Groundwork Milwaukee

Leadership

Damien DeBuhr
Executive Director


Location

227 West Pleasant Street
Milwaukee, WI 53212

(414) 763-9947

What We're Working On

Making Milwaukee's Urban Gardens Flourish
Planting vegetable bed in Kilbourn Garden, Groundwork Milwaukee's largest community garden.

Making Milwaukee's Urban Gardens Flourish

Founded in 2000 by a group of inner-city residents who lost their gardening space to developers, Milwaukee Urban Gardens (MUG) advocates for the long-term protection of community gardens and neighborhood green space in urban Milwaukee. In 2013, MUG merged with Groundwork Milwaukee, which now operates the MUG program. MUG began with just five gardens, but has expanded to include almost 90 community gardens across the city, in some of Milwaukee’s most underserved neighborhoods. MUG builds partnerships around local food production and food security and provides leadership, education, policy analysis, and project development support for the City of Milwaukee’s thriving community-based food system.

Creating Peace thru Paint
Community gARTden mural on display in “Rays of Sunshine Garden” on the north side of Milwaukee

Creating Peace thru Paint

The Community gARTden program provides a way for community members to create positive messages through art. A partnership between Groundwork Milwaukee and Artworks4MKE, the program aims to create “Peace Through Paint.” Community gARTden interns worked with neighborhood residents to create artworks in several of Milwaukee’s urban community gardens. Each painting has a very special meaning and positive message behind it, and is “from the neighborhood, by the neighborhood, and to the neighborhood.”