Special Projects

About the Project This project was created through a journalism class at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Journalism, Advertising and Media Studies Department. This work was made possible through the support of MPC Endowment Ltd., the philanthropic affiliate of the Milwaukee Press Club. Student Journalists Sonnet Bayer Jeromey Hodsdon Brady Jager Charles Kelley Faith Rae Madison Rios Jason Smith Glendalys Valdes […]

Cryptocurrency in Milwaukee is spent in stores with debit cards, used online for purchasing movie tickets, bought with USD cash through third parties at CVS Pharmacy and traded at kiosks in suburban shopping malls. Cryptocurrency put financial control in the hands of individuals instead of banks, lenders and government. Organizations like Coinbase and Blockfi are […]

Green Bay, Wis. Artist Sabrina Jordan, known under the artistic alias, Bean Baye, is gearing up to release her first collection of NFTs in the summer. Baye has been working on the summer collection for the last few months, which will feature the zodiac signs portrayed as diverse, naked women. The collection will contain multiple […]

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — NFTs, non-fungible tokens, are a type of cryptocurrency that is booming among celebrities and crypto investors, but what are they? NFTs are essentially digital ownership certificates, according to Director Shirley McPhaul of Crypto Curious, Puerto Rico Block Trade Association. The ownership could be for a jpg, an mp3, an mp4 […]

Maria Gonzalez-Edwards, 60, is a member of the St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Milwaukee’s Riverwest neighborhood. She was raised in Milwaukee, but her family is from the central mountainous region of Puerto Rico.     Maria’s parents came from Utuado, almost directly in the center of the island. Maria said it is more “campo,” meaning countryside.  […]

The year was 1971. Leticia Arryo Pastrana was 15-years-old about to embark on a journey that would thrust her future into the unknown. She was home in Barceloneta, Puerto Rico when her grandmother; her father’s mom who was living with them at the time, got struck with illness. After the news of Pastrana’s grandmother being […]

Two sisters of St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Francisca Colon and Ana Martinez, have many memories of the Puerto Rican community in Milwaukee. St. Francis, a Roman Catholic Church, is home to many Puerto Ricans in the Milwaukee area. The large, inclusive church welcomes all to Mass every Sunday, but for community members who only […]

Victor Huyke, 59, is the Publisher of El Conquistador Newspaper, the only Latino-owned newspaper in Southeast Wisconsin. Journalism has been in Huyke’s blood since the days of his Great Grandfather, Juan Bernardo Huyke. Juan worked as a writer, publisher, educator and served as the Interim Governor of Puerto Rico in 1923. Along with his many […]

Milwaukee artistic interventions were created inside the Milwaukee County Courthouse, the Milwaukee Public Library’s (MPL) Mitchell Street Branch and an exterior wall of Woodland Pattern bookstore on East Locust Street. The 35-years-old transdisciplinary artist Erick “CK” Ledesma Borrero, from Levittown, Puerto Rico, which is in the municipality of Toa Baja, collaborated these artistic interventions. Ledesma’s […]

Don Rafael Reyes, 89, came to Milwaukee from Utuado, Puerto Rico in 1957. The community refers to him as “Don” to show respect, a custom in Latinx cultures, according to his close family friend, Maria Gonzalez-Edwards, 60, who helped translate.  On Sundays, Reyes attends Spanish mass at St. Francis of Assisi Roman Catholic Church. He […]