Milwaukee’s Juneteenth Jubilee Parade will march down Atkinson Avenue to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive starting at 9 a.m. Friday, June 19.
Among the marching bands and dance teams, spectators will also see a 30-foot-long glimmering float: a river made almost entirely of recycled materials.
Milwaukee Water Commons calls its creation Taking The River To The Streets.
It honors the role waterways played in past journeys to freedom and in connecting communities today.
On a recent Saturday, volunteers were at work bringing the river to life. Tables filled with paint, panels and chattering people stretched across the shaded sculpture garden outside Adams Garden Park.
Danielle Washington’s young daughter is rummaging through a pile of brushes to find just the right one.
“I’m trying to make some waves and make it like the lake, with the prettiest sky,” she says.
“My foundation is art, and this is allowing me to create art outdoors with my daughter,” Danielle Washington says.
Milwaukee Water Commons (MWC) Senior Director of Programming Felice Green couldn’t be happier — the sun is shining, and neighbors are showing up to help with this first-time-ever project for her organization.
“We came up with the walking river, where we will have representation of the three rivers [the Milwaukee, Kinnickinnic and Menomonee],” she says. “So, just like the rivers connect, communities connect, rivers connect community, art connects community.”
Green believes its presence in the Juneteenth parade symbolizes that we as a community are moving in the right direction.
“The walking river is more than a parade float. It’s a moving symbol of freedom, connection and collective care; honoring the journey that’s brought us here and imagining a future we all build together,” Green says.
Strips of white, green and blue fabric, pallet wrap and netting create a flowing stream. Twenty people positioned along its outer edges will carry the float by hand.
For Green, walking the river brings peace. “As a way to meditate. You know, waters can be rough, life can be rough, but sometimes when I personally pause and reflect and take a minute to just let the water speak to me, I’m OK,” she says.
Inside, Quinn White is part of a crew creating fish out of recycled green pallet wrap.
“I’m making a sturgeon. What we do is we take a piece of plastic, and then we trace these pictures of fish and then we cut them out,” she says.
White is a strong advocate for Milwaukee Water Commons’ work. She volunteers — along with her daughter — whenever she can, despite the fact that White and water "don’t always have the best relationship."
“I have a fear of drowning, and I like for my feet to be on the ground. So I never really learned how to swim. I really don’t go past my ankles in the water,” she says.
White’s 12-year-old daughter, on the other hand, is passionate about water. She was outside painting her heart out.
“She has very much a science brain," White says. "She has always been into aquatics, sharks, marine life. I don’t know where it stems from. I like to read books and be inside of houses. She’s outside working, I’m working in the inside of the building."
Across the room, Milwaukee Water Commons Creative Arts Manager Melanie Ariens revels in the fact that only six months ago, this 30-foot creation that incorporates a multitude of water stories — some complicated, others pure joy — was only a concept.
Of course, Ariens' biggest task lies ahead — making sure all of the elements of the undulating, shimmering river stick together.
Nothing safety pins and a tagging gun can’t handle, Ariens says.
“[And] tape and zip ties, and we have some dowels with streamers on that are going to be the handheld part of the float, so we can make it do the wave and whatnot. People have painted our parade banner and the banners with Milwaukee’s rivers and Lake Michigan on it,” Ariens says.
If folks are inspired to join in the flowing river, Ariens says sign up or just show up at 14th Street and Atkinson Avenue no later than 8 a.m. Friday, June 19.
_
