“Muslim Arts and Belonging” was organized by three UWM professors – Anna Mansson McGinty (Women’s and Gender Studies and Geography); Caroline Seymour-Jorn (Comparative Literature); and Kristin Sziarto (Geography) – in collaboration with Professor Enaya Othman of Marquette University (Arabic). The event aimed to open up an important discussion about the diversity of Muslim experiences and voices in Milwaukee.

A few main questions for the panelists were: How do you see your role as a Muslim artist? How does your art, broadly defined, reflect your Muslim identity? And, in which ways does art express certain memories and sense of belonging (or not belonging)? This is part of our ongoing Muslim Milwaukee Project, in which we have collaborated with Muslim leaders in the city on demographic surveys, and are now looking at the civic engagement and everyday lives of Muslims in the city.

This event, like all of the work of the Muslim Milwaukee project, was intended to highlight how Muslims actively contribute to the city in various capacities, and articulate their identities, experiences, and memories through various art forms.

You can find more information here: http://wisconsinmuslimjournal.org/local-artists-share-feelings-about-their-creative-craft-and-muslim-identity/.

The panel event was supported by a grant from the Center for 21st Century Studies at UWM.