Road of Democracy

The Journey Continues

Watch the Trailer

What began as a temporary outdoor public art installation to commemorate the 2020 Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee evolved into a multimedia, community-led initiative, including weekly virtual panel discussions, new public artworks in surrounding neighborhoods, and the production of a documentary.

We now know that the Road of Democracy will live on well past the banner’s initial installation, and its legacy instilled a deep-rooted commitment to community conversations on race, citizenship, and democracy. With these primary areas of focus in mind, Milwaukee Downtown, BID #21 partnered with Imagine MKE, America’s Black Holocaust Museum, and docUWM to create a media project produced by award-winning filmmaker Brad Pruitt. The Road of Democracy serves as a prelude for more dialogue in the days, months, and years to come. Additional photography by Edwin Martinez, Samer Ghani, Pat A. Robinson, and Kevin J. Miyazaki. 

Traveling Towards One Collective Voice

Throughout history, our American streets have traveled countless individuals towards one collective voice. From cobblestone walkways to main streets to highways, our roads have always upheld our First Amendment Right, the Freedom of Speech. In this historic year of transformation, the streets around Milwaukee’s City Hall will be outfitted with images and verbiage by two local artists, Della Wells and Dasha Kelly Hamilton. The Road of Democracy project, curated by Milwaukee Downtown, BID #21, commemorates the 2020 Democratic National Convention and aspires to spur local and national dialogue on race and democracy. Milwaukee Downtown, BID #21 commissioned the poem, “Of” by Milwaukee's Poet Laureate, Dasha Kelly Hamilton, and paired the text with original artwork from previous Artist of the Year, Della Wells.  

In all, 58 banners will be on display near City Hall (Water Street and Kilbourn Avenue), between August – December 2020, before finding a permanent home at America’s Black Holocaust Museum, where they will be preserved for future installations and exhibits. Dedicated to the countless individuals who have demonstrated strength and perseverance in historic movements on our streets near and far, and for the thousands yet to march, this is The Road of Democracy.   

"Here It Is," Della Wells, 2020 

Road of Democracy Conversations

Imagine MKE continues the conversation started by Milwaukee Downtown, BID #21, Dasha Kelly Hamilton, and Della Wells. Leading up to Election Day, Imagine MKE is commissioning the work of three local artists, and presenting a series of virtual panels in October that engage with what it means to be a citizen artist, how art is a driver of racial justice, and more. 

Listen to the previous Road of Democracy Conversations here. Artists Nicole Acosta, Joshua Yang, and Anna Lardinois were selected to expand the Road of Democracy with other public art projects across the city.

Della Wells

One of two recipients to receive the City of Milwaukee’s Artist of the Year Award in 2016, Della Wells is a self-taught artist who works in various media, from collage to painting and folk art dolls. Her work has appeared in various publications, including “Self-Taught, Outsider and Folk Art: A Guide to American Artists, Locations and Resources” by Betty-Carol Sellen and Cynthia J. Johanson; “Permission to Paint, Please: A 150-Year History of African American Artists in Wisconsin” by Evelyn Patricia Terry; “Messages & Magic: 100 Years of Collage and Assemblage in American Art,” by Leslie Umberger, 2008; and “Miracles of the Spirit: Folk, Art and Stories from Wisconsin,” by Don Herbert Krug, Ann Parker and Roger Cardinal.
 
Her work is exhibited in Europe and throughout the U.S. in folk art and outsider art galleries. A play about her life, “Don’t Tell Me I Can’t Fly” was commissioned by First Stage Children’s Theater and was selected to be read at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Wells has illustrated two children’s books.

Della Wells is represented by Portrait Society Gallery, Milwaukee, WI. portraitsocietygallery.com

Dasha Kelly Hamilton

Dasha Kelly Hamilton is a writer, performance artist and creative change agent, applying the creative process to facilitate dialogues around human and social wellness. She is the author of two novels, three poetry collections and four spoken word albums. She has taught at colleges, conferences and classrooms and curated fellowships for emerging leaders. An Arts Envoy for the U.S. Embassy, Dasha has facilitated community building initiatives in Botswana, Toronto, Mauritius and Beirut. Her touring production, Makin’ Cake, uniquely engages communities in a forward dialogue on race, class and equity. Dasha is a former Artist of the Year (2016) and current Poet Laureate for the City of Milwaukee.

Brad Pruitt

Brad Pruitt is an award-winning writer, producer, and director, whose focus as a filmmaker is born of his interest or concern around a wide range of subject matter. From race and class to the state of education in America, his work is rooted in advocacy and engagement. Pruitt often works at the grassroots level on issues, with a through-line of community development and empowerment. 

For the last decade, he has been focused primarily on the continued development of America's Black Holocaust Museum and the legacy of its founder, Dr. James Cameron. Working on many varied projects and initiatives, from community relations and engagement to strategic planning, funding, organizational and physical space development, Pruitt has been and remains inspired by and committed to this critically important work. He also continues to collaborate with local developers, artists, researchers, architects, and builders on behalf of the museum, as it completes its reemergence as a physical space.

"Of" by Dasha Kelly Hamilton, 2020

THE ROAD OF DEMOCRACY

LAYERS MUD, GRAVEL

LIBERATION AND TAR

LONG LEGACIES FLATTENED

INTO FOUNDATION

SPECKLED WITH QUARTZ

CONFLICT, SWEAT AND SAND

LIMESTONE AND GALL

THE ROAD OF DEMOCRACY

GLISTENS BACK AT THE SUN

HUMS LOWLY BENEATH THE STARS

PAUPERS, BARONS, NEWLY BORN

AND NEARLY DEPARTED

IMPRESS SPIKED, SQUARE AND BARE HEELS

FLEEING FROM

JOURNEYING FORWARD

NO POUND OR PURPOSE SHRUGGED ASIDE

THE ROAD OF DEMOCRACY

ABSORBS BRUTAL STORMS, FROST, HEAT

BUCKLES AND SPLITS OPEN

SHIMMERS SKYWARD IN VAPORS

REINFORCE, REROUTE

REPAIR

MILLIONS YET TO MARCH

THIS OLD ROAD

HOISTING NEW SIGNS

NEW DIRECTIONS AND LIMITS

CLEARER NAVIGATION, WIDER VIEW

THE ROAD OF DEMOCRACY

INTERRUPTS TREELINES

SHORELINES, SKYLINES

HOULDERS CANYONS, GLENS

BANKS AND CAVES

BENDS PASSAGE AND PROMISE

INTO EVERY HORIZON

Exhibition Gallery

Out of the silence, the voice of a nation emerged. New public art installations, including Nari Ward's Apollo/Poll, 2017, for Sculpture Milwaukee's 2020 exhibition, This is Milwaukee, and the Road of Democracy fill downtown Milwaukee streets with messages of hope and inspire the public to vote.

Pensive

Sculpture by Radcliffe Bailey 

Located on the Road of Democracy, in front of the new BMO Tower on the corner of Water and Wells Street, Pensive by Radcliffe Bailey, 2013, made its Milwaukee debut in 2019 as part of the third annual Sculpture Milwaukee exhibition. African American artist Radcliffe Bailey is part of a new generation of artists bringing the complex and often hidden realities of contemporary America to life. He is deeply influenced by history, family, and community, and his work reflects an appreciation for the alternative voices that shape how we live. 

Pensive depicts African American writer, historian, sociologist, editor, and activist W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963) in the position of Rodin's iconic work The Thinker, originally designed in 1880 as the cornerstone for Rodin's masterpiece The Gates of Hell. In Rodin's version, The Thinker is 14th-century Italian poet Dante Alighieri, author of The Divine Comedy, completed in 1320. Dante sits in his well-known position, contemplating the circles of hell as described in Christian theology. In his epic poem, Alighieri wrote about his own life and exile, mirroring perhaps Du Bois' alienation. Both Du Bois and Alighieri are depicted as deeply philosophical men, pondering the harsh realities of human behavior although separated by centuries.