Joy Engine awarded $50,000 in grants to six artists and organizations to fuel creative expressions of joy within the diverse Milwaukee community. Congratulations to our grant recipients: BloomMKE Inc., La Familia de Arte, Homeworks: Bronzeville SPLASH!, Riverwest Radio, Gothic Milwaukee, and Out There Series. Stay tuned for updates on their projects in 2023!

Joy Engine partnered with Arts@Large, a local organization committed to providing equitable access to educational experiences that include the arts, to bring to life Jazz Rocks – a live, educational performance series featuring original compositions and free-flowing jazz improvisation from MKE artists that was open to all.

Through Jazz Rocks, a segment of Arts@Large and Joy Engine’s Music Under the Stars series, local Jazz Guitarist, Don Linke, brought together some of Milwaukee’s finest musicians to treat audiences to dazzling jazz and an education on the inner workings of improvised music. The artists shared the secrets of their craft, giving insight into the amazing music scene interwoven into the fabric of our community.

The fellowship program provides unrestricted funds for Established and Emerging artists to create new work or complete work in progress, open to artists within a four-county area (Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee, Washington). One hundred and eleven fellowships have been awarded since the program began in 2003 and has become one of the most generous regional fellowships for individual artists in the State. 

Black Box Fund donated two pink “Cracking Art” birds as a permanent installation for Milwaukee’s downtown, located just outside of the Milwaukee Public Market. 

A six-week summer pop-up art installation at Lakeshore State Park consisting of 22 plastic birds from “Cracking Art”. The artworks were designed to inspire a community-wide conversation about the effect of plastics on the natural environment and to bring community together in an underutilized and unexpected space.  The series was packed with family-friendly performances, workshops, walking & learning tours by partnering with over 85 local nonprofits, artists, musicians and other performance groups. 

Sculpture Milwaukee has been transforming downtown Milwaukee’s cultural landscape every year since 2017 with an outdoor exhibition of world-renowned sculpture on Wisconsin Avenue. In 2020, with Black Box Fund’s partnership, the exhibit was expanded to include the Historic Third Ward. Sculpture Milwaukee is an annual attraction for art lovers, tourists and families to the heart of downtown Milwaukee every Summer.  

In March 2020, we partnered with Imagine MKE when they launched the MKE Artist Relief Fund to help Milwaukee’s artists and creatives displaced from jobs, gigs, and exhibitions due to the public health response to COVID-19. Together we were able to support 423 individuals with $500 grants that provided immediate, much-needed support before federal assistance programs were implemented. 

The Skylight Theater was founded in 1959 with the mission to bring the full spectrum of music theatre works to a wide and diverse audience in celebration of the musical and theatrical arts and their reflection of the human condition. When the pandemic shut their doors and programming canceled, Black Box Fund was able to help support operational costs to make sure that the theater would be able to return stronger than ever upon reopening. 

Sculpture Milwaukee has been transforming downtown Milwaukee’s cultural landscape every year since 2017 with an outdoor exhibition of world-renowned sculpture on Wisconsin Avenue. In 2020, with Black Box Fund’s partnership, the exhibit was expanded to include the Historic Third Ward. Sculpture Milwaukee is an annual attraction for art lovers, tourists and families to the heart of downtown Milwaukee every Summer.  

Art Page featured coloring book drawings by six local artists printed in the Sunday Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The whimsical, interactive pages brought a much-needed free art experience to families at a complex time for our community. The pages were a reminder that even through tumultuous times we could still share a smile—thanks to the power of art. 

Black Box Fund and Arts @ Large collaborated to create and distribute free project kits for children in Milwaukee during the 2020 pandemic. This series of six different bags for children ages 3 to 13 contained an age-appropriate book, variety of art supplies, and art curriculum specifically tied to the book. 

VOTE414 was an initiative open to Milwaukee County artists to inspire residents to get to the polls on Nov. 3. Local artists created “Get Out and Vote” messaging to be displayed on billboards, yard signs and in local newspapers. The award winners received a $1,000 award for their work. The winners included Bolanle Awosika, Pavonis Giron and Francesca Simonite.

Talented Milwaukee artists Fred Kaems, Nova Czarnecki, Ben Talatzko, and Emma Daisy were commissioned to create 6’ x 8’ paintings to hang on exterior building walls in the Third Ward. (Do you want to tell how those artists were chosen?)

Luke Jerram’s Museum of the Moon, an inflatable installation artwork, was exhibited in the Historic Third Ward at Catalano Square Park. The 23’ moon hung suspended for one weekend in August drawing several thousand people. The space was programmed with local dance groups, music, and interactive programs to celebrate all things “lunar” in commemoration of the 50-year anniversary of the lunar landing. 

The 10-foot sculpture was created with 1,500 used plastic items found during a recent river cleanup event.  This project challenged students, ages 4 to 18 to think critically and creatively about the impact of plastics in our world. The sculpture was created by students from University School of Milwaukee, USM teachers Christina Dresang, Marja Konkol, Sarah Markwald, Jessica Michels, Rebecca Steinbach, and Priscilla Woods, and environmental artist Melanie Ariens. 

Inspired by Les Lieber’s fabled New York Jazz at Noon, Black Box Fund brings you Milwaukee’s version of free lunch time Jazz performances every Monday at noon.