When artisans are able to showcase their craft, it can make people take pause and appreciate what has been displayed in front of them. When that happens on "Made In Milwaukee" on the DIY Network, it makes the rest of the nation take notice to what is being produced in our own backyard.

On the half-hour reality show, Jeremy Shamrowicz – aka Sham on the show – and his crew from Flux Design help homeowners by renovating rooms or spaces around the house.

"Many of the reality shows out there are scripted, we are not," Shamrowicz said. "The producers just asked us, ‘what are you guys going to do?’"

I had the chance to chat with Shamrowicz a couple of weeks ago, when he was at his firm’s offices and work space in the Third Ward. His daily routine includes walking to meet with everyone on his crew, check what they are working on, make changes and suggestions, and keep going. If you watched him on the show, you can see that he seems to be in constant motion.

"We are around creative people. At Flux, we really are big kids here," Shamrowicz said of the workshop atmosphere. He told me that playing on a theater screen in the background was the film "Jaws." He explained that although they have fun at work, that it can help "keep head focused on tasks."

"We are going to need a larger boat," Shamrowicz recited the famous line from the film with sharks. "We are kind of like that, reciting quotes, a little game we play. But that could later be we need a larger truck," he explained about real problems the team faces when getting materials to a work site.

In the show that airs at 10 p.m. Friday nights and repeats later through the week, the crew is seen working on kitchens, bedrooms and basements. Residential was where the team started, but word of their ability to mix metal, wood and concrete into functional art spread when they started working in commercial spaces. They’ve designed and built spaces in more than 40 area bars and restaurants.

One of the things the show does is highlight the community and what it has to offer for the rest of the nation.

"The B-roll shots around the city that are on the show are beautiful. I had a friend who was at a bar in Washington and saw it on, and made others watch it, telling others that was where he was from," Shamrowicz said. "He told me that it, ‘made me want to come back.’"

Shamrowicz said that since the show began airing at the beginning of the year, he’s gotten interest for work from many different parts of the country. We had a very engaging conversation from the projects they work on for the show, the different relationships he has with area vendors and contractors, and having something handmade. The "Build American" rings true.

"That’s definitely what we are doing, taking art and making it into functional forms, embracing it, understanding it. We want them to have something to pass on to their children."

Their pride in their craft shows. And it makes "Made In Milwaukee" shine.