Urban Community Arts Network - UCAN

03/08/2026

TONIGHT at 7pm:
When equity work runs into bureaucracy, things stop making sense.

Over the years, UCAN has helped build Madison’s cultural ecosystem — convening artists, mobilizing communities, and strengthening infrastructure.

We’ve also seen:
• Performative inclusion without shared power
• Expectations of free labor from Black-led infrastructure
• Respectability politics shaping who feels “safe”
• Government processes that undermine collective agreements

We’re hosting a livestream to talk openly about these patterns — and what structural change looks like.
This is about systems. Not individuals

12/26/2025

🎉 The 2025 Mad Lit Impact Report is here!

This year, the 2025 Mad Lit Event Series brought together over 12,000 audience members and directly supported 64 musicians, visual artists and small business owners who are Black, Indigenous and People of Color. With Black and Brown residents making about 80% of our audience, your support has allowed Mad Lit to continue creating inclusive space in the heart of downtown Madison.

📲View our full impact report by visiting our website!
https://www.ucanmadison.org/madlit/

🎤 Mane
📸 Hedi LaMarr Photography

12/23/2025

🎉 This year, the 2025 Mad Lit Event Series brought together over 12,000 audience members and directly supported 64 musicians, visual artists and small business owners who are Black, Indigenous and People of Color. With Black and Brown residents making about 80% of our audience, your support has allowed Mad Lit to continue creating inclusive space in the heart of downtown Madison.

📲 View the 2025 Mad Lit Event Series Impact Report:
https://www.ucanmadison.org/madlit/

Your end-of-year gift helps us strengthen community-rooted arts infrastructure in Madison, expand education-based and career-building programming, create pathways for youth and emerging artists and build a sustainable future for Mad Lit and Urban Community Arts Network (UCAN).

When you give to UCAN, you are investing in artists, culture, community power, and a Madison where equity is not optional. If you believe this work matters, we invite you to stand with us.

Thank you for believing in the long game.

📲 Donate to Urban Community Arts Network by visiting:
https://www.ucanmadison.org/donate/

12/18/2025

Corey Whitmore, Pacal "DJ Pain 1" Bayley, and Mark ShaH Evans have been recognized as three of Wisconsin's most influential Black leaders for 2025!

As long-standing Urban Community Arts Network board members, we have had the opportunity to see their progression as leaders in creative entrepreneurship, multi-media production, education, coaching and mentorship.

Congratulations Corey, Pacal and Mark — we look forward to seeing how your experiences coalesce in the years ahead!

Learn more by reading "Wisconsin's 32 Most Influential Black Leaders" Part 3 and 4 on Madison365: https://madison365.com

Support Urban Community Arts Network: https://www.ucanmadison.org/donate

12/12/2025

🎉 In 2025, history has been made as five Black owned venues with liquor licenses are actively creating environments for Black people to connect and experience art, food and beverages!

📲 Read more on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/celebrating-black-owned-venues-madison-wisconsin-ucanmadison-1qymc

12/10/2025

💬 In an effort to improve the overall experience of the Mad Lit Event Series, we are asking for your feedback. Your input truly helps us make Mad Lit the best it can be for everyone who attends and participates!

📲 Fill out our feedback survey by visiting the link below!
https://forms.gle/a7B71ktUfFQnxsag6

12/04/2025

🎉 Thank YOU for celebrating five years of Mad Lit with Urban Community Arts Network this summer!

💬 In an effort to improve the overall experience of the Mad Lit Event Series, we are asking for your feedback. Your input truly helps us make Mad Lit the best it can be for everyone who attends and participates!

📲 Fill out our feedback survey by visiting:
https://forms.gle/a7B71ktUfFQnxsag6

11/17/2025

Help support Rob Dz recovery! Details in the link, but funds will help with extra medical expenses and so he can get the rest he needs to get back on his feet. Any amount helps!

If you know Rob Dz, you know how much he has poured into Madison and be… Urban Community Arts Network needs your support for Help Rob Dz Heal and Create Again

11/14/2025

📢 Madison Public Library is partnering with Nehemiah to offer their Black Film Festival - a three-day event featuring free film screenings and discussions - at three library locations around Madison.

During the festival, you'll experience a wide breadth of Black cinema, including recent box-office hits, classic films, documentaries, and local filmmaker spotlights. Light refreshments will be provided at each screening.

📲 Learn more by visiting the official Black Film Festival event page:
https://secure.qgiv.com/for/ncfuld/event/blackfilmfest/

The Black Film Festival is presented by Justified Anger: Courses (an initiative of Nehemiah), the Madison Public Library, and the Bubbler, with generous support from the Madison Public Library Foundation.

10/27/2025

We need your voice TODAY to support fair funding for downtown programming!
For years, $50,000 in city funds for downtown programming has gone directly to the Downtown BID — without a competitive process.

Alder Madison has proposed an amendment to make these funds open through a competitive RFP process, giving all organizations the chance to apply. This means more equitable representation, diverse programming, and transparent use of public funds downtown.

📣 Take Action:
Join the Finance Committee Meeting
🗓️ Monday, October 27 | ⏰ 4:30 PM
✅ Register to speak:
🔗 cityofmadison.com/city-hall/committees/meeting-schedule/register
OR Can't make it? Email the committee: [email protected]
>>>Support Agenda Item #4, Amendment 3 for a competitive process for downtown programming funds.

10/14/2025

🥳 THANK YOU, Get Rich Community for making the 2025 Mad Lit Event Series possible!

🔎 Mad Lit is a free outdoor event series featuring local musicians, vendors and visual artists of color. Mad Lit amplifies the voices, expressions and offerings of each participant – the contribution made by Get Rich Community has fueled and enhanced Madison's opportunity to interact with local culture.

📲 Learn more about Mad Lit by visiting www.ucanmadison.org/madlit