Photo Essay: Black Cat Alley draws huge crowds

Black Cat Alley welcomed the public during Doors Open Milwaukee, with an estimated four thousand visitors over the September 17 and 18 weekend.

The new art corridor saw a steady stream of foot traffic, and became one of the hottest destination spots for the annual event. With its art installations completed, project organizers held a ribbon cutting ceremony to officially open the site to the community.

Paul Upchurch of VISIT Milwaukee, Jim Plaisted of the North Avenue East Side BID, Jim Hyland of Roundy’s, and 3rd District Alderman Nik Kovac joined the crowd of sponsors, supporters, and visitors.

Black Cat Alley by the numbers:

• 14 murals painted by 16 artists and 6 assistants
• 3 of participants were students
• More than one hundred artists applied to install a mural
• More than 50 volunteers gave their time to the project
• It took more than 7,000 hours, over the course of 18 months, to complete the project
• Organizers raised more than $40,000 from the community to reward artists for their work
• 4 building owners granted permission to use their property for the project
• More than 11,000 square feet of visual art covers the city block