Author: Nick Hansen

Hundreds gathered on May 28 at the only national cemetery for military veterans in the state, to honor the sacrifices of the tens of thousands buried there. Organized by the Milwaukee VA Medical Center, the Memorial Day tribute honored servicemen and women going back to just after the Civil War. Days earlier, teams of volunteers planted more than 30,000 American flags by the headstones. Veterans shared their war memories with the crowd during the service, along with elected officials and local leaders. The ceremony concluded with the laying of wreaths, and the release of black balloons coinciding with a...

The magic of Chinese art concluded in Milwaukee for another season, as dozens of larger-than-life sculptural lantern displays went dark across 10 acres of the Boerner Botanical Gardens in Whitnall Park. Each year it takes 24 artisans from China more than a month to construct the lantern exhibition on-site, welding metal frames, lighting them from within, covering the framework in brightly colored fabric, and hand-painting finishing touches. The effort in 2017 ultimately produced a 200-foot dragon, a phoenix with a long undulating tail, glowing flowers, swans, fish, and pandas for the local public to enjoy. The outdoor cultural exhibit...

These images capture select moments from three of the Heal the Hood events over the summer of 2017.