Art as Anchor

Art as Anchor: The Milwaukee Public Library and the Black Arts Movement

Launching on Juneteenth Day, 2025, “Art as Anchor” is an art installation at the Central Library featuring original work by local Black artists from the permanent art collection of the Milwaukee Public Library. The installation celebrates the artists of Milwaukee’s Black Arts Movement and the Milwaukee Public Library’s role as an anchor for the Black arts in Milwaukee. An important Black artists’ association, the Central City Artists and Craftsmen Association ‘Freewheelers,’ met at the Martin Luther King Library and exhibited throughout Milwaukee through the 1970s and 80s. The Milwaukee Public Library was also a frequent host of art fairs, exhibitions, and workshops, which helped anchor the Black Arts Movement in Milwaukee. The Juneteenth launch pays tribute to the Freewheelers’ annual summer programming, which animated cultural life around the Martin Luther King Library in the 1970s and 80s, and a Freewheelers Reunion Art Fair held at the King Library on Juneteenth Day, 1993. The exhibit features the following works:

• Untitled (acrylic on illustration board, n.d.) by Richard T. Overton (American, 1913-2010)
• Untitled (pastel on paper, n.d.) by Richard T. Overton (American, 1913-2010)
• Untitled (acrylic and colored pencil on illustration board, n.d.) by Richard T. Overton (American, 1913-2010)
• Brothers (charcoal on paper, 1994) by Sylvester S. Sims (American, 1928-2012)
• Girl Reading (carved ebony, mahogany, and teak, 1981) by Edgar J. Jeter (1934-2004)
• Red Tropical Circle (Milwaukee Conservatory) (tinted photograph, n.d.) by Frank “Frankie B.” Cole (American, b. 1944)
• Pride of the Bamboo Forest (acrylic, pen, and ink on paper, 1977) by Gerald D. Coleman (American, b. 1948)
• Roz (lithograph on paper, 1981) by William J. Christian (American, 1933-1994)

The exhibit is on view at the Central Library, in the 2nd floor display hallway off 2nd floor Main Street between the Zeidler Humanities Room and the Art Room. Explore the digital exhibit here.

Digital Collection: The Milwaukee Black Arts Movement

A new digital collection highlights the artwork on display and a host of related materials from across Milwaukee Public Library collections. With original artwork, manuscript materials and photographs, audiovisual content, illustrated works, and more, the collection introduces the artists, institutions, and range of vision which grounded the Black Arts Movement in Milwaukee. Featuring rare primary source material about an important chapter in the history of Wisconsin art, the collection can be a valuable resource for researchers, students, teachers, artists, and the general public. Explore the digital collection. View additional related material in this booklist.

Related Artwork

Significant related artwork by local artists of color is on view throughout the Milwaukee Public Library system. Representative work is on view at the Center Street, Martin Luther King, Atkinson, East, Villard Square, and Good Hope branches. Among the artists represented are Ammar Nsoroma, Reynaldo Hernandez, Prophet William J. Blackmon, Charly Palmer, Evelyn Patricia Terry, and Rosemary Ollison. Learn more here.

Programming

Stay tuned to our Events page for upcoming programming opportunities in connection with the exhibit.