Milwaukee
Indaba Community Band Shell
PHOTOS TO COME IN SPRING/SUMMER OF 2021
6/7/2019, Mayor Barrett speaking at the "Completion Ceremony"; From "https://patch.com/wisconsin/milwaukee/community-celebrates-new-spaces-st-ann-center"
On June 7, 2019, a "Completion Ceremony" for the Indaba Band Shell was held. This was the culmination of much work by a partnership between Parklawn Assembly of God and St. Ann Center. It had recognized that a change was needed of the troubled area in which it was located. This neighborhood has suffered a 42% poverty rate, a male employment rate of only at 36%, and incomes less than 27% of the area median income. To help improve the area, a survey of the neighborhood was conducted and one thing that emerged was the desire for a safe gathering place. The partnership wanted to provide a neighborhood, rich in talent but lacking in opportunity, this safe place. That idea for the Bucyrus Campus ground morphed into the creation of a band shell as part of the improvement. Soon a Band Shell Committee was created and had suggestions about it from hours of operation to design to appropriate type of entertainment. It raised $30,000 of initial operating support. On August 11, 2017, a Good Earth Celebration was held to hail the start of construction on the 7.5 acre site. The band shell was well on its way!
What does the name Indaba mean, you ask? According to traditional African culture, Indaba refers to a gathering to resolve issues affecting the village, where each individual has a voice and where there is a common story created for all to share after they leave. Celebrating the standing-room-only June 7 event was Mayor Tom Barrett, along with U.S, Representative Gwen Moore, 66th State Assembly Rep. Kaylan Haywood II, Milwaukee Alderman Russell W. Stamper II, Sr. Diana De Bruin (Director of the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi congregation), and Sr. Edna Lonergan (OSF and founder and president of St. Ann Center). The celebration program featured African drumming and the untying kente cloth of a by Auxiliary Bishop James Schuerman and Byron Haaland, a Native American eagle dance, a multicultural blessing and libation ceremony, and a song performed by one the Bucyrus Campus after-school care children.
The architect was Doug Barnes of Zimmerman Architectural Studios; funds to construct the Indaba Band Shell came from a capital grant from the State of WI in 2017. The cost was $287,000 which also included construction of a two-block tree-lined lighted walkway leading to it.
In 2019, the partnership worked with Milwaukee United Performing Arts Fund (UPAF), a nonprofit organization that brings performing arts to new audiences to bring local talent to the venue. In February 2020, the first Indaba African Ball kicked off Black History Month in order to raise funds to help support payment to local artists for the summer of 2020. While a great success, it was stymied by the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic which cancelled any performances. A 2021 Indaba African Ball is planned to be virtual - it is hoped to resume performances in the summer of 2021.
What does the name Indaba mean, you ask? According to traditional African culture, Indaba refers to a gathering to resolve issues affecting the village, where each individual has a voice and where there is a common story created for all to share after they leave. Celebrating the standing-room-only June 7 event was Mayor Tom Barrett, along with U.S, Representative Gwen Moore, 66th State Assembly Rep. Kaylan Haywood II, Milwaukee Alderman Russell W. Stamper II, Sr. Diana De Bruin (Director of the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi congregation), and Sr. Edna Lonergan (OSF and founder and president of St. Ann Center). The celebration program featured African drumming and the untying kente cloth of a by Auxiliary Bishop James Schuerman and Byron Haaland, a Native American eagle dance, a multicultural blessing and libation ceremony, and a song performed by one the Bucyrus Campus after-school care children.
The architect was Doug Barnes of Zimmerman Architectural Studios; funds to construct the Indaba Band Shell came from a capital grant from the State of WI in 2017. The cost was $287,000 which also included construction of a two-block tree-lined lighted walkway leading to it.
In 2019, the partnership worked with Milwaukee United Performing Arts Fund (UPAF), a nonprofit organization that brings performing arts to new audiences to bring local talent to the venue. In February 2020, the first Indaba African Ball kicked off Black History Month in order to raise funds to help support payment to local artists for the summer of 2020. While a great success, it was stymied by the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic which cancelled any performances. A 2021 Indaba African Ball is planned to be virtual - it is hoped to resume performances in the summer of 2021.
The St. Ann Center for Intergenerational Care opened in September of 2015. A successful capital campaign and a $5 million grant from Wisconsin’s capital budget, received in 2017, allowed St. Ann Center to complete the $28 million, two-story, 80,000-square-foot facility. It has created a vibrant campus which includes not only child care and adult day care, but has an indoor aquatic center, a state-of the-art dementia care wing, an overnight respite care unit, an art studio, and a beauty salon.
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