Episode 21
Celebrating Imagine MKE's Public Ally Sindie Ho
This week’s episode finds Lindsay and Elisabeth holding down the banter fort after David (not so mysteriously) disappeared. The guest this week is Imagine MKE’s Public Ally Sindie Ho, who is wrapping up his time with Imagine this month. Lindsay and Elisabeth reflect on Sindie’s storytelling power, thoughtfulness, unbridled passion for seafood buffets, and comfort standing up for people and attracting the trust and vulnerability of others. Elisabeth and Lindsay speculate on Sindie’s future career, and what a hypothetical Sindie Ho tour of Milwaukee would entail. Starting around 9:15, Sindie joins the crew to reflect on his time in Milwaukee and at Imagine MKE.
Sindie Ho is a multidisciplinary artist from Rockford, Illinois who graduated from MIAD in 2020. During his service as a Public Ally, Sindie has contributed invaluably to Imagine’s culture, and has supported everything from Neighborhood convenings and contributing to Imagine This Blog, to demonstrating the best kite flying technique.
To kick off the interview, Sindie reflects on his recent art performance installation project—a “secret exchange” that took place at Bay View Gallery Night at Voyager Books. Sindie graduated from college during the pandemic, and had to negotiate carving out community and an artistic trajectory through this time of dramatic isolation. Despite the limitations of COVID, over the years, Sindie has expanded his network, his idea of Milwaukee, and perception of the art world. Sindie reflects on the profound experience of being embraced and cared for by Milwaukee communities. He shares gratitude for many of the ways in which Milwaukeeans share and connect resources, and look out for one another. In his experience, he's been rewarded for exploring and expanding his horizons and connecting to others from different walks of life.
Through his explorations and his time in his first professional non-profit role at Imagine, Sindie has grown confidence and a feeling of agency and ability to step beyond his comfort zone, and contribute to the arts ecosystem in Milwaukee. From here, he imagines a life in Bay View, where he can dig into cultivating a vernacular artist environment, possibly as a contemporary incarnation of the spirit of Mary Nohl. As arts leader of Milwaukee, he questions how groups who are not officially non-profits might be better resourced in the future.
The episodes ends with reflections about Sindie’s strengths, and a dramatic reading of an “exquisite corpse” poem that the Imagine team crafted for Sindie.
Follow Sindie on Instagram @puppie.party
