Brand activation through community art is something that has become popular in recent years. By creating an immersive experience for your audience, you can connect them to your brand and help that memory stick. It made a lot of sense that a new arts coalition in Milwaukee would want something like this to help launch their brand and engage with community members.
In November 2019 Imagine MKE, a new generator company in Milwaukee, officially launched with a community event hosted by No. Studios in the Pabst Brewery complex. Imagine MKE states their mission as “a diverse coalition united to advance both a thriving arts and culture sector and the sectors contributions to the cultural, social, and economic vitality of Milwaukee.” In short, Imagine MKE is an organization that has was founded to prop Milwaukee up as a cultural and artistic destination.
When they decided to have a launch party, they contacted Brick and Beauty. They needed help activating their brand through an immersive arts experience. We jumped at the chance to help a fellow art startup and show off our artistic community. The challenge was stunningly simple yet surprisingly complex at the same time; engage the community with an art project anyone can participate in while keeping the space neat and tidy.
To engage the community, we came up with an idea to ask participants how they imagine Milwaukee. We asked them to write their ideas on a round piece of cardboard. The responses were amazing in both their variety and depth. Some people opted to write a single word, while others chose to write nearly a paragraph about how they imagined their city.
After they wrote down their idea on the cardboard, we took a trip down memory lane to the spin art machine. Everyone remembers the old spin art machines from grade school or a summer camp. We re-constructed a few of those box fan machines and asked participants to add a little color to what they wrote. Nostalgia kicked in, people were dropping color onto the cardboard, watching their white cardboard circle come to life.
Why spin art? Literally anyone can make a cool piece of art with spin art. It’s quick, it’s easy, and with many people doing the same thing around them there was no pressure to be artistic. Spin art brings us back to when we were children, making art for fun with no price tag or expectation tacked onto it. People loved it.
For the third step in the process, we had the participants attach their artwork to a giant map of Milwaukee. We divided the map up into all the zip codes of the city. Pieces started filling the wall. Before long it was full of inspiring thoughts about the future of Milwaukee.
It was uplifting to see all the comments on the wall. The vision for a brighter and more colorful Milwaukee was laid out in front of us. The participants also felt a sense of pride and a renewed sense of community. . It was great to see so many people from so many diverse backgrounds come together to imagine Milwaukee.
In the end Imagine MKE was very happy with the work we were able to do and the amount of engagement we were able to create. It’s important to note that this type of brand engagement isn’t limited to art startups. Any company can take advantage of this process. Spin art is simple and engaging because there is no intimidation to be “good” at art and lots of people are willing to take part. This process could be used to answer tough questions a company might want to know about their employees or as a way to envision the future of the company. The possibilities are endless.
We would like to thank Imagine MKE for the opportunity to put on this immersive experience. We would also like to thank anyone who participated in imagining a brighter future for Milwaukee. If you’re interested in an immersive art experience or brand activation for your company or community, please contact Brick and Beauty today.