Derrick Cainion spent 20 years helping people understand each other as a sign language interpreter. Then COVID-19 hit, his son turned three, and a vacant lot on Milwaukee's north side sat waiting.

This week on Rising Forward, Derrick walks us through what he built at 35th and Vliet — ART Intersection MKE — a living outdoor gallery where art, sustainability and community healing don't just coexist. They're the same thing.

We talk about the night a street shut down for art instead of sirens. The mural of his mother watching over the neighborhood. A bio-swale that literally holds water for a community that's been drained. Solar panels that keep the lights on when the city goes dark. And international artists from Tunisia, Dubai and the UK — all landing on one lot in Washington Park.

Derrick also gets into what it took to raise nearly a million dollars without being independently wealthy — and what funders actually responded to.

If you've ever driven past a vacant lot and wondered what it could be — this episode is the answer.

Credits:

Shannon Sims, host

Bryce Richards, graphic designer/ grip

Brianna Sitkowski, producer

Junction Box Production, Dwight Cannon, audio editor/videographer

LionArts Media, Laura Dyan Kezma, audio/video editor

William Howell, photographer/ assistant editor

Mic’d & Ready Media