Historic Bronzeville Neighborhood Reimagined

Walking through the exhibit, there is the soft hum of jazz music and shoes on a line, strung up delicately by the connected laces. There is a group of doo-wop singers on the corner of 4^th and Brown. There are posters of renowned artists such as Louis Armstrong, Howling Woof, Ella Fitzgerald and many others who are in town to perform, eager or unbeknownst to how they will pave the way for others.

This is the way UWM Alum Mutópe J Johnson illustrates and reimagines the historic Milwaukee Bronzeville neighborhood in his Mutópe J Johnson: In Search of a Benevolent Kind of Blue at the UWM Union Art Gallery. The exhibit creates a space for open discussion between artist and viewer, celebration of the community and recognition of cultural loss.

“The way I look at In Search of a Benevolent Kind of Blue is to look at in a way that I can commemorate the Milwaukee Bronzeville neighborhood and to focus on the historical nature of the place and people who lived there,” Johnson said.

Bronzeville was a close-knit community held together by culture. It was the cultural epicenter for Black Milwaukee citizens in the early 20^th century. From grocery stores to flower shops and jazz clubs, black-owned businesses flourished in this northside neighborhood.

However, the construction of Interstate 43 displaced many who lived there. It was built directly through the heart of the neighborhood. An attempt at urban renewal also drove people out of Bronzeville as Milwaukee targeted rundown housing in Bronzeville to build more expensive, fewer homes. More than 8,000 homes were demolished, scattering those citizens from their economic and cultural hub.

For Johnson, choosing Bronzeville to be the subject of his work has been an artistic and personal exploration since he has had ties with Bronzeville from a young age.

“I was born and raised in Bronzeville up to the age of six or seven years old, but when you’re six or seven years old you remember a great deal about the place that you were raised.” Johnson said, “You know, a number of childhood friends, your influences, neighbors and immediate family. So that kind of is where the thought began.”

This exhibit explores and celebrates the rich local history of African American experiences and the culture that grew in Bronzeville through the contemplation and open discussion of the past, present and future. In fact, Johnson includes many famous artists from the past in his work. They were artists who came to perform in Milwaukee and stayed in Bronzeville because they couldn’t stay in the “whites only” hotels at the time. He represents these individuals through his “Door of Opportunity” series, which showcases those who opened doors for other African American citizens and artists today. However, he also includes some artists from present times in his “Poet Series.”

Johnson explains that when people go into museums and art galleries, a lot of the time the artists have already passed. He said:

“I’m trying not to just make my work about dead people. I’m trying to connect it to living, breathing people that are your neighbors, that are your friends, that are your colleagues who are also trying to make a difference in the community. That’s one thing about the people that I’m featuring in the ‘Poet Series’ is that these are all living, breathing active people in the Milwaukee community. The community at large, not just Bronzeville, many of them do have connections to Bronzeville but for the most part they are Milwaukeeans.”

Johnson understands that his exhibit and Bronzeville itself is directly related to African American history and the African American experience. He also notes the negative depictions of African Americans and people of color and uses his work to openly resist those portrayals and tropes.

He emphasizes the indigo blue pigment to illustrate dark skin tones and present a more positive picture of the cultural epicenter that grew there and was lost.

“So the idea behind using In Search of a Benevolent Kind of Blue is to really talk about searching for something good, searching for something that is more celebratory.” Johnson said. “You don’t have to be African American to relate to my art, you don’t have to be anything more than human.”