A Room That Makes Space

On a winter afternoon in Walker’s Point, the taproom at Indeed Brewing Company feels familiar, but there are a few small changes.

Folding tables sit along the walls. Small business owners place candles, prints, and small goods where drinks usually go. The craft beer still pours, and the Bucks game is still on TV. Regulars know this setup. This event comes back to the neighborhood every year.

The difference isn’t in how the room is arranged. It’s in the feeling.

Cullen Voss, the general manager of the Milwaukee taproom, says that opening the space like this is part of how they do business.

“As a small business, we definitely have a responsibility to the community that we operate in,” he says. “To be a place that people can come, whether they want to have tough conversations about difficult times like we’re experiencing right now, or whether they just want to disassociate and watch the Bucks play.”

The back room has couches and lounge chairs. Vendors fill the main area. People wander between browsing and relaxing, moving at their own pace.

The market feels familiar. Vendors set up in different businesses around Walker’s Point. People walk from spot to spot, meeting new makers at each place.

“It gives us all a chance to explore different areas,” one person attending the market says. “You’ve got vendors at different bars and coffee shops. It’s super cool to get out into the neighborhood.”

When asked how many places they visited, the answer comes right away.

“All of them. All six.”

This year, the event took place at Indeed Brewing Company, Hill Valley Dairy, Anodyne Coffee Roasters, Station 1846, Great Lakes Distillery, and MobCraft Beer.

The attendee moved to Milwaukee from Atlanta earlier this year. “It’s much colder,” they say with a laugh, but they add that the people are just as friendly. “Everyone’s been really great.” What changes is how people connect. “A lot of times we stick to our normal spots,” they say. “So it’s nice to branch out a little.”

For maker Abigail Hausman, coming back this year means more. Cream City Think Tank first talked with her at this market last year.

“This time last year, honestly, the last year or so, it’s been really hard,” Hausman says. “Especially after the holidays. Things slow down. It’s tough on a lot of small businesses just trying to stay afloat.”

She is drawn to places like this. “Most of my time I spend at places that are super small,” she says. “Really community-based.”

She’s clear about why she keeps coming back. “Lots of us are here just because it’s fun,” she says. “We like being part of this community, as opposed to making massive amounts of money.”

Voss says he’s noticed a change this year compared to past years.

“This year it definitely feels like people are more intentional about where their money is going,” he says. “They’re paying attention to which businesses align with their values.”

That change is subtle. People come to support the way the space is used. Conversations last longer, and purchases feel more thoughtful than random.

When asked to follow up on last year’s television coverage about tariffs and their impact on the brewing industry, Voss draws a distinction between what feels routine and what feels personal.

“Tariffs are economics,” he says. “It’s fairly black and white.”

Then he pauses.

“But what we’re doing with MIRAC touches people’s heartstrings more.”

He talks about neighbors, families, and how decisions made far away are now affecting people close to home. In this setting, money means more. Supporting a business feels less like a transaction and more like a choice.

At events like this, businesses make small changes to welcome everyone. “Whatever the business originally is,” Hausman says, “ends up being that shared space for everybody.”

This way of doing things isn’t new to Walker’s Point or Milwaukee. Milwaukee Makers Market has used this model for years. The pattern stays the same, even as the faces and locations change.

What matters is what people can do in this space.

It brings together people who didn’t plan to meet. It helps small businesses stay visible. Money moves locally and with purpose. People have conversations without pressure and share space even if they don’t always agree.

That’s how community grows here—not through slogans, but by sharing space. And that’s how purpose takes shape: quietly, again and again, together.