An Evening Inspired by the Natural World

Our design studio was transformed into a living gallery featuring more than 30 works by local Milwaukee artist Kimberly Burnett. Her pieces, rich with texture, color, and emotion, invited guests to slow down, look closely, and experience nature through an artistic lens. Kimberly’s work complemented our own approach to ecological restoration and land stewardship, both grounded in observation, creativity, and respect for natural systems.

Adding another layer of depth to the evening, we were honored to host Dr. Steve Carini, a local bonsai artist and grower. Dr. Carini brought over 20 bonsai trees, some more than 30 years old. These living sculptures sparked conversations throughout the night about patience, care, and the long-term relationship between people and plants. Seeing decades of thoughtful cultivation embodied in each tree was both humbling and inspiring.

A Space for Connection

Gallery Night was about more than displaying beautiful work.  It was about creating a space for connections. Guests explored the Marek design studio, enjoyed light refreshments, and engaged in meaningful conversations with the artists and one another. The evening reflected what we value most at Marek Landscaping: community, creativity, and stewardship of the land.

Events like this remind us that landscapes are not just functional or ecological.  They are cultural spaces that shape how we live, gather, and relate to the natural world.

Looking Ahead

As we move into the new year, we’re excited to host more in-person events that bring our community together. From educational talks to art-forward gatherings, we see our space as a hub for ideas, inspiration, and dialogue around green infrastructure, ecological restoration, and thoughtful design.

If you joined us for Gallery Night, thank you for being part of such a memorable evening. If you missed it, we hope to see you at a future event soon.

Stay tuned for upcoming gatherings and for more moments where art and nature meet at Marek Landscaping.

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We are seeking to raise funds for a down payment on our construction loan for our new base of operations on Milwaukee’s outer harbor. There has never been a more important time for our work. Demand is growing rapidly due to increased needs for climate resiliency, shoreline stabilization, habitat restoration, and the desire for improved recreational access to our three rivers and Lake Michigan.

We need to ratchet up our ecological restoration machine to meet the pace of habitat degradation and the effects of climate change. The new facility will optimize that operationally and help put holistic waterfront restoration on the map in the Freshwater Capital of the World. Our Port and our City is at the helm of positive change for our community.

To achieve this growth, we have launched a campaign with Honeycomb Credit which provides a way for people to invest in small businesses in their community. Watch our video and follow the link below to learn how you can invest with us!

Learn more about our campaign

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We do a ½ day in the classroom and a ½ day in the field of rain barrel and rain garden installation.  These students get a ton of information and always ask great questions and leave pretty charged up about Green Infrastructure.  Mike of course shares a few old stories about how he got into this and where we can go from here with green infrastructure.  That includes the important conversation about social, environmental, and economic justice.  This project has focused the installations in the 30^th St Industrial Corridor neighborhood that has been hit by disinvestment (until recently) and has been affected by historic flooding due to its position in the watershed.  Much of this flooding has been alleviated by the Green Infrastructure work and the 30^th St Wet Weather Relief Project that Marek helped design in 2016 and was constructed in 2017).

The best part of the classroom portion of the day is the Soil Test in which students participate in a comparative experiment of 4 different soil medias used in Green Infrastructure.  This is a hands-on demo that we learn so much from our direct observations and it re-teaches us to think about these things as high-performance systems.  This year we included a tour of some of the residential sites built in the past years.  We finished with lunch at the Wet Weather Relief project basins that are now maturing and performing quite well.  It was a lovely day!

This project and teaching students about Green Infrastructure and how we can fix our urban watershed is always a huge inspiration to us here as the students bring big energy and informed passion to their study and their work.

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We want to wish Jamie Van (Jamie VandenLangenberg) a joyful farewell and a huge THANK YOU as she flies north to her natural habitat. She has landed herself her dream job as the Water Program Director at North Lakeland Discovery Center and we know that it was meant to be. She and her amazing family spent so much time up north that this was the next logical step. We will miss her here at Marek and hope to visit soon in Manitowish Waters!

As our Operations Manager and Restoration Ecologist Jamie wore a lot of hats and did it with a cheerful smile and a contagious positive attitude. Her plant knowledge and comprehensive understanding of ecological systems was a strong suit and she shared that openly. She also interviewed many candidates for positions here and helped make the team we are today, which we are all proud to be a part of. We are stronger and better for Jamie’s work and passion.

She gave new team members religion about what we do here at Marek. If you know us, you know that our practice is as close to religion as it is to craft and to art and to science. We practice whole heartedly and truly believe that we’re doing the most important work on Earth. She knew us as a firm well and she believed in our mission and knew our tools, our methods, and our team members well.  She will be missed! With a deep bow we all wish her all the best!

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