Art Belongs Here!

ART BELONGS HERE, is the 2027 anchoring affirmation that will guide our work into the upcoming programming year. Art Belongs Here is an art and storytelling campaign dedicated to preserving, celebrating, and amplifying the histories, memories, creativity, and cultural power of Milwaukee's North Side. It is a declaration that artists are essential to the community and are driving important conversations throughout our city. Through art and community storytelling, we affirm what residents have always known: this place matters, these stories matter, and art belongs here

For too long, conversations about art, culture, and investment have centered some neighborhoods while overlooking others. Yet some of Milwaukee's most important stories, creative traditions, and cultural legacies were born, nurtured, and sustained on the North Side

ART BELONGS HERE is a declaration

Northside of Milwaukee is filled with families, history, stories and joy!

It is a declaration that creativity does not need permission to exist. It does not need to be imported, relocated, or validated from elsewhere.

Art and artists have always lived here - in living rooms and front porches, churches and schools, block parties and community centers, murals and most importantly, our memory. It lives in the stories passed between generations, in the music, in the photographs tucked into family albums, and in the people who continue to imagine new possibilities for their neighborhoods.

The North Side of Milwaukee is often described through a deficit: disinvestment, abandonment, vacancy, and loss. While these realities cannot be ignored, they do not tell the full story.

ART BELONGS HERE challenges the idea that meaningful cultural experiences only happen in certain parts of the city. It asks us to recognize the value that already exists and to invest in the people, stories, and spaces that have long sustained creative life

Partner with us!

Tell A Story

The history of Milwaukee's North Side lives in the people who have called it home.

We are seeking residents, elders, artists, business owners, community leaders, and families willing to share their memories, photographs, artifacts, and experiences.

Whether your story is about a beloved neighbor, a neighborhood tradition, a historic gathering place, or a moment that shaped your life, your voice matters.

Help us preserve the stories that too often go undocumented and ensure future generations understand the richness, complexity, and beauty of Milwaukee's North Side.

We're looking for:

Oral history participants
Family storytellers
Elders and long-time residents
Artists and cultural workers
Community historians
Individuals with photographs, artifacts, and neighborhood memories

Host A Story

Stories deserve space.

We partner with organizations, schools, businesses, libraries, community groups, and institutions to create storytelling experiences that connect people to place.

Whether it's a community conversation, oral history workshop, neighborhood activation, artist residency, exhibition, or public engagement project, we bring creative approaches to documenting and sharing local history.

Partner with us to:

Facilitate storytelling workshops
Document community histories
Lead creative engagement activities
Design public art and placemaking projects
Create exhibitions and installations
Support neighborhood-based research and archiving

Hire Us

ART BELONGS HERE is more than a campaign—it's a community storytelling practice.

Organizations, foundations, municipalities, educational institutions, and community groups can hire THE CR8TV HOUSE to design and facilitate projects that center local voices, preserve community memory, and strengthen connections between people and place.

Our work sits at the intersection of art, storytelling, history, community engagement, and cultural preservation.

Services include:

Community storytelling and engagement
Oral history collection
Creative placemaking
Public art activations
Workshop facilitation
Artist-led community engagement
Exhibition and program design
Cultural strategy and consultation

Let’s Work Together

Get in touch so we can start working together.