Our Teams

WaterMarks has benefited from an evolving network of partners who have offered time, talent, and resources.

City as Living Laboratory (CALL)

The nonprofit organization City as Living Laboratory (CALL), founded by artist Mary Miss and based in New York City, shepherded the initiative from inception through its first phases.

Neighborhood Partners

Neighborhood partners assemble Neighborhood Project Teams (NPTs) to support WaterMarks engagement around different sites, guiding walks and workshops, facilitating letter selection, choosing project artists, and identifying storylines for Voices interviews.

Community-University Working Group (CUWG)

Meeting quarterly to advance the WaterMarks initiative and deepen its grounding in Milwaukee’s communities, the Community-University Working Group includes a wide range of past project participants and community liaisons coordinated by UWM’s Ellie Jackson.

Adaptable Model Guide Team (AMG)

A special committee of CUWG, the Adaptable Model Guide team is a work group tasked with developing a charter document that encapsulates everything learned about WaterMarks in order to support its continuation and inform other cities on best practices.

WaterMarks Advisory Board

Consisting of motivated Milwaukee leaders and interested partners past and present, the WaterMarks Advisory Board represents enlightened partner interests to suggest larger alignments and strategy for water-related placemaking throughout the city.

UWM’s Research Team

As part of the NSF grant, an interdisciplinary group of professors and students at UW-Milwaukee study how WaterMarks activities work together to connect science, art, the environment, and Milwaukee neighborhoods.

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM)

Supported by a National Science Foundation grant to study informal science learning in neighborhoods throughout Milwaukee, Ryan Holifield, professor of geography, is the primary investigator.

COSI’s Center for Research & Evaluation

Social scientists from the Center of Science and Industry (COSI, based in Columbus, Ohio) serve as the project's NSF evaluation team. They provide accountability and feedback by documenting and measuring the outcomes of NSF-funded WaterMarks activities.

Foundational Champions

  • Kevin Shafer

    Executive Director
    Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District

  • Julia Taylor

    retired
    Greater Milwaukee Committee

  • Rocky Marcoux

    retired
    Department of City Development
    City of Milwaukee

  • Marsha Sehler

    retired
    Director of Development at Uihlein Wilson Architects

Neighborhood Partners

  • KK River Neighbors in Action

  • Walnut Way

  • Riverworks Development Corporation

  • Northwest Side Community Development Corporation

  • Harbor District Inc.

  • Century City Triangle Neighborhood Association

  • Sherman Park Community Association

  • Sherman Park ECO

Project Partners

  • Astor Street Foundation

  • Bader Foundation

  • Brico Fund

  • Century City Triangle Neighborhood Association

  • The Corridor Corporation

  • Uniting Garden Homes

  • Harbor District Inc.

  • Haggerty Museum of Art - Marquette University

  • Ignition Arts

  • Institute of Museum & Library Services

  • KK River Neighbors In Action

  • National Endowment for the Arts

  • Milwaukee Arts Board

  • Milwaukee Riverwalk District

  • Milwaukee Riverkeeper

  • Milwaukee Water Commons

  • Northwest Side Community Development Corporation

  • Poblocki Signage Company

  • Rockwell Automation

  • SolarTonic

  • UWM School Of Freshwater Sciences

  • Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers

  • Sweet Water

  • United Community Center

  • Urban Ecology Center

  • Wisconsin Sea Grant