In the same way Milwaukee County Parks is blessed with a diversity of nurturing green spaces, our communities are brimming with talent, passion and care. Milwaukee Parks Foundation’s Parks For Parks Sake weaves these two together, providing resources to talented community workers, nature lovers, cultural practitioners, artists and more to explore the possibilities of our parks.
Last July, we launched the series in Pulaski Park with an event named Nurture in Nature. It was a dreamy morning, drawing a gentle and generous group to the park. The agenda featured a lovely yoga session from Joanna Brooks (Embody Yoga), a restorative sound bath from Camille Mays (Camille Mays Sound Healing) and meditative walk led by Esperanza Gutierrez (KK River Neighbors In Action), who also shared the story of the park’s landscape and recent history.
Pulaski Park has been incrementally transformed over the past decade, especially in the past few years with the re-naturalization of the Kinnickinnic River and a major park renovation. While budget woes prevent large-scale investment like these across our Parks landscape, the rebirth of a river and beloved neighborhood green space has been an inspiration — including motivating the experiences across Nurture in Nature.
The collaboration between Camille, Esperanza and Joanna was a first, and we were honored to bring these three Milwaukee visionaries together to activate the healing power of parks.
Each Parks For Parks Sake event has been different and engaging, and we look forward to sharing more about the series in Nature Notes moving forward.