"Artist Statement" on Slide Show

Upon first arriving in an unknown area, one can expect to feel nervous and anxious. I had never been to the area of 35th and Lisbon in Milwaukee before and I was not sure what to expect. I didn't know whether I was walking into a friendly community or not, nor what kind of people I would meet, which made me feel both anxious and nervous. But, I was pleasantly surprised upon arrival. I began progress on my photo essay by first walking around, taking pictures of various buildings(one school child asked what I was taking pictures of) and noting consistencies throughout the neighborhood. I also wanted to find out where Our Next Generation Inc. is located simply for future reference. It was a difficult building to find and I had no idea what I was looking for, so I asked a man standing on a street corner, he was very friendly(I had felt awkward approaching a complete stranger) but had never heard of Our Next Generation Inc. Next I decided to walk into a church located on 35th and Lisbon to see if they know where ONG was located, and to my surprise... it is located right inside that very church! The workers of ONG were also very friendly and told me I should come back later on for their High-School Connection program so that I could interview some children about their neighborhood.

So, I began my exploration of the neighborhood once again. As I walked I saw many beautiful Victorian-style homes, many churches and child-care centers (at least 12 total), and many motivational signs. All of these aspects seemed to communicate a strong religious base, a focus on betterment students/children and a future goal of betterment in the community as a whole. I honestly had never seen so many churches and community centers in one area in my entire life, it was quite inspiring. After really getting a feel for the community myself it was time for me to head back to ONG to see what some high school students thought about the community they live in. I was quite surprised to see so many high school kids come to this after-school program- all on their own free will. One ONG worker was kind enough to find two students, Will and Lilibeth, to talk with me about the neighborhood. I found out that most students who come to the ONG program are not from this particular community but commute to the area every Tuesday and Thursday night. While Lilibeth did commute, Will had moved to the neighborhood this past year, when I asked him what he thought about the area he said it was "pretty okay." Both interviewees did agree that the community is strongly focused on improvement and achieves such improvement through organizations such as ONG. Both students (along with others I talked to) spoke highly of ONG and all the various opportunities it provides for them. Some of these are social activism committees, leadership skill, volunteer work, help with homework and much,much more.

Overall the entire community (along with ONG) is very welcoming and genuinely committed to the future of their youth which coincides with the overall betterment of the community as a whole.