Coffee with The Council

You've probably heard this by now through some reputable media or social networked source (yes, even Mike Brenner is reputable from time to time), but there is a public meeting to talk about Janet Zweig's public art project this coming Tuesday, April 14. Here's the official notice:

The public art project will again be heard at a special meeting of the Public Works Committee on Tuesday (4/14) at 8 a.m. in advance of the full Council meeting at 9 a.m in Room 301-B of City Hall. It will be important for those supportive of this initiative to be present and offer their input on this project.

This is an important one. Maybe more symbolically than as a way to sway last minute dissenters onto the plus side of getting out of the way of letting this fantastic public art project actually happen, but important nonetheless.

I will be there, fueled on coffee and optimism. I hope you will, too. This is a first step in what I believe needs to be a continuing process of the arts community getting further entrenched in civic activism. It is my belief, and one I know held by other artists I have talked to on this subject, that this whole Janet Zweig flap never really needed to happen. But we were such a long way from the table to public discussion on this one in a historic sense that you almost can't blame certain members of the Public Works Committee for being so short sighted. In other words, we as an arts community are not what you might call constant voices heard around the corridors of City Hall. We get loud when we need to react, but not so much when there is early tinkering proactive work to be done behind the scenes. We need to get into the kitchen and start learning how they make the sausage, folks.

One of the ways that we can avoid these types of situations in the future, is for the artistic community to take more of a stake in public debate and assistance on other civic issues that aren't solely arts related. Think of the respect and leverage we gain as an organized community of creative types if we also lend voice and support to things like public education, commuter rail, and residential recycling programs. And, hell yeah, we need to fight more for a prevailing public assumption that big ideas in arts and culture are ultimately big wins for Milwaukee.

I hope that room 301-B of City Hall looks like a clown car on Tuesday morning. It's time to represent, and represent in a reasonable, supportive manner that shows our Alderman that we are serious about this project. More bodies helps us make that case.

If you want to catch a cup of coffee post meet-up, I'm always game for coffee. Tap me on the shoulder as we're going out of Room 301-B, flush with a sense of victory and civic pride.

(By the by, I've heard from Alderman Zielinski (my guy, good guy) and Council President Hines. Add them to the "I Support Janet Zweig" list.)