ZIP MKE Community Fund

WELCOME TO THE ZIP MKE COMMUNITY FUND PAGE.

ZIP MKE is a fiscally sponsored program of the Milwaukee Artist Resource Network (MARN), a 501(c)3.  Donations are tax deductible.

ZIP MKE has been dedicated from the very beginning to engaging the community on multiple levels.  We started with online, crowdsourced galleries, moved to formal exhibitions, pop-up galleries, and neighborhood walks/talks.  And while we'll continue to collect resident submissions and exhibit throughout the city, in  November 2017, we launched a new, more intentional way to connect the city: (Dis)comfort Zones.


As Peter WcWilliams once said, “Comfort zones are most often expanded through discomfort.”   To that end, ZIP MKE joined After Gallery to host the first in a free, monthly community engagement series: one part neighborhood mixer, one part engaging activity, one part dialogue, and one part photo op (we're bringing the community to us!).


The idea is to bring strangers together in a fun, safe environment . . . with a slight air of mystery . . .
a new activity each time . . . and a chance for slight discomfort . . . to create opportunities for friendships, surprise, and understanding. 

In essence, new comfort zones . . . which Milwaukee really needs right now, wouldn't you agree?

Throughout 2018, ZIP MKE's (Dis)comfort Zones will travel to different parts of the city each month, with a new activity each time: perhaps Milwaukee will paint together, watch movies together, drum together . . . who knows!  The important thing is that we'll be doing it . . . together.


HOW CAN YOUR DONATION HELP?

We won't always be able to rely on the extreme generosity of individuals and businesses to lend us their spaces, equipment (e.g., tables, chairs), services (e.g., spoken word, music), or even just time.  While the community donated about $1,500 during our fall campaign last fall, since then, almost everything else has been accomplished through either generosity or our own pocketbooks.


Your donation, in whatever amount, will help offset the costs of:

* printing/matting of photographs
* maintenance of displays
* advertising/promotion (e.g., printing, mailings)
* space rental
* food/beverages
* honorariums for guest speakers/artists
* miscellaneous materials for (Dis)comfort Zones 
* and more!

If requested, donations can be tax-deductible.

ZIP MKE MISSION:

ZIP MKE is a grassroots community engagement project created in October 2016 that uses photography to

* create neighborhood pride,
* foster community connections,
* expand social perspectives by diminishing preconceived assumptions, and
* reimagine/portray the narrative of Milwaukee that says we are only “segregated” and “disunited” into one that is “united” and “collaborative.”  

Thank you in advance!