Architecture firm
BrandNu Design Studio will lead the design work for the Bronzeville Center of the Arts, the African American art museum planned in Milwaukee’s Bronzeville district.
The Bronzeville Center for the Arts is developing a 50,000-square-foot museum at a site at the northeast corner of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and North Avenue. Last year, Gov. Tony Evers allocated $5 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds for the museum.
While
M&E Architects+Engineers worked on the first phase of the project, BrandNu will partner with
HGA to pick up the torch for the next steps, which will include “site and building design and further community engagement,” according to the news release.
Peter Cook, design principal at HGA, and
Terri Howard, the HGA director of equity, will also support design efforts on the project. Cook previously worked as a lead design collaborator on the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. and serves on the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts.
BrandNu Design Studio “specializes in cultural centers and museums,” according to the news release. The firm, which has offices in Madison, Dallas and New York, has worked on New York’s Universal Hip Hop Museum and New Jersey’s Black Inventors Hall of Fame Museum, according to the news release.
“BrandNu uses design as a tool to advance equity, justice, and inclusion, actively working with communities to build a more equitable future, which perfectly aligns with the mission of the BCA,”
Kristen Hardy, chair of the Bronzeville Center for the Arts board of directors, said in the news release. “We believe BrandNu's talent and experience will be beneficial during this next phase.”
The Wisconsin chapter of the American Institute of Architects recognized
Michael Ford, the owner of BrandNu, as the Young Architect of the Year in 2022. He is known as the “Hip Hop Architect,” according to the news release.
“This is an incredible opportunity to help shape the design of a new museum that will feature African American art and become a community hub within a revitalized Bronzeville,” Ford said in the news release. “This world-class museum will both represent the rich history of the neighborhood and forecast its future.”
