Customers check out the produce on opening day of the Walker Square Farmers Market in 2012. (NNS file photo by Sue Vliet)
By Meredith Melland
This story was originally published by Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, where you can find other stories reporting on fifteen city neighborhoods in Milwaukee. Visit milwaukeenns.org.
The Walker Square Farmers Market logo was created by John Fleissner, a local printmaker, muralist and teacher. It includes the trees, clock tower and steeples of the neighborhood, symbols of produce and tools, and uses English and Spanish to represent the bilingual nature of the neighborhood. (Photo provided by John Fleissner)
The flyers are out, permits are secured, and vendors are booking booths – all in preparation for the rebooted Walker Square Farmers Market this summer.
The market, which was a summer staple on the Near South Side from 2011 to 2019, is returning because of the efforts of resident leaders and grants from Bader Philanthropies and the Milwaukee Parks Foundation.
The market will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sundays from July 6 through Sept. 28 in Walker Square Park, 1031 S. 9th St.
Vendors will be selling fresh produce and accepting WIC, SNAP/FoodShare and Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program vouchers. The market will feature fitness and wellness activities in the morning and live music from noon to 2 p.m.
The overall goal is to support local farmers, provide neighbors with access to fresh and healthy foods and create a positive activity that brings people together, said Nicole Hertel Meirose, a co-leader of the Friends of Walker Square Park.
“Ultimately, all of those things just mean a better quality of life for everybody who’s part of it,” Hertel Meirose said.
The path to bringing it back
The farmers market honors the memory of Jason Cleereman, a Walker Square resident who organized the market for years before his death in 2020.
“We have missed him dearly and we have also missed the farmers market and the many other wonderful things that he did for the neighborhood,” Hertel Meirose said.
In the years since the pandemic and Cleereman’s death, residents have wanted to bring back the farmers market.
“We all work full-time jobs and didn’t want to start that project because it was massive,” said Gladys Reyes, a member of the Walker Square Neighborhood Association leadership team. “But after years, we just decided, you do this, you do that, we all took a little piece.”
Through the forming of the Friends of Walker Square Park in 2023 and planning of the park’s upcoming improvement project, residents became connected with the Milwaukee Parks Foundation.
The foundation applied for and secured a $25,000 grant from Bader Philanthropies on behalf of the Walker Square Neighborhood Association and Friends of Walker Square Park for the farmers market.
The Milwaukee Parks Foundation also provided an $8,000 Sprouts grant for a concert series during the market, which the group will use to pay for local musicians, booking and sound equipment.
“We’ll give you the dollars and we’ll give you the resources, but we want you to be able to activate your own community and stay connected with your own community because that’s what’s going to create that thriving park system,” said Kelly Martyka, partnerships consultant with the Milwaukee Parks Foundation.
Working with farmers
To make the market a success, the neighborhood groups hired Isabel Miranda as market manager and contracted a Hmong interpreter to help communicate with farmers.
Though it’s Miranda’s first time running a farmers market, she has experience growing up in Walker Square, working with federal nutrition programs and supporting Square Plaza Market, a makers market in the park organized by her mother, Rosa Rodriguez.
Miranda has taken on the challenge of recruiting vendors for the new Sunday market. She said they are concerned about competition and having steady customers.
“I obviously can’t guarantee that, but we’re hoping that with the live music and maybe having different activity, that will keep an audience there at all times,” Miranda said.
Six vendors have signed up: five farmers and one eggroll vendor.
The group is hoping to get to 10 vendors, with 90% selling produce. Three of the farmers are returning vendors from previous years, Miranda said.
There will be joint events for the farmers market and Square Plaza Market on July 20 and Aug. 17, which will make the park more active.
Hertel Meirose is hopeful that working with a Hmong interpreter, who will be present for at least an hour on most market days, will help Hmong farmers feel welcome and part of the process.
“We really do want to be able to have the farmers be able to communicate what their wishes are and what their needs are for the market because they are a very important part of it,” she said.
How are residents involved?
Different neighbors have taken the lead on applying for various permits, promoting the event and seeking community recommendations for the music lineup.
John Fleissner, a local printmaker, muralist and teacher, created the market’s new square-shaped logo that incorporates elements from the neighborhood’s scenery.
Miranda hopes the market will be a weekend destination for families and a convenient place for senior residents of the nearby United Community Center to use their senior farmers market vouchers.
“I’m excited that they will be able to have that little bit of a short walk and easy access to be able to use those benefits,” Miranda said.
How to get involved
Going forward, the groups will be looking for sponsorships and continued grants to keep running the market each summer without overcharging vendors, Hertel Meirose said.
Find more information on the market, including July’s music lineup, on the Walker Square website or Facebook page.
The Walker Square Farmers Market vendor application is still open and available online.
To find out about volunteering, community resource tabling or sponsorship opportunities, contact WalkerSquareFM@gmail.com.
Meredith Melland is the neighborhoods reporter for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and a corps member of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Report for America plays no role in editorial decisions in the NNS newsroom.