J.O. Haselhoef

I pursued, in 2000, a Masters in Fine Arts degree, with a focus on Social Practice Art. That practice is collaborative, often participatory, and involves people as the medium or material of the work. Words and images play a significant role in its documentation. What followed was three general periods of time and focus.

1. International/National

I co-founded a community-based nonprofit organization in Haiti, Yonn Ede Lot (One Helping Another, in Haitian Creole). Our partnership with rural agricultural Haitian associations encouraged leadership and economic growth and became the subject of my book, “Give & Take: Doing Our Damnedest NOT to be Another Charity in Haiti,” published 2015. Throughout that period, I traveled extensively, participating in and writing about people and their communities, events and policies which impact them.

2. The Haitian Times

I joined the staff of this online media organization, whose readers are primarily the Haitian diaspora, in 2019. My reporting concentrated on U.S. and U.N. policy related to Haiti, immigration, economics, healthcare and the Midwest. At times, I was the only white reporter on a multi-racial staff located primarily in New York and for most stories, I worked out of my home office.

3. Milwaukee, Wis.

in 2025, I switched gears, recognizing I was familiar with parts of the world more than my local neighborhood. Accessibility to the world has made it a smaller place, but neighbors living next door to one another for 23 years in my south-side Milwaukee community had never had a real conversation with one another. I joined or created groups at neighborhood, community, city and county levels and participated in conversations to better understand and encourage human connection.