UWM AND CITY AS LIVING LABORATORY LAND NSF GRANT TO LAUNCH WATER STEWARDSHIP PROJECT
MILWAUKEE The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and nonprofit CALL/City as Living Laboratory have received a $2.8 million grant from the National Science Foundation for a multidimensional environmental learning project in Milwaukee including structures that will serve as illuminated beacons to help rally the public around water stewardship through collaborative programming.
The four-year grant supports WaterMarks: An Atlas of Water for the City of Milwaukee, which aims to stimulate environmental awareness and community learning by bringing together residents, artists and scientists to collaborate on activities like workshops, walks, public art and youth mentorships – all designed to engage people of all ages in informal learning.
The distinguishing features of the WaterMarks program are the markers themselves, which will be located in six diverse neighborhoods during the project’s first four years.
The funding will cover erecting the markers, providing public programming, conducting associated research and evaluation that will gauge the effectiveness of the effort, and developing a model for use by other cities to enable collaboration among diverse groups.
“The concept is that WaterMarks will serve as an atlas of Milwaukee water-related issues – a citywide project that is grounded in these neighborhood-scale projects,” said Ryan Holifield, UWM associate professor of geography and urban studies, who leads the research team. “A growing body of research suggests that informal science learning fosters critical thinking that empowers urban residents to become active in environmental decision-making.”
The solar-powered markers will be an anchor art installation, illuminated neighborhood focal point, and Wi-Fi hotspot enabling storytelling by local residents and information sharing by environmental experts. Each will be branded with a single letter, chosen by the community to symbolize an issue of importance, and mounted on a 25-foot pole, which will be programmed to pulse when heavy rains are impending.
In this way, the markers remind citizens to restrict water usage to help avoid harmful sewage overflows that pollute Milwaukee’s rivers and Lake Michigan.
Most of the markers will be located in predominantly underserved African American and Hispanic/Latinx neighborhoods, which are vulnerable to problems such as frequent flooding, lead contamination in drinking water, inequities in green space and poor access to Lake Michigan.
Three locations have been confirmed, while the grant will help the group build partnerships to expand into new neighborhoods, Holifield said. The three include:
At South 16th Street and West Harrison Avenue
In the Harbor District along Greenfield Avenue
At North 31st Street and West Capitol Drive, the Green Tech Station
Artist and CALL founder Mary Miss began conceptualizing WaterMarks in 2015 after being invited to Milwaukee by a group of city leaders to share Milwaukee’s water story through the arts. Miss, who helped design the city’s Riverwalk area 20 years ago, laid the groundwork for WaterMarks in 2018 when she partnered with the Haggerty Art Museum and Marquette University to create a single marker at Acosta Middle School on Milwaukee’s south side.
“I have always believed it is essential for artists to have a seat at the table,” Miss said. “The unique vision of artists can both inspire people and help them to make connections between their own lived experiences and environmental challenges our communities face that seem overwhelming.”
Miss’ comprehensive plan for WaterMarks, beyond the scope of this NSF grant, is to illuminate the stack at the Jones Island Reclamation Facility, to serve as the WaterMarks central beacon in the Inner Harbor.
Two other organizations have received sub-awards from the grant: COSI’s Center for Research and Evaluation and the UW Sea Grant Institute.
About UWM
Recognized as one of the nation’s 131 top research universities, UW-Milwaukee provides a world-class education to 24,000 students from 83 countries on a budget of $677 million. Its 13 degree-granting schools and colleges include Wisconsin’s only schools of architecture, freshwater sciences and public health, and it is a leading educator of nurses, information technology professionals and other specialized talent. UW-Milwaukee partners with leading companies to conduct joint research, offer student internships and serve as an economic engine for southeastern Wisconsin. The Princeton Review named UW-Milwaukee a 2021 “Best Midwestern” university based on overall academic excellence and student reviews. Visit www.uwm.edu.
About CALL/City as Living Laboratory
City as Living Laboratory was founded by renowned environmental artist Mary Miss. CALL’s mission is to create more livable cities of sustenance through the arts. CALL has developed a FRAMEWORK for collective action to engage multi-disciplinary teams and urban residents in initiatives that raise environmental awareness and sustainable development. CALL’s strategies are based on the values of inclusion and equity and are grounded in place-based experience that makes sustainability personal, visceral, and tangible. Visit www.cityaslivinglab.org or www.watermarksmke.org
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: Laura Otto, llhunt@uwm.edu; 414-303-4868; or Aaron Asis, aaron@cityalivinglab.org, 212-966-4287