Angela Fitzgerald: Phoenix S. Brown is a curator, helping other people share their story through art.

Phoenix S. Brown: As curator, my responsibility is to program the gallery spaces. I coordinate artists, I develop exhibitions, I help run creative programming in response to the art that’s on the wall. Very powerful piece by…

Angela Fitzgerald: Phoenix works in this space, Gallery 507, at the Bronzeville Center for the Arts.

Phoenix S. Brown: This organization was started by artists, which is really exciting. I’m also an artist, so I love learning about how artists make their work.

Angela Fitzgerald: This artistic hub, located on Milwaukee’s north side, is rooted in art, culture, and African-American history.

Phoenix S. Brown: Bronzeville is a cultural overlay of, like, a few neighborhoods here in Milwaukee. Black residents have been here since the early 19th century, so the neighborhood is really known for Black cultural production.

Angela Fitzgerald: In addition to her work in the Bronzeville neighborhood, Phoenix has curated work in some of Milwaukee’s most prestigious mansions.

Phoenix S. Brown: At the turn of the 20th century, this was considered the Gold Coast. There was a lot of wealthy families building mansions along this corridor.

This home was the homestead of Sarah Ball Allis and Charles Allis. They were industrialists, and Charles Allis was the president of Allis Chalmers.

Angela Fitzgerald: The Allis mansion is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. As curator, Phoenix would find contemporary artists searching for a temporary place to showcase their work.

Phoenix S. Brown: The room that we’re in right now is called the French parlor. On this wall, we have a lot of French oil paintings that are, like, beautifully framed. Everything is original to the collection. And then also in the space, we juxtapose contemporary art next to, like, the historic works.

[Phoenix and Angela handling artwork]

Phoenix S. Brown: I’ll just hand you one, and then I’ll take the other one.

Phoenix S. Brown: And our previous exhibitions have kind of responded to, like, people who identify as LGBTQIA here in the community and people of color, so thinking about critical issues of identity and hierarchies of power and feminism.

Angela Fitzgerald: When Sarah Allis passed away, she had one last wish for her art collection and this Tudor-style home.

Phoenix S. Brown: In the will, she dictated that whoever runs the home must inspire, delight, and educate with the collections.

Angela Fitzgerald: For three years, Phoenix was that person honoring Sarah’s wish.

Phoenix S. Brown: This place is special. It’s like a gem of historic relevance that I think people often overlook, and it holds a lot of Milwaukee history.

Angela Fitzgerald: At the same time Phoenix was overseeing the art collection at the Allis, she was helping reclaim another piece of Milwaukee’s past a short walk away at Villa Terrace.

Phoenix S. Brown: It was the original home to Lloyd and Agnes Smith of the A. O. Smith Company. Villa Terrace was constructed in 1924. The inspiration for the villa came when the family went to Italy. It kind of appears as though that you may be on the Mediterranean Sea.

Angela Fitzgerald: Preserving the vestiges of power and privilege was not lost on Phoenix as she curated the mansions.

Phoenix S. Brown: These are two homes that were owned by white people. So, like, finding ways to make those accessible to our largest populations here is really important. Welcoming communities in that may have never felt welcomed before ’cause it is intimidating. You don’t really know what’s possible for yourself unless you see someone that looks like you doing the same thing. And luckily in my life, I’ve had people who are people of color in these sorts of positions.

Angela Fitzgerald: Every place Phoenix works, representation and access are at the center of her mission.

Phoenix S. Brown: They are the first two Black men to be on a baseball team and be brothers. This is important to me ’cause it feels like I am giving a platform to people that haven’t had it in the past. And sometimes, it’s best for people of color to tell their own stories, you know? That’s, like, a privilege that we don’t always get in this sort of sphere. I think it just really emphasizes the impact that he’s had on the Negro League baseball league here in America. And I think it’s important to keep telling these stories and hold these stories so Milwaukeeans in the future are able to learn about where we came from as a city.

Angela Fitzgerald: The art sphere Phoenix creates is welcoming for all of Milwaukee, whether that is at a mansion museum or in the heart of Bronzeville.

Phoenix S. Brown: [Phoenix chuckles] I love curatorial. Curatorial is amazing, and it’s a privilege to be in these roles. And I just love working with artists. It brings me joy. But then also, it’s kind of like, people just doing really cool stuff. [laughs]

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