Jeffrey Holub, one of a dozen lead artists workingwith MPT, explains the origins of Milwaukee'sAll-City People's Parade. “We were inspired by the Minneapolis MayDay Parade,which in its first year drew 50 people, and today brings in over 50,000. Tohelp launch our first People's Parade last year, we brought in Sandy Spielerfrom the Twin Cities event to get us going.”
The All-City People's Parade uses no gas orelectricityeverything is people-powered by approximately 400 participants. Thecostumes, puppets and floats are made almost exclusively of natural andrecycled products.
“After the parade, we deconstruct everything and reuseall of the materials,” Holub says. “We build everything new each year.”
The idea to hold a Milwaukee parade started with Barbara Leigh,artistic director of MPT. The project is a collective effort between MPT andthe Milwaukee Mask & Puppet Theatre.
“It costs around $70,000 to produce this event, muchof it in in-kind donations,” Leigh says, “but we have extremely generoussupport from the Helen Bader Foundation, Greater Milwaukee Foundation, NationalEndowment for the Arts, state and local arts funding and other groups. Creativeinput comes from individual artists and, most importantly, the participatingpublic.”
Parade Director Ron Scot Fry praises the public'scontribution. “It started with a series of workshops from all over the city foranyone with hopes, concerns and dreams for themselves and their communities,”he says of the process. “We tooktheir suggestions, distilled them and had independent local artists interpretthe ideas. This year, we decided on the theme ‘Wake Up!' Our goal is that eachviewer will experience an emotional response and will, themselves, wake up!
“One suggestion was about breaking certain negativecycles in people's lives, like irresponsible parenting, teen pregnancy orecological destruction,” Fry continues. “Max Samson, the director of theMilwaukee Mask & Puppet Theatre, had the plan to fashion this idea into a14-and-a-half-foot-tall Ferris wheel, 2 inches shorter than the lowest bridgethat we are to go under.”
Other projects include large, peddled teacups and a20-foot kinetic “Sleeping Earth” sculpture.
Steve Wirtz, another lead artist, is fabricatingseveral large Easter Island-type papier-m%uFFFDché heads. “The best part of thisexperience is meeting other artists, bouncing ideas off of each other anddeveloping a noncommercial event with other generous minds,” Wirtz says. “If amember of the public likes something they see in the parade, some pieces willbe for sale. Just ask the artist.”
Volunteer Contributions
Last month, MPT offered “Make-A-Parade Open Workshops”at its Parade Space on West Clybourn Avenue. The building is huge, with twofloors, a garage and offices. One room holds thousands of egg cartons yet to betransformed into parade elements; another room is stuffed with cardboard boxesof various sizes, which are destined to be shaped into hats, 3-foot fish or7-foot heads. Dance workshops and practice for the parade have been held at theLincoln Center of the Arts.
Both volunteers and paid workers are helping theartists. The Milwaukee Area Workforce Investment Board subsidized somepart-time positions for teens looking for summer employment. Among thevolunteers are Maria Vento and her two children, Elijah and Ethan. Vento worksfor the Helen Bader Foundation.
“I learned of these free art workshops,” Vento says.“These classes teach my boys the value of conceptualizing, creating andcompleting a piece of art that will be appreciated by the public. They watchedthe parade last year; now they are going to be in it.”
The All-City People's Parade will be part of thetraditional Labor Day events on Monday, Sept. 6. The parade kicks off at 11a.m. from Downtown's Zeidler Union Square, heads up Fourth Street to Wisconsin Avenue, east to Milwaukee Street,then south to the Summerfest grounds. There, the community is welcome to a freedaylong event featuring live music, sports, a children's stage and a close-uplook at the parade's entries. Though officially part of the Labor Day paradeand subsequent gathering at the Summerfest grounds, parade organizers stayclear of political statements.
“We don't espouse any political philosophy, but we dotake a human, eco-friendly stance,” Fry says.
