“One thing I love about mural art is being out in the open and getting to meet passers by. I had one woman come by and introduce herself, and say ‘thank you’ for investing in my community, and gave me a big hug. And that really meant a lot to me. We had two children from the children’s center come out and look at the mural, and one of them kept exclaiming ‘big fish.’ Later I found out that the child is legally blind, and that the fish are so big she was able to actually see them, which was just such a beautiful thing that she was actually just exclaiming that she saw what this is. And that just that brought tears to my eyes.” – Stacey Williams-Ng
Stacey Williams-Ng, the creative mind behind the East Side’s Black Cat Alley project, is one of two artists commissioned by 88Nine Radio Milwaukee to produce a new community mural. The radio station launched the mural initiative as an effort to give back to Milwaukee in recognition of the station’s 10th anniversary. The colorful mural entitled “Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea; Joy to you in me!” plays on themes of rhythm, community, and cohesion. The work was unveiled to the public on September 14.
“Lots of people would walk by and chat while I was high up on the lift, but one day this woman was waiting for me with her two daughters. She eventually motioned for me to come down. She said this mural would be here for the next twenty years, and she wanted her girls to remember that they met the artist. It was such a special moment for me.” – Stacey Williams-Ng
