The 5 Points Art Gallery and Studios, a Harambee neighborhood arts hub that nearly went into foreclosure less than a year ago, is now listed for sale at $2 million. The 9,960-square-foot building at 3514 N. Port Washington Ave. includes nearly 3,000 square feet of gallery space, nine artist studios, and two apartments, and it remains unclear whether the space will stay open under a new owner.
Founder Fatima Laster opened the gallery in 2018 after converting the former Johnson-Goolsby funeral home into a combined gallery, residency space, and community hub, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Laster obtained the property with financing support from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, and the city originally sold the tax-foreclosed building to her for $1 in 2018 through its Art and Resource Community Hub program, which paired the sale with a $25,000 forgivable loan for converting foreclosed properties into public art spaces, according to Urban Milwaukee.
A Foreclosure Scare and a Restructured Loan
The gallery has faced financial difficulties in recent years, and the pressure came to a head last fall when an approaching $260,000 balloon payment threatened the property with foreclosure. The payment was due December 1, 2025, prompting Laster to launch a GoFundMe campaign and host a 10-hour Save the Gallery festival on September 27, 2025, according to a report from the same outlet. The Greater Milwaukee Foundation later restructured the loan to a 20-year term following the fundraising push, and the foundation says it is now monitoring the property's sale listing, per a statement to the Journal Sentinel.
The gallery faced financing difficulties even before its 2018 opening. That financing gap has shadowed the space from the start, even as it grew into a fixture hosting events, block parties, and exhibitions, and taking part in Doors Open Milwaukee.
What the Listing Shows
The current listing, filed under MLS #1975141 through Shorewest Realtors, details the 1928-built building's nine private artist studios with 24-hour keyed access, two residential apartments with an average rent of $1,800 per month for each unit, six parking spaces, and 2025 property taxes of $4,504. Laster built her real estate expertise through Milwaukee's Associates in Commercial Real Estate program and holds finance, marketing, and entrepreneurship degrees from Washington University in St. Louis, according to a professional background summary from Cinnaire.
The gallery sits in Milwaukee's Five Corners area. In April 2022, Laster presented during a congressional bus tour and hearing held by the U.S. House Select Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth, addressing systemic redlining and capital access barriers facing Black developers.
Programming Rooted in Community and History
The gallery has aimed to support local and underrepresented artists facing socioeconomic barriers in arts careers, and its programming has often mirrored the neighborhood's own struggles. The gallery has hosted an exhibition called This is America, according to WUWM 89.7 FM. The gallery also recently hosted an immersive roller-skating event examining how Black Milwaukeeans perceive America's history, per the Journal Sentinel's reporting.
During last year's financial crisis, Laster exhibited her own installation, titled Interrupted: Cash For Homes, which critiqued the displacement of intergenerational Black households amid rapid gentrification on Milwaukee's North Side, as reported by Radio Milwaukee. Laster has separately pursued a $1.8 million redevelopment of a fire-damaged, city-owned building at 3765-3769 N. Port Washington Ave., just north of the gallery, after approval of her $1 acquisition of that site to build a restaurant, recording studio, event space, and apartments.
Recognition Amid Uncertainty
Laster has been recognized publicly for her work even as the gallery's finances have wavered. She received the city of Milwaukee Arts Board's 9th annual Friends of the Arts Award and a 2024 Black Excellence Award from the state of Wisconsin. Whether the gallery will remain open under a new building owner, however, is unclear, leaving the fate of one of Harambee's most visible cultural institutions tied to whoever ultimately buys the property.
