Muneer Bahauddeen

Another person that I met while doing my Service Learning is named Muneer Bahauddeen. Muneer is a artist who specializes in ceramics. Muneer works with St. Charles, a Milwaukee Public School. At St. Charles he works with kids that are in detention and instead of just having them sit there, he brings his skills as an artist to the kids. He recently had each child design a symbol that represents them and put that symbol on a tile to be part of a large mosaic for the students. Muneer makes what could be a very bad experience for the kids, and turns it into something that is positive and enjoyable. I can tell that Muneer loves to share his work with people, and is very enthusiastic about encouraging others to express their creativity just like he does every day. Muneer also works with larger organizations to design artwork for buildings and memorials. Froedtert hospital recently hired Muneer to make two ceramic wall designs for their new Crane Cancer Outpatient Center. Muneer also worked on designing a memorial area called the “Wall of Heroes and Victims”, where children were honored that have died in the area over the past three years. Muneer’s work is beautiful and very creative and he offers classes on Tuesday nights to teach people how to make pottery and ceramics. Muneer Bahauddeen's phone number is (414)-241-666. He is located across the street from the Amaranth Bakery on 3329 W Lisbon Ave Milwaukee, WI.

The Amaranth Cafe and Bakery

The Amaranth Café and Bakery was started by Dave Boucher, an Urban Studies major from UWM, whose goal is to improve the area he calls home. Mr. Boucher lives on 34th street and West Lisbon, which is also where his bakery is located. Dave Boucher has gone through a lot of trials when dealing with the neighborhood that he lives in, but has faith that one day his efforts will be paid off and improvements in this crime-ridden area will be celebrated. The main goal behind the bakery that he opened was to expose the neighborhood to the healthy alternatives that can be made in place of fast food joints. All his baked goods and food is all natural and very healthy. On Tuesday nights, he offers “Pay what you can soup nights”, where he opens up his café to anyone who would like to have some healthy soups (which are delicious) for whatever they can afford. By having his café located where a drug house used to be, Dave Boucher is showing the public that change is a very good thing. Amaranth Bakery & Cafe is located at 3329 W. Lisbon Avenue Milwaukee WI. His phone number is (414) 934-0587. Email- amaranthbc@gmail.com. Amaranth Bakery & Cafe Hours are Tuesday - Saturday 7:00 am- 2:00 Tuesday nights are open late for "Pay what you can soup night"

Alice's Garden

Alice’s Garden was started in 2006 as part of the Johnsons Park Neighborhood Association initiative to revitalize the area. Alice’s Garden is located on N. 20th Street, right next to Johnsons Park. Individuals and organizations can purchase their own “plots” and plant a small garden in this plot. The Urban Open Space Foundation has also proposed that they create a shelter for classes to be held in association with UW-Extension’s gardening programs and Milwaukee Public Schools’ Brown Street Academy.
Personally when I saw Alice’s Garden I thought that it had a long way to go. This might be due to the time of year I visited. It was a fenced off area and you could see small square plots divided off. There were about 15 plots or so. I would assume that they will probably begin planting soon, with spring in full force, and this garden will really come to life.


Alice's Garden

Photo Essay Slideshow

Photo Essay Poem

I learned of a park,
not too far away
where pictures could be taken,
for a photo essay.
As a drove through the city,
To find this urban sanctuary,
I’m not going to lie,
I was a bit wary.
Upon finding the park,
I breathed a sigh of relief,
“This is what I’ve come for”!
A Film class 150 motif!
The park was so large and vast,
A hill so immense,
A shadow, it cast.
The sun was shining,
The air was clean,
The fears a had before,
Seemed rather obscene.
As I looked around,
There was not a soul in sight,
Except for my trusty group members,
And the birds in-flight.
It wasn’t before long,
That we heard a joyous sound,
The laughter of children,
We turned quickly around,
What we saw was unexpected,
A group of young ones,
With smiles from ear to ear,
And a woman who ran a daycare,
Was able to make it very clear,
That the area we were in,
Was not just a park,
This was her home,
A community landmark.
And when she went to bed,
She knew her family was secure,
And this was just one of the things,
She was able to assure.
From talking to this woman,
We were able to learn,
The history of this block,
So that it was easy to discern,
That this neighborhood,
Is able to inspire,
The sort of change,
We all can admire.

Photo Essay - Artist Statement

From doing this photo essay I was able to learn things about Johnson’s Park that truly made me understand how important this project really is. After seeing the park and where the park was actually located, it was amazing to me to see beautiful piece of land in the middle of a very urban area. It was like a mini Central Park for Milwaukee. After talking to a couple members of the community, my group members and I were able to hear the stories and experiences they had in this area. We talked to one man who bought his lot for a dollar, which was something that the city offered when they were rebuilding the area!
What inspired me to really get started on this essay, was a woman we came across while exploring the park. This woman ran a daycare right out of her home in the community. She had built her house recently, and was kind enough to let us in to see her daycare facility in her remodeled basement and also the rest of her home. The house was a beautiful and she went on to tell us how much the area has changed over the years. She felt confident in raising her family in an area that was once considered very dangerous. She told us how great it was for her to be able to sit on her porch at night, and not worry about her safety.
I put this essay together by just going to the park taking a bunch of pictures of the park and the houses that surrounded it. It was fairly simple to use my camera to take pictures, but I’m thankful to have it because it would have been hard to describe the things I saw with only words. By taking pictures I didn’t have to explain things in detail because I have nice illustrations to go along with my poem.
I choose to do a poem because I thought it would be something that was a lot different than what I was used to doing. The whole idea of Johnson’s Park and how far this neighborhood had come reminded me of a fairy tale, so what better way to tell the story! It was definitely harder to write a poem about my experience there, but I like the way it turned out; even if it was a little dorky.