A Black-owned art gallery in Milwaukee’s 5 Points neighborhood is facing foreclosure.
Fatima Laster, the gallery’s owner, purchased the building in 2018 seeking to make a communal space for underrepresented artists.
Since then, hundreds of artists and thousands of supporters have come through the doors of the 5 Points Art Gallery & Studios.
The gallery has been more than just a place to view art. It has also been a space to examine systemic issues in Milwaukee.
Take Laster’s current work, for example, examining housing. "It is a memory-based and generated installation to talk about the intergenerational Black home that’s being displaced through gentrification, especially on the north side of Milwaukee," Laster explains.
Laster is an interdisciplinary artist.
The immersive installation, called “Interrupted: Cash for Homes," is a replica of Laster’s grandparents’ home where she grew up.
Picture it: the hallway of the exhibit is plastered with numerous cash for homes signs. They lead you to the "front door” of the home, where upon entry you’re transported to a space that might remind you of your grandparents’ home.
"This is a culmination of family heirlooms, photo albums, their artifacts and thrifted items to capture the essence of this modest, vintage meets modern and the generation gets younger house, that provides security and protection, but also documents the cultural inclusion," she says.
Plastic carpet runners trail from the front door toward the kitchen.Her grandmother’s hot comb lies on the kitchen stove. And her grandpa’s favorite brand of cigarettes sits on a desk in the corner. Photo albums, magazines, and opened mail lie on the coffee table and one of those big box TVs sits on the floor.
"People come in this space, and they cry," Laster says. "They cry and they’re like, 'This is grandma’s home,' and I was like, 'Yeah, this was my grandmother’s home.'"
Laster says this exhibition stresses pride and dignity in grandma’s house. It debunks negative stereotypes about the Black family experience. And it shows how the physical record of a family is lost when they’re displaced from their home.
Laster says her work at the gallery helped her understand the prevalence of housing insecurity in Milwaukee — like when artists she worked with needed an affordable place to stay. The gallery building has two fully furnished artist residency apartments.
Laster has always intended for the gallery to increase access to art in the community and exposure for artists. But, she says, it’s also blossomed into a community within itself.
And she worries that it will leave a void in Milwaukee if it closes.
Laster has been fundraising for a $260,000 balloon payment on her gallery’s mortgage due by December 1.
Laster acquired the building through the City of Milwaukee’s Art and Resource Community Hub loan program, or ARCH. ARCH provides matching loans of up to $25,000 to buyers of city-owned tax foreclosed properties to be used for art related purposes or as community resource centers.
"But with the caveat like you had to go get financing from a lender to do whatever rehabbing or what have you. I end up getting a few offers, but I went with the Greater Milwaukee Foundation as my lender," Laster says.
Laster was offered a five-year loan under the foundation’s Impact Investing program.
Its purpose is to provide affordable access to capital to support thriving communities, particularly communities of color. Laster says the gallery has navigated an unpredictable financial landscape since opening.
She cites rising everyday costs, cuts to arts funding under the Trump administration and the COVID-19 pandemic as major hurdles.
"I have another job right now, too. So, I’ve worked myself to support this. So, it hasn’t been like, 'Oh she’s ever missed a monthly payment. It’s like, time’s up, it’s five years.' Now, I’m in an extended period where now it’s seven years – where’s this money?" she says.
Laster doubts she can pay off the rest of the mortgage by its due date.
She lives in the building and says that she and other artists will be displaced if the gallery closes.
She has been in talks with her lender, the Greater Milwaukee Foundation.
Vincent Lyle, executive sponsor of the Impact Investing Program, says the foundation is willing to talk with Laster about restructuring her loan. He’s waiting for their next meeting to talk specifics.
In the meantime, Laster says the community has shown up for her. During a recent fundraiser she raised $20,000 toward the $260,000 goal.
Laster says the community will lose authentic cultural threads of Milwaukee if 5 Points were to close.
