6.

As alder, I worked with neighborhood activists, local business owners and artists on a lot of public art projects. I helped facilitate new and restore old murals, include an art and sustainability focus during McPike Park master planning, install a metal tree sculpture on a median on Willy St, and imprint poetry by local poets in sidewalks in the neighborhood.  

The mural to the right depicts Freddie Mae Hill, and is taken from the mural East Side of Madison, Madison Mural Alley. Designed and painted by Viroqua-based artist Pete Hodapp (http://www.petehodapp.com/) Pete led multiple workshops with teens at Capital High to research and depict the history of Madison’s East Side. Depictions include Ray-O-Vac workers, U.S. Sugar/Garver Feed, Effigy Mounds, Ella’s Deli’s Carousel, and the main image of Freddie Mae Hill who was the first African-American resident of Madison to graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The project was organized by The Bubbler at Madison Public Library with funding from the Madison Arts Commission. 2018.