Author: Dominic Inouye

On wood chips and more wood chips: An urban food forest

Dominic Inouye’s column for the Milwaukee Independent has been exploring the nature of walking as a social practice, the human dimensions of street photography, and the activation of public spaces. “Would you sell homemade muffins if I made them? What about fresh fruits and vegetables?” Aware of the limited selection of healthy food options at the Jones Smoke Shop & Grocery, Emily Breffle asked Mrs. Jones, on a whim, whether she would consider some new items at the shop. To her surprise, Mrs. Jones said yes. Secretly, Emily just wanted an excuse to bake and garden. It was still...

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Experiencing the Harley-Davidson 115th from the sidelines

Over the last week of August, I heard many people bemoaning the fact that thousands of Harley-Davidson riders would be descending on Milwaukee for the Memorial Day weekend. When they descended into town, some roads became congested and some people couldn’t sleep well from the noise. The riders swooped into our gathering place by the Lake in a swarm of leather and orange. Since Harley-Davidson’s 90th anniversary in 1993, motorcyclists from all around the globe have made “The Ride Home” every five years to the city where twenty-somethings William S. Harley and Arthur Davidson designed their first “motor-bicycle” at...

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In Their Own Words: Vaun Mayes and Gab Taylor

Since March, I have been exploring the nature of walking as a practice, as a way to slow down and interact with one’s environment, as a strategy for uncovering at the street level a city’s assets and challenges, and as an integral part of street photography. The impetus behind these explorations has been my two-year photographic journey with ZIP MKE and my recent work with Jane’s Walk MKE. I also began zooming in to focus on the impact of neglecting or even forgetting public spaces like MacArthur Square and Butterfly Park instead of seeking ways to reactivate them. However,...

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On Broken Windows and Spreading Wings: Breathing Life into Butterfly Park

Dominic Inouye’s column for the Milwaukee Independent has been exploring the nature of walking as a practice, as an integral part of street photography, and as a worldwide movement of neighborhood explorations called Jane’s Walk. After a cold winter and wet spring, the butterflies are back for a few months. Many people are luring the butterflies to their carefully planned gardens, designed to support them in all stages of their development. They have selected host plants on which the butterflies can sun and lay eggs, munch as caterpillars on bright, nectar-filled flowers, and hang out as chrysalises until they...

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On activating MacArthur Square: A space that never lived up to its purpose

Dominic Inouye’s column for the Milwaukee Independent has been exploring the nature of walking as a practice, as an integral part of street photography, and as a worldwide movement of neighborhood explorations called Jane’s Walk. The first time my fitness group announced that we would be working out in a brand new space, MacArthur Square, I was not the only one who posted on Facebook, “Where?” GPS told me it was tucked in between the County Courthouse, the Milwaukee County Jail, the Safety Building, the Milwaukee Public Museum, and the police headquarters. But after I found parking on James...

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On Preaching to the Choir: “Showing Up” as a Necessary Next Step

Dominic Inouye’s column for the Milwaukee Independent has been exploring the nature of walking as a practice, as an integral part of street photography, and as a worldwide movement of neighborhood explorations called Jane’s Walk. Almost 200 Milwaukee residents filled the “streets” of Turner Hall on May 2 for the kickoff of the 3rd Annual Jane’s Walk MKE, part of a worldwide movement that includes over 200 cities in over 40 countries. The evening celebrated a month-long series of free, citizen-led neighborhood explorations that will embody urban activist Jane Jacob’s legacy by observing, reflecting, questioning and collectively reimagining the...

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