AT SHEPHERDEXPRESS , WE ARE COMMITTED TO ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY AND RESPONSIBLE PRACTICES.
OUR PUBLICATION IS PRINTED ON PAPER THAT IS CERTIFIED BY THE FOREST STEWARDSHIP COUNCIL (FSC), SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY INITIATIVE (SFI), AND THE AMERICAN TREE FARM SYSTEM (ASTFS), ENSURING IT COMES FROM RESPONSIBLY MANAGED FORESTS. IN ADDITION TO OUR ECO-FRIENDLY PAPER, WE UTILIZE INKS THAT INCORPORATE RENEWABLE RESOURCES SUCH AS SOYBEAN OIL, LINSEED OIL, CASTOR OIL, TALL OIL ROSIN, AND GUM ROSIN. THESE CHOICES REFLECT OUR DEDICATION TO REDUCING OUR ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT AND PROMOTING A GREENER FUTURE.
MOREOVER, OUR DEDICATION TO SUSTAINABILITY EXTENDS TO THE END OF THE PUBLICATION'S LIFECYCLE. OUR PRINTED MATERIALS ARE DESIGNED TO BE RECYCLABLE, ALLOWING READERS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY AND PLAY A PART IN PRESERVING THE ENVIRONMENT.
ew Beverage Blossoms at Gathering Place — Cannabis
inter Arts Guide
SPONSORED BY
est of Milwaukee Winners og Parks: To Go or not To Go? — Pets
CULTURE
58 This Month in Milwaukee
LIFESTYLE
62 Leaving the Mainstream Behind
— Out of my Mind
64 Ask Ally
66 Fostering Mental Wellness in Ourselves and our Communities
68 Mimic a Fast and Rejuvenate in 2025!
— True Health
HEAR ME OUT
70 Don't Fall for a Gaslighting Guy — Dear Ruthie
MEDIA SALES MANAGER: Jackie Butzler (jackie@shepex.com)
SENIOR MEDIA CONSULTANTS: Bridgette Ard (bridgette@shepex.com) Chuck Hill (chuck@shepex.com)
MEDIA CONSULTANTS: Jennifer Jepson (jennifer@shepex.com) Tyler R. Klein (tylerk@shepex.com)
IN MEMORY OF DUSTI FERGUSON (OCTOBER 18, 1971 – NOVEMBER 20, 2007)
WEBMASTER: Barry Houlehen (barry@shepex.com)
DIGITAL STRATEGIST: Sophia Hamdan (sophia@shepex.com)
Distribution: New issues of the Shepherd Express magazine are on the street, on the first Wednesday of each month, free of charge. The Shepherd Express may be distributed only by authorized distributors. No person may, without prior written permission of the Shepherd Express, take more than one copy of each monthly issue. Mail subscriptions are available. No refunds for early cancellations. One year (12 issues) via First Class mail: $100.00.
207 E. Buffalo St., Suite 410, Milwaukee, WI 53202 Phone: 414/276-2222
We’ve never elected a president before with so many top advisors who were in danger of being denied confirmation before they would be permitted to advise the president or to run federal departments spending billions of dollars.
But then we’ve never elected a president before who would appoint so many accused sexual predators, rightwing conspiracy theorists and sketchy attorneys willing to risk their licenses falsely claiming President Biden stole the election four years ago after defeating Trump with the most votes in history.
Worse than that. Trump has made it clear firing special prosecutor Jack Smith and his team of prosecutors for bringing felony charges against Trump for the violent insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, and for stealing and concealing top secret government documents at Mar-a-Lago is just the beginning.
RETRIBUTION
While he’s at it, Trump’s major focus will be seeking retribution against both Biden and Smith by putting them in prison. As president again, Trump says he wants “to clean out ‘the bad guys, the people who went after me.’”
The difference, of course, is that President Biden had nothing to do with Trump’s prosecution. That was intentional. A president should play no role in criminal prosecutions. That’s especially true of political prosecutions, whether it involves favoritism for the president’s party or malice toward his opponents.
Biden’s Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland did the same thing by appointing Smith as a special prosecutor from outside the federal government. Smith conducted the grand jury that filed criminal charges against Trump for his part in the most deadly and destructive terrorist attack of the Congress of the United States in American history.
VIOLENT CRIMINALS
Smith can’t be prosecuted for doing the job he was hired to do —prosecuting the violent criminals who attacked the U.S. Congress and injured more than 140 Capitol police leading to at least five deaths. The American people witnessed the televised murder and mayhem by the crazed mob Trump sent to overthrow the election. In the immediate aftermath, even Republican leaders were demanding prosecution of all those involved including Trump.
Here’s the most important thing about Trump’s obsession. Trump’s the only one who cares about 2020. He’s never going to succeed in proving Biden stole that election because he didn’t.
It was only the glacier-like slowness of the criminal justice system to deal with the violent political insurrection Trump created trying to overthrow President Biden’s legitimate election four years ago that prevented Trump from going to trial for his part in the insurrection last March when it was originally scheduled.
Trump’s absurd nomination of the insurrection and election denying Congressman Matt Gaetz to be his attorney general for his second term was just the latest preposterous tactic by Trump to sabotage any attempt to prosecute Trump for his crimes against democracy. Under investigation by the Department of Justice for sex crimes himself, Gaetz was a leading advocate of locking up Smith’s entire team of prosecutors.
RIDICULOUSLY UNQUALIFIED
Gaetz was so ridiculously unqualified to be attorney general that Republican Senators refused to pretend otherwise. After Vice President-elect J.D. Vance looked for eight days for enough votes to approve Gaetz, he gave up. Gaetz abruptly withdrew.
His consolation prize was after Gaetz resigned from Congress Speaker Mike Johnson covered up the Ethics Committee Report on the investigation into Gaetz’s alleged sex crimes.
Within hours, Trump had replaced Gaetz with another Republican prosecutor who has openly supported Trump twisting the Constitution to jail his enemies. As Florida’s attorney general endorsing Trump in in the 2016 primaries over her Senator Marco Rubio, Pam Bondi encouraged crowds at Trump’s rallies to chant “Lock her up” for the email server Hillary Clinton chose to use. So Bondi might not stop Trump from trying to prosecute Biden and Smith, but she’s never been accused of any sex crimes.
That seems to be almost a requirement for Trump’s top picks to run government agencies. That’s why it will be interesting to see whether Republican Senators have the same objections to the other alleged sexual predators he wants in his government—RFK Jr. as his health secretary and weekend Fox News commentator Pete Hegseth to run the defense department. Trump doesn’t believe in defending against deadly diseases with vaccines or protecting democracies from Russian invasions anymore.
Don’t get me wrong, Trump can create a lot of damage to democracy while he’s wasting the most important moments of his second term as president lost in his own fantasies.
The most important thing is to use the resistance to Trump’s lame duck presidency to support the fact-based lawsuits against Trump’s attempts to roll back the Constitution. There will be plenty coming.
Joel McNally is a national-award-winning Milwaukee Journal columnist and a longtime political commentator on Milwaukee radio and television. He has written Taking Liberties for the Shepherd Express since 1997.
ASusan Simensky Bietila’s Art as Social Activism
BY BEN SLOWEY
rt as a means of social and political activism has the power to change history. Here in Milwaukee, artistactivist Susan Simensky Bietila has been using media like posters, comics, photography, street puppetry and more to amplify the people’s power for decades. Her artwork has been incorporated into many anti-pipeline, anti-mine and Indigenous rights actions in Wisconsin including those during the Crandon Mine proposal near the Wolf River and Enbridge Line 5 near Lake Superior.
Originally from Brooklyn, New York, Simensky Bietila remembers her political awakening while in high school during the Cuban Missile Crisis. She studied art at Brooklyn College under the mentorship of renowned abstract expressionist painter Ad Reinhardt. It was here, during the Free Speech Movement, where Simensky Bietila joined Students For a Democratic Society (SDS).
Simensky Bietila grew up in a community of Jewish refugees who fled genocide in Eastern Europe. “I didn’t know much, but I knew what was wrong,” Simensky Bietila affirms about her upbringing. “The Jewish principle of tikkun olam, which is ‘repair of the world,’ is a call to actively stand against injustice.”
POLITICAL SPEECH
Active during the anti-Vietnam War, anti-nuke and women’s liberation movements of the 1960’s, Simensky Bietila first discovered art being used as political speech upon attending a workshop by Vermont-based Bread and Puppet Theater. “It planted a seed,” she remembers. “I was drawn to the German expressionists, and I found out that they were in the midst of a revolution. The idea of being an artist in the midst of movements was something I realized pretty early.”
In her early 20s, Simensky Bietila illustrated for left magazines National Guardian and Rat Subterranean News, where she created full-page art covers.
She describes this period as one of the happiest times of her life. “The intellectual collaboration around the art was really good,” Simensky Bietila reminisces. “I’ve been looking for that ever since.”
Simensky Bietila then went to nursing school and has worked as a nurse for 45 years. She moved with her family to Milwaukee in 1986. With UW-Milwaukee’s Latin America Solidarity Committee, Simensky Bietila and her husband organized a street theater group of over 40 people, putting on radical community events that included local stilt walkers and large puppets.
PUPPETS AND STILT WALKERS
“The first real puppets I made were equestrian puppets to wrap around a stilt walker to represent the Four Horses of the Apocalypse,” she mentions. “I made them out of plaster and chicken wire. They were quite heavy. It was a learning experience.”
In recent years, Simensky Bietila has continued to share her creative visions and art builds with social justice groups like Milwaukee Indigenous Resistance Solidarity Network, Milwaukee Riverkeeper and Jewish Voice For Peace. Using recycled materials like cardboard and paper, fish and bird puppets as well as life-sized sturgeon art for water protection events have been just a few of Simensky Bietila’s creations.
She notes, “We’re not making angry things; we’re talking about things we love that are in danger.”
Photo by Lily Shea
Illustrations by GettyImages/Alexandra Romanova.
Simensky Bietila remains involved with the radical art collective and publication WW3 Illustrated, which can be picked up at Lion’s Tooth and at the Riverwest Co-Op. “It’s an anthology of drawn stories, and it comes out every year,” she explains about WW3. “It’s like a direct ancestor of graphic non-fiction, and it’s a like-minded group of people. Pieces of the stories have gone on banners and to museums.”
This fall, Simensky Bietila’s work was recently featured in the “Art on the Edge” exhibition about censored local art at Jazz Gallery Center for the Arts, displaying her Big Sister is Watching You comic satirizing right-wing political organization Moms for Liberty. Created for the WW3 Illustrated story Elephant Stampede in Milwaukee, the piece was chosen for the Museum of Wisconsin Art-curated show POW-litical at their gallery in Saint Kate - The Arts Hotel.
Slated to run during the Republican National Convention, the show was ultimately censored by the hotel owners, removing Big Sister on opening night. “They replaced the piece with my story about Foxconn, which to me was poetic justice because that points the finger at the Republicans in an even sharper way,” Simensky Bietila contends.
“The role of art as political speech has come out from obscurity during McCarthyite repression to the forefront,” she concludes. “Activist artists are already in community, and innovation will continue. We will use metaphors when it is dangerous to speak directly. The upcoming chaos in the U.S. will encourage many people to cross the threshold and get involved in a way they never have before. I’m going to keep standing up, and so will lots of people I know.”
Visit Susan Simensky Bietila’s website: art-as-activism.blogspot.com.
Ben Slowey is a Milwaukee writer and regular contributor to shepherdexpress.com.
Can Better Imagery Improve Economic Messaging?
BY WILLIAM HOLAHAN
Around election time, voters nearly always name “the economy” at or near the top of their list of concerns.
The post-mortem since the Nov. 5 election of Donald Trump revealed that Dems need to pay much more attention to economic messaging: what to tell voters, how to script it and by what channels of communication. A major problem immediately arises: economists communicate with each other in a professional vocabulary that is difficult to translate into plain English. As teachers of economics have found, it is essential to use visual effects—charts, graphs, videos—and not just long lectures, panel discussions, opinion essays and expert testimony.
Consider how to respond to Trump's proposal of 25% tariffs on products imported from Canada, Mexico and several other trading partners plus a 10% additional tariff on Chinese imports. Incredibly, Trump claims that those countries will pay the tariff and that this “free money” will go to the U.S. Treasury to help balance the budget and finance the extension of the 2017 tax cut due to expire in 2025.
Trump’s assertion is contrary to economic principles, empirical data and experience showing that it is consumers in the importing country who pay import tariffs. But how can this message be conveyed to the voters? Op Eds in the New York Times? Sure, that’s one channel that reaches an important but small readership.
Pundit podcasts and political speeches? Of course. But these traditional modes of communication, while necessary, are not sufficient; they miss over half the voters who get their news in brief spurts—often unvalidated—on their mobile phones, including services like TikTok, YouTube and X. Republicans used Tik Toc and YouTube shorts to great advantage in their campaign. To reach the same audience with a response to the false claims about tariffs, can Democrats use these same methods?
WHO PAYS FOR TARIFFS?
Although consumers yearn for greater affordability and lower prices, the proposed tariffs will actually result in higher prices. Here is a “screen write” for a “short” video explanation.
Scene: A container ship carrying thousands of containers from China arrives in the Port of Long Beach, California. One of the 20-foot containers is loaded with washing machines for a big box corporate distribution center in Chicago.
Scene: A huge claw grabs the container and gently places it on a flatbed rail car. To collect Trump’s tariff, a U.S. customs official directs a laptop to read a QR code on the container. This causes the tariff to be paid to the U.S. Treasury by electronic transfer from the big box corporate account.
This payment “clears” the container through customs; the container rolls out of the terminal headed across the Great Plains to the distribution center in Chicago.
Scene: An accountant for the big box corporation explains that the import tariff is simply added to the accounting category “costs of goods sold,” along with all the other costs of manufacture and distribution. All those costs must be covered by the price the consumer pays.
Voiceover quotes the CEOs of Walmart and Loew’s who state that the customer should expect higher prices if the tariff proposal goes through. The cost to the average American consumer of Trump’s proposed tariffs on all imports is estimated to be $4,000 per year.
HISTORY OF ECONOMIC MESSAGING
The economic harm to domestic consumers when their country imposes an import tariff has been well known to economists for centuries. It was described elegantly in 1886 by the 19th century economist and social philosopher Henry George. In a statement in opposition to a tariff proposal by President Grover Cleveland, George’s “economic messaging” appealed to common sense by likening tariffs to the naval blockades that helped the United States defeat the secessionists during the thenrecent Civil War.
“Free trade consists simply in letting people buy and sell as they want to buy and sell. It is protection that requires force, for it consists in preventing people from doing what they want to do.
Protective tariffs are as much applications of force as are blockading squadrons, and their object is the same—to prevent trade. The difference between the two is that blockading squadrons are a means whereby nations seek to prevent their enemies from trading; protective tariffs are a means whereby nations attempt to prevent their own people from trading. What protection teaches us, is to do to ourselves in time of peace what enemies seek to do to us in time of war."
William Holahan is emeritus professor and former chair of UWM’s department of economics.
greg wesley, president and ceo, greater milwaukee foundation
on investing in the community
BY TOM JENZ
I’ve been told by Milwaukee leaders that for the Black inner city to revive, boosting the economy will create a prospering community on the northwest side. The Greater Milwaukee Foundation is all about community, not just talking but doing. Led by its new President and CEO, Greg Wesley, GMF believes that affordable housing, a strong small business sector and a well-trained workforce are the elements that foster community.
The clout is there. Founded in 1915, GMF is the second oldest community foundation in America with $1.1 billion in assets. As a partner in the recent ThriveOn Collaboration, GMF shepherds investment in community resources along the Dr. Martin Luther King Drive commercial corridor in Bronzeville.
To find out more, I met with Wesley at the GMF offices in the restored five-story ThriveOn King building on King Drive. It was recently converted from the historic Gimbels Department Store that had been shuttered for over 20 years.
At 54, Greg Wesley is tall and fit, with silver screen looks and a competitor’s sense of drive. He walks the line between an athlete and an intellectual.
In our conversation, he articulated his plan “to bring back community and improve lives.” I could feel his commitment, almost as if it was part of his essence.
Wesley also serves on the boards of MHS Health Wisconsin, Versiti Blood Center, Milwaukee World Festival, the Greater Milwaukee Committee, Teach for America Milwaukee (Chair), the Johnson Foundation at Wingspread, the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee (Immediate Past Chair).
Tell me about your background, your parents, neighborhoods, and schooling. What was life like for you in your formative years?
I grew up in the steel town of Gary, Indiana, a blue-collar city. I walked the streets to the three schools I attended. It was a safe neighborhood where families looked out for one another. I went to Theodore Roosevelt High School where I was active in sports. I had an outstanding childhood because my community was supportive of the kids. My mother was a case worker for the state of Indiana. My father worked as a welder in the steel mills. Hard working community, and ours was a hardworking family. I learned to care about the concept of community by connecting to people who looked out for one another.
Photo of Greg Wesley courtesy of Tom Jenz
You earned your college degree from Indiana University. I understand you later went to the University of Wisconsin Law School in Madison. Why UW Law School?
After college, I worked a year in Colorado intending to become a sports agent. But I wanted an additional credential to advance. I chose to get a law degree at UW Law School, which had a long history of matriculating African American students. At law school, my world opened up. After graduation, I practiced law for 18 years with Gonzalez Saggio & Harlan in Milwaukee. I was fortunate to have good mentors like Martin Schreiber, former Wisconsin governor, and Marvin Pratt, former City Council President and Interim Mayor. I learned a lot about Milwaukee by paying close attention to the news, and I got involved in a number of organizations. I still am.
In 2016, you left the law firm and went to work at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Why the switch of careers?
Dr. John Raymond, the President & CEO, hired me. I became the senior vice president of strategic alliances and business development at the Medical College. John Raymond wanted me to help the Medical College align more with the broader community in general. I worked there for eight years before moving on to the Greater Milwaukee Foundation where I had served on the board of directors.
Why did the Greater Milwaukee Foundation move its offices to the ThriveOn King building in Bronzeville this past year?
This was all part of the ThriveOn Collaboration to improve the lives of marginalized Black and Brown citizens. The Medical College and the Greater Milwaukee Foundation were looking to have an even greater community impact. ThriveOn King is located on King Drive in the heart of Bronzeville, which is primarily African American and needs investments. That means economic development, employment, food access, education, and health outcomes. The Medical College occupies two floors in this building, and our GMF offices occupy the fourth floor. The first floor includes significant community gathering space and also space for our partners including Versiti Blood Center, JobsWork MKE, Malaika Early Learning Center, Kinship Café for healthy food and other health and wellness components. We at GMF are still a philanthropic bank but also a community leader and investor. This has now become the anchor building of the Bronzeville community.
I understand the purpose of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation is to use its resources to address priority areas and close the chronic gaps in community and individual well-being. This can be done through grants, partnerships, research and advocacy. Can you elaborate on these chronic gaps?
At the highest level, the foundation is working to raise the quality of life for everyone in our four-county region by investing in areas that impact people most, from basic needs to arts and culture. We focus in particular on systems change to develop solutions to deep socio-economic issues, which lead to those chronic gaps you mention.
For instance, health and educational outcomes for Black and Brown communities. Even the arts. Pick an indicator, and you will find chronic gaps. Milwaukee had been a manufacturing powerhouse of a city for generations. But most of those jobs are long ago, and the world is changing. If Milwaukee wants to compete on a global stage, we have to improve the opportunities for Black and Brown citizens. This will help all of Milwaukee.
So, you at the Greater Milwaukee Foundation are trying to fill in those chronic gaps?
We are not trying to. We are. The fact that we are now located in Bronzeville centralizes us in the effort to improve outcomes and highlight community issues, for instance, the quality of the food inner city residents eat.
A lot of those inner-city neighborhoods are food deserts.
At one time, the area where we are today on King Drive had been a food desert. But now this area has quality food markets and restaurants.
Does the Greater Milwaukee Foundation invest in small businesses?
In a way. We invest in nonprofit organizations who provide help to small businesses. We also have an Impact Investing arm to help business ventures. But we will always have our grant-making program for community improvement.
Who are the donors to the Greater Milwaukee Foundation?
We honor our donors’ privacy unless they permit otherwise, but we do have generous donors who will earmark their contributions for certain causes or broader areas such as education.
How does your grant funding work? How would I get a grant?
We only award grants to nonprofit organizations. You have to submit a grant application. But we do have our Impact Investing Arm for entrepreneurs to get started or to help finance community developments. For instance, we have ThriveOn Small Business Loans focusing on Black and Brown people and also women. They own local businesses that help a neighborhood thrive.
In 2023, the Greater Milwaukee Foundation assets were $1.1 billion. In that year, GMF made gifts of $52.4 million. What would be an example of a gift?
Establishing a Donor-Advised Fund is one type of gift. Donors can then identify the priority areas where they want their funds to be allocated such as housing, arts, education, or youth-serving organizations. Another example is through planned estates where people put GMF in their estate plans. In other words, we inherit an amount of their proceeds. Another way are Agency Endowments where GMF helps nonprofits invest and grow a sustainable source of revenue. We have about 1,500 charitable funds.
You also made $56.7 million in grants. What would be an example of a grant?
Board-directed funding is one, $10.9 million. Our board of directors oversee that grant funding. The other grants come through the donor-recommended side of our organization, about $45.8 million in 2023. Meaning, donors made their individual contributions through their fund at the Foundation to something they felt was worthwhile.
As a sidebar, I have written stories about nonprofit organizations in Milwaukee. Some of their leaders have told me there are too many “silos,” namely nonprofits doing the same thing but not collaborating. Can you comment?
I’ve heard that before, but what I keep wondering is how do we change that? The Greater Milwaukee Foundation is collaborating right here in the ThriveOn building. We are working with the Medical College of Wisconsin, the developer Royal Capital, Versiti Blood Center, JobWorks MKE, and Malaika Early Learning, all in one building on King Drive in Bronzeville. We don’t want to fight for last place. We want to align with organizations that have common interests. We want to inspire a broad group of people, community partners, nonprofits and small businesses so that everyone sees there is a place for them.
The inner-city neighborhood community activists are rarely being heard or funded. They are volunteers. They help reduce crime, reckless driving, look out for families, and sponsor events. But they have little or no money. How do they enter into the nonprofit picture? Can they get help?
These volunteers are the voices of their communities, but they don’t have all the tools to access philanthropy. We need to find a place to teach them how to set up a structure in order to seek funding. At GMF, we have a legal obligation to make sure the donations go to only nonprofit organizations. We need to get the community organizers connected to organizations equipped to help them access resources for greater impact.
A lot of these street leaders and organizers would not know how to write a grant.
We are hearing this, and we are trying to educate them on grants so they can access the dollars. For example, we have a Community Advisory Council in our work with the ThriveOn Collaboration, and advisers each received stipends for their time. We also educated them on the process of getting grants and to understand how we as funders work. And those residents help decide how money gets sent out in their neighborhoods.
I understand GMF works to improve early childhood education by focusing on healthy birth outcomes and improving access to childcare.
We do have a huge focus on early childhood education. Malaika Early Learning school is right in this building. Eighty percent of your brain develops by the time you are age three. Too many Black children live in inequitable spaces.
What about affordable housing?
We are investing in affordable housing. This ThriveOn King building will soon have 90 units of affordable apartments. We are a founder and funders of the Community Development Alliance which helps increase homeownership and reduce displacement.
Do you make investments in the arts?
Our donors have a strong focus in the arts. We are doing a lot here in this large building. We commissioned about 20 artists to produce work about Bronzeville: Brad Bernard, Reginald Baylor, Evelyn Terry and more.
For this area of Bronzeville along King Drive and the adjoining neighborhoods to be successful, I think you have to build a thriving neighborhood economically. Economy. That’s it. If you start on King Drive from Pleasant Street and drive north, you can see positive changes through small and large businesses and also the number of great schools, like Golda Meir and Dr Howard Fuller Collegiate Academy.
You only recently took the job as the President and CEO of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation. What is the strategic plan for the future?
We will stay the course on the priorities we discussed today. But one opportunity I am excited about is economic mobility focus, moving people up the ladder. Jobs are very important, good jobs. Milwaukee is a wonderful place to live and where people can do really well if opportunity exists.
Tom Jenz writes the weekly Central City Stories column for shepherdexpress.com.
My Favorite Wines of 2023
BY GAETANO MARANGELLI
The list of my favorite wines of 2023 begins and ends with my visit to Manuel Valenzuela and Bodega Barranco Oscuro in the mountains of the Sierra de la Contraviesa in the region of Andalusia by the south coast of Spain. At over 1,300 meters, these are the second highest altitude vineyards in all of Europe. It was the middle of January. The nights were cool. The days were warm. The vines were sleeping.
One afternoon, Manuel made us a beautiful lunch, which he served with a bottle of his 2002, Bodega Barranco Oscuro, Cerro Las Monjas, 1368, a blend of grenache, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, and merlot. The fantasy name of the wine, 1368, refers to the altitude of Manuel’s highest vineyard. With more than 20 years of bottle aging, the wine was complex, juicy, and earthy, with an ineffable energy.
Manuel is a mentor, a guide, and a model to winegrowers across Spain and around the world who dedicate themselves to the samevproposition he dedicates himself to. A proposition which stands counter to wines cultivated with chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides and vinified with sulfur, commercial yeasts and
The proposition Manuel dedicates
Photo by GettyImages/IL21.
Photo by Gaetano Marangelli.
Illustration
Photo of wine bottles by GettyImages/Uladzimir Zuyeu. Illustration of grapes and vines by GettyImages/len_priZuyeu.
Here is a list, incomplete, of my favorite wines of 2023.
Cavallotto, Barolo,
Bricco Boschis,
Estimated retail price: $90
Barolo, the most noble wine of Italy. Barolo, with its structure, its tannins, and its capacity for bottle aging. Barolo, with its perfume, its minerality, its acidity and its longevity. Barolo, an ideal companion for the months of winter, but also lovely for the months of autumn or spring.
Cantina Cavallotto is one of my favorite makers of Barolo, and the estate’s Bricco Boschis is one of my favorite Barolo bottlings. Bricco Boschis is made from nebbiolo grapes cultivated in the village of Castiglione Falletto, which features the most complex soils of the 11 villages of Barolo. The wines of the village are as complex as its soils, and the 2019 Bricco Boschis is as serious as it is elegant, with an intense perfume, fine structure, and soft tannins.
The Chateau ages its Bandol Rouge for over four years in large wood barrels. But classic Bandols like these call for many more years of cellar aging. Chateau Pradeaux also bottles a Bandol Rouge called Le Lys, which is made from 85 percent young vines mourvèdre, along with grenache and cinsault, and aged for two years in large oak casks. Le Lys has the characteristic Bandol Rouge qualities of leather and tar, and the wine is serious and layered, but it’s friendlier and juicier than the Chateau’s flagship bottling. And its drinking beautifully right now.
A Tribute to Grace, Grenache,
Estimated retail price: $35
& A Tribute to Grace, Grenache,
Estimated retail price: $34
Estimated retail price: $35
Provence is the region of Bandol Rouge, a brooding, occasionally ferocious, and seriously age-worthy wine. Bandol Rouge is grownin small quantities in the limestone hills near the village of Bandol, east of Marseille and west of Toulon in the south of France. The wine is primarily made with a grape called mourvèdre, which yields small quantities of dark, tannic juice from small, sweet, black berries.
The best Bandol estates use far more mourvèdre in their wines than the region’s regulated minimum of 50 percent tells them to. Mourvèdre is what makes Bandol Rouge ferocious when young. Mourvèdre is also what allows Bandol Rouge to evolve into its cultivated beauty.
An estate called Chateau Pradeaux is the standard-bearer for the appellation. Its flagship Bandol Rouge is composed of no less than 95 percent old vines mourvèdre, with grenache adding spice to the bouquet and leavening its structure.
“A Tribute to Grace is Angela Osborne’s love affair with Grenache,” explains Bill Gardner, domestic wine portfolio manager of Left Bank Wine and Spirits. “Grenache in all its incarnations — Grenache Noir, Grenache Gris, Grenache Blanc. All of her wines are beautifully textured. They’re soft, and they deliquesce beautifully. They aren’t rustic, but polished and pretty. I would drink these wines every day if I could.”And so would I.
Estimated retail price: $50
Bill Gardner describes Martha Stouman as “lovely, wildly intelligent, down-to-earth, and incredibly conscientious. And she just exudes all of that in the least pretentious way possible.” The beauty, depth, and elegance of Stoumen’s wines reveal themselves to you inexorably, bewitchingly. The more you taste them, the more you fall in love with them. None more so than her Mendocino County Nero d’Avola.
Hofer Vineyard, Cucamonga Valley, 2022;
Mendocino County, 2021;
Martha Stoumen, Nero d’Avola,
Chateau Pradeaux, Bandol Rouge,
2019;
Le Lys, 2019;
Santa Barbara County, 2022:
Jolie-Laide, Trousseau Gris,
Estimated retail price: $31.99
Jolie-Laide translates to “Pretty-Ugly,” which is how the French fashion world describes somebody or something of unconventional beauty. Scott Schultz is the founder of the winery, and he and his spouse Jenny are its winemakers. The texture and freshness of JolieLaide shine through all of their wines, but my favorite is the Fanucchi-Wood Road Trousseau Gris.
Gaetano Marangelli is a sommelier and playwright. He was managing director of a wine import and distribution company in New York and beverage director for restaurants and retailers in New York and Chicago before moving to Wauwatosa.
Fanucchi-Wood Road, Sonoma County, 2023
Photo of wine bottles by GettyImages/Uladzimir
New Beverage Blossoms at Gathering Place
BY MICHAEL MUCKIAN
Last fall’s Black Friday (Nov. 29) was better than usual for Joe Yeado, founder of Gathering Place Brewing Co. In addition to treating weary shoppers to special batches of Grim Maker Belgian Quad (10.7% ABV) and Affogato Stout, an imperial milk stout laced with Guatemalan coffee and styled after Italian gelato (8.2% ABV), Yeado introduced Blossom, a beverage that infuses sparkling water with THC derived from the cannabis plant to create what he described as “an elevated seltzer in every sense of the word.”
That introduction makes Gathering Place, with locations in Riverwest and Wauwatosa, the latest in a handful of Milwaukee-area craft brewers to dance with the devil, or at least what some might call “the devil’s weed.”
“We’re in the wild west here, and it’s an exciting new product line for the industry as a whole,” says Yeado. “We had been considering it for about a year, but the conversations got more serious last summer. Seltzers came on the scene about 6 years ago, but the addition of THC makes this an entirely new product, and we wanted to be sure we were playing in the space as the industry develops in Wisconsin.”
THC stands for tetrahydrocannabinol, the main psychoactive ingredient in the cannabis plant. Thanks to a broadening of permitted cannabis products courtesy of the U.S. Farm Bill of 2018, THC products are legal in Wisconsin provided that the THC level stays at or below the Delta 9 level, defined as 0.3% of volume. Yeado gets his THC in an emulsion form specifically used as a food and beverage additive, from Perfectly Dosed, a Chicagobased cannabinoid ingredient provider that serves hundreds of craft breweries nationwide.
IN COMPLIANCE
“We receive the emulsion in compliance with local legal thresholds and dose it to a certain volume of liquids,” Yeado explains. Last fall, Gathering Place produced two flavors at two different levels of strength— Strawberry Lemonade (5 milligrams) and Cherry Limeade (10 milligrams). The higher the milligram number, the more potent the beverage.
Photos by Barry Houlehen.
“There are breweries that make stronger drinks at higher milligram levels, but the industry as a whole seems to be coalescing around the 5 and 10 milligrams,” says Yeado.
Those who have tried it say it brings about a sensation of relaxation, he explains. “It goes through the digestive system, so there is a time delay after drinking it. The idea is to have some, wait 20 to 30 minutes, then decide if you want more,” Yeado says. “Much like a beer.”
The production time for Blossom and its variants is twothree days, in contrast with beer, which takes three-six weeks to brew. But the emulsion is more expensive than grain and hops, Yeado adds. Gathering Place sells its beer carryout packs for $11-$12, whereas a four-pack of Blossom retails at $20.
“We have to cover our costs, but we want these products to be approachable for those who want to try them,” he explains.
ALL AGES, ALL FANS
What’s more, there are no single stereotypical users, the brewer says. Fans of THC beverages span all ages and racial groups. Some of the seltzers are even calorie-free by using artificial flavors and colors, but Blossom uses real fruit juice which brings minimal calories to the drink.
“Some middle-aged moms are beginning to replace their afternoon glass of wine with THC seltzer,” Yeado says.
In addition, Gathering Place has gone the next step and has its products evaluated by third-party labs to test the finished product’s potency. Each seltzer package has a QR code that can be scanned by the consumer that will link back to the batch report that describes the product so consumers can make a wise choice.
The fact that Wisconsin is surrounded on all sides by states that have some form of legal cannabis brings hope to Yeado and other producers that someday the Badger State will catch up with its neighbors and legalize recreational cannabis.
“We’re hoping things are changing in Madison and that Wisconsin state law will somehow find its way into the 21st Century,” he explains. “We’re well positioned when and if that happens. I mean, when Iowa’s getting out ahead of us you just have to stop and scratch your head,” Yeado adds.
Michael Muckian was the banking and finance writer for the Milwaukee Business Journal and is the author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Financing and Accounting and The One-Day MBA in Finance and Accounting.
CONSIDERING PAST AND FUTURE IN NEXT ACT’S
‘The Children’
BY DAVID LUHRSSEN
In British playwright Lucy Kirkwood’s The Children, the routine of retired couple Robin and Hazel is upset by the unexpected arrival of Rose, a former colleague. All three are scientists who once worked together at a nuclear power plant; a recent accident gives them pause to consider the results of their past. And then Rose offers “a looming disruptive proposal involving all of their futures,” says Marie Kohler, director of The Children’s upcoming Milwaukee run.
Winter Arts Guide
January-February
2025
Kohler has authored half a dozen plays but remains best known to local theatergoers from directing productions for Milwaukee Chamber Theatre and Renaissance Theaterworks.
“Attempting to decide on Rose’s disquieting offer, the three scientists grapple with emotions typical of aging professionals who want to live their lives in peace,” Kohler says.
“They also feel, however, a sense of responsibility and guilt over the effects their failed reactor has had on the lives around them.”
The Children is not a debate over the pros and cons of nuclear energy. According to Kohler, Kirkwood said “she’s interested in ‘a wider metaphor for the problems of social and political inheritances.’ This she does through the lens of human relationships—my favorite kind of dramatic writing.”
The play’s title alludes to the question of our responsibility to future generations. “As an environmentalist, I am personally concerned about how our natural world will degrade for future generations because of climate change,” Kohler says.
“That’s one reason I respond to this play. Also, when I hear people say, ‘Who would want to bring a child into the world we live in,’ it makes me want to kick into action—somehow. Sitting in the audience of this play did that for me.
I think it may do that for other audience members. At the same time, I believe the end of the play holds out hope. If it did not, I would not have been drawn to it.”
Working with Next Act’s Artistic Director Cody Estle, Kohler cast Milwaukee actors Brian Mani and Mary MacDonald as Robin and Hazel. For Rose, they chose Chicago’s Shariba Rivers, who understudied for the part at Steppenwolf’s 2019 production of The Children. “The staging of the play will be realistic yet evocative—a cabin above the sea in northern Britain,” Kohler says, praising the work of set designer Jeff Kmiec, lighting designer Noele Stollmack and sound designer Josh Schmidt. “We hope to evoke the atmosphere of northern Britain in late summer when vegetables are ripe, light is long, night is short, and one can feel a bit on the edge.”
The Children runs February 12-March 9 at Next Act Theatre, 255 S. Water Street. For tickets, visit nextact.org or call (414) 278-0765.
Forest painting by GettyImages/Eglelip.
Illustration by Cathy Brautigam/Lone Shoe Graphics.
53212 PRESENTS 53212presents.org
5 POINTS ART GALLERY 5ptsartgallery.com
ACACIA THEATRE COMPANY acaciatheatre.com
THE ALICE WILDS thealicewilds.com
ALL IN PRODUCTIONS allin-mke.com
ALVERNO ART & CULTURES GALLERY
AMERICAN PLAYERS THEATRE (APT) americanplayers.org
APERI ANIMAM aperianimam.com
ARTS @ LARGE artsatlargeinc.org
BACH CHAMBER CHOIR bachchoirmilwaukee.com
“A Ceremony of Carols,” Jan. 5 (Wauwatosa Avenue United Methodist Church)
Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Jan. 2-12 (Sunset Playhouse)
The dark themes of Stephen Sondheim’s 1979 musical had been brought to the stage many times before, inspired by 19th century English “penny dreadfuls” (pulp fiction) about a murderous barber. The Tony-winner was turned into a 2007 film by Tim Burton with (who else?) Johnny Depp in the lead role. (David Luhrssen)
BOULEVARD THEATER milwaukeeboulevardtheatre.com
THE BOX THEATRE CO. boxtheatreco.org
Six the Musical: Teen Edition, Jan. 10-19
BRONZEVILLE ARTS ENSEMBLE facebook.com/BronzevilleArtsEnsemble
BROOM STREET THEATRE, MADISON bstonline.org
Dream at the Top of Your Lungs , January
CABARET MILWAUKEE facebook.com/cabmke
CAPITAL CITY THEATRE, MADISON capitalcitytheatre.org
Murder for Two, Feb. 21-March 2
CARROLL PLAYERS carroll-players.com
CARTHAGE COLLEGE THEATRE carthage.edu/arts/experience-the-arts/theatre-dance-performances
Life is a Dream, Feb. 21-23, Feb. 27-28, March 1
CATEY OTT DANCE COLLECTIVE cateyott.com
CATHEDRAL OF ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST stjohncathedral.org
Wednesday concert series
CEDARBURG ART MUSEUM cedarburgartmuseum.org
“A Vision for Cedarburg: The Legacy of E. Stephan Fischer,” Jan. 18-April 27
CEDARBURG CULTURAL CENTER cedarburgculturalcenter.org
“Spectacular Elf-tacular!” through Jan. 19
CEDARBURG PERFORMING ARTS CENTER cedarburgpac.com
CHANT CLAIRE CHAMBER CHOIR chantclaire.org
CHARLES ALLIS ART MUSEUM charlesallis.org
“Talk Back Chapter Two: Collection Christina A. West and Meg Lionel Murphy,” through Feb. 16
“Left with Your Memories,” through Feb. 23
CHAZEN MUSEUM OF ART (UW-MADISON) chazen.wisc.edu
“You Belong Here: Photography,” through March 7
“Look What Harvey Did: Studio Glass,” through May 1
CHORAL ARTS SOCIETY OF SOUTHEASTERN WISCONSIN choralartsonline.org
CIVIC MUSIC MKE civicmusicmilwaukee.org
THE CONSTRUCTIVISTS theconstructivists.org
CONCORD CHAMBER ORCHESTRA concordorchestra.org
“Keeping It in the Family,” Jan. 26 (Central United Methodist Church)
CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY cuw.edu
COVERED BRIDGE ART STUDIO TOUR cedarburgartistsguild.com
DANCECIRCUS dancecircus.org
DANCEWORKS PERFORMANCE MKE danceworksmke.org
Rusalka, Feb. 14-23 (with Milwaukee Opera Theatre, Danceworks Studio Theatre)
DAVID BARNETT GALLERY davidbarnettgallery.com
“Animals in Art: A Modern Bestiary,” through Jan. 11
DAWN SPRINGER DANCE PROJECT dawnspringer.com
DEAD MAN’S CARNIVAL facebook.com/Dead-Mans-Carnival-338362982860387
DOOR SHAKESPEARE doorshakespeare.com
EARLY MUSIC NOW earlymusicnow.org
“Modern Medieval Voices-The Living Word: Music of Hildegard,” Feb. 8 (Cavalry Presbyterian Church)
The medieval German mystic Hildegard of Bingen led a remarkable career for a woman of her epoch as abbess, philosopher, medical practitioner and, most enduringly, composer. She wrote music and words, and some of her work will be performed by Modern Medieval Voices, a trio of women founded by Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek, formerly of the pace-setting Anonymous 4. (David Luhrssen)
EX FABULA exfabula.org
StroySlam Found Family, “StorySlam: Found Family,” Jan. 21 (Anodyne Walker’s Point)
“AfterDark: For the Culture,” Feb. 13 (Radio Milwaukee)
Ludwig van Beethoven completed his Symphony No. 8 in F Major in 1812, the end of a prolific period (eight symphonies in 12 years). It’s one of his most light-hearted efforts, a charming composition in four movements including many moments deemed as “musical jokes” by classical critics. (David Luhrssen)
FINE ARTS QUARTET fineartsquartet.com
FIRST STAGE firststage.org
The Dinosaur Play, Jan. 18-Feb. 16 (Milwaukee Youth Arts Center)
Emily Song and the Queen of the Night, Jan. 31-Feb. 16 (Todd Wehr Theater)
FLORENTINE OPERA florentineopera.org
Acis & Galatea, Feb. 14-16 (Marcus Performing Arts Center)
The tirelessly prolific George Handel wrote some 40 operas throughout his border-crossing, musically eclectic career. With a libretto by John Gay (The Beggars Opera), Acis and Galatea’s English-language, myth-based tale began as a one-act entertainment and evolved within the composer’s lifetime—and afterward (Mozart wrote an arrangement). (David Luhrssen)
FORTE THEATRE COMPANY fortetheatrecompany.org
FORWARD THEATER, MADISON forwardtheater.com
Summer, 1976, Jan. 30-Feb. 16
FOUR SEASONS THEATRE, MADISON fourseasonstheatre.com Company, Feb. 20-March 2
FRANKLY MUSIC franklymusic.org
“An Evening with Stas Venglevski and Frank Almond,” Jan. 27 (Wisconsin Lutheran College Schwan Hall)
On his 2015 CD, Milwaukee bayan accordionist Stas Venglevski stretched his digits around a repertoire of classical music, beginning with fleet-fingered renditions of Mozart and Bach. The evening’s collaboration with acclaimed violinist Frank Almond and cellist Roza Borisova will encompass tangos as well as classics. (David Luhrssen)
FRESCO OPERA THEATRE, MADISON frescoopera.com
GALLERY 218 gallery218.com
GALLERY 2622 gallery2622.com
GALLERY NIGHT AND DAY, JAN. 17-18
gallerynightmke.com
Milwaukee’s original art hop happens quarterly with a focus on galleries in the Third Ward, East Town and Walker’s Point. (Morton Shlabotnik)
Snow background by GettyImages/Amina Design. Watercolor Trees by GettyImages/Svetlana Kuzmina. Secondary Watercolor Trees by GettyImages/vector_ann.
GERMANTOWN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER gsdwi.org
GREEN GALLERY
Thegreengallery.biz
“David Robins: 100 Wall Safes,” through Jan. 30
GREENDALE COMMUNITY THEATRE greendaletheatre.org
GROHMANN MUSEUM msoe.edu/grohmann-museum
“On the Edge: The Labor and Environment of Dimensional Stone Quarries,” Jan. 17-April 27
“Through Michael Schultz’s work, we are treated to awe-inspiring views of the quarry industry, from breaking and drilling to the stone cutters at work in refinement and finishing. The superbly crafted images celebrate the light within while directing our attention to the labor and laborers of heavy industry,” says the museum’s director James Kieselburg. (David Luhrssen)
GROVE GALLERY gallerygrove.com
HAGGERTY MUSEUM OF ART marquette.edu/haggerty-museum
“Parallel Play: The Art of Science & the Art of Art,” Jan. 17-May 24
HARLEY-DAVIDSON MUSEUM
harley-davidson.com
“Mama Tried: Bringing It Together,” through January 2025
“Creating a Legend: Art & Engineering at Harley-Davidson,” through spring 2027
“Ezy Ryders: History & Tradition, Heart & Soul,” through 2026
Photographer Cate Dingley’s book Ezy Ryders focuses on New York City’s Black riding culture today. Images and text from her book have been chosen for the new exhibition at the HarleyDavidson Museum. All of Dingley’s photographs are in black and white. “There’s a sense of timelessness to them, black and white can be a very expressive medium,” curator Ann Sinfield says. (David Luhrssen)
H. F. JOHNSON GALLERY OF ART carthage.edu/art-gallery
“Visions Behind the Veil: Soviet Portraiture and Cultural Resilience,” Jan. 8-19
HOVER CRAFT hovercraftmke.com
HYPERLOCAL MKE hyperlocalmke.com
INSPIRATION STUDIOS ART GALLERY inspirationstudiosgallery.com
“Celestial Love: A Solo Exhibition,” opens Jan. 11
JAZZ GALLERY CENTER FOR THE ARTS jazzgallerycenterforarts.org Milwaukee Jazz Institute, Sundays
JEWISH MUSEUM MILWAUKEE jewishmuseummilwaukee.org
“Against the Grain: The Remarkable Life of Artist Bernard Perlin,” through Jan. 26
“Choices of Consequence: Denmark and the Holocaust,” Feb. 14-May 25
In Denmark, where most of the population saw themselves as integrally linked to others through shared humanity, the Nazi perpetrated Holocaust largely failed as roughly 95% of Danish Jewry was saved by heroic grassroots decisions and actions,” says curator Molly Dubin. “In a time of distressing division, this exhibit holds up an extraordinary example and lesser-known story of allyship mobilized by ordinary people.
JOHN MICHAEL KOHLER ARTS CENTER jmkac.org/home.html
“Milestones in the Making,” through Feb. 2
“Workplace,” through Jan. 19
“Mad Dash: 50 Years of Arts/Industry,” through Feb. 2
“Clocking In: 2024 Arts/Industry Residents,” through March 2
“Willie Kohl: Home Assembly,” through April 27
“Lunch Break: Arts/Industry In Between,” through May 4
“Sam Barsky: It’s Not the Same Without You,” Feb. 1-July 20
KITH AND KIN THEATRE COLLECTIVE kithandkintheatre.com
KOHLER MEMORIAL THEATER kohlerfoundation.org
KO-THI DANCE COMPANY ko-thi.org
LAKE ARTS PROJECT lakeartsproject.com
LAKE COUNTRY PLAYHOUSE lakecountryplayhousewi.org
LAKEFRONT FESTIVAL OF ART mam.org
LATINO ARTS, INC. latinoartsinc.org
“Cut & Paste: A Solo Exhibit by Ellia Ana Hill,” through Feb. 21
12th Annual Guitar Festival Concert, Feb. 8
LILY PAD GALLERY WEST lilypadgallery.com
LUTHERAN A CAPELLA CHOIR OF MILWAUKEE lutheranacapella.org
Snow background by GettyImages/Amina Design. Watercolor Trees by GettyImages/Svetlana Kuzmina. Secondary Watercolor Trees by GettyImages/vector_ann.
LYNDEN SCULPTURE GARDEN lyndensculpturegarden.org
“Call & Response: Asmaa Walton and the Black Art Library” through Feb. 28
Detroit native, Asmaa Walton came to Milwaukee to display a portion of her Black Art Library that includes over 900 books. “The Black Art Library is a collection of books and other art history ephemera on Black visual art,” she said. “It acts as an educational resource to share within the Black community and beyond. The library’s mission is to expand the knowledge of Black art from the past and the present through art books.” (Tom Jenz)
MADISON BALLET madisonballet.org
MADISON MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART
mmoca.org
“Line to Form: Richard Hunt’s Prints and Sculptures,” through Jan. 4
“I did not tell you what I saw, but only what I dreamt: Shilpa Gupta,” through Jan. 12
“Broken Spectre,” through Feb. 16
MADISON THEATRE GUILD madisontheatreguild.org
MARCUS PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
marcuscenter.org
Chicago (Broadway Series), Jan. 14-19
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration, Jan. 20
“Cirque Kalabante: Afrique en Cirque,” Jan. 29
Jazz at the Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, Jan. 30
In the ‘80s, trumpeter Wynton Marsalis led a revolt against the saccharine fusion that jazz had fallen into. As director of the Jazz at the Lincoln Center Orchestra, Marsalis continues to maintain high standards and artistic credibility as he leads his 15-member big band in concerts around the world. (David Luhrssen)
Emily Song and the Queen of the Night, Jan. 31-Feb. 16
Eclipse: The Best of Pink Floyd, Jan. 31
“Complexions Contemporary Ballet,” Feb. 5
Acis & Galatea (Florentine Opera), Feb. 14-16
Dirty Dancing in Concert, Feb. 16
The Magic of Rob Lake, Feb. 21
The Book of Mormon (Broadway Series), Feb. 25-March 2
MEMORIES DINNER THEATRE memoriesballroom.com
MENOMONEE FALLS SYMPHONY www.mfso.net
Amore: Celebrate Love Italian Style Valentine's Day Dinner Concert, Feb. 14
MIAD GALLERY AT THE AVE galleryattheave.miad.edu
“Originals and Echoes,” through Feb. 15
MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM mam.org
“Farm to Frame,” ongoing
“Robert Longo: Acceleration of History,” through-Feb. 23
Even in the 20th century, Robert Longo’s artwork—often (but not limited to) large-scale charcoal drawings— was described as “apocalyptic Pop.” He fell under the broad heading of Pop Art, but with an unnerving edge.
“Acceleration of History” collects Longo’s work from the past 10 years, including his uneasy reflections on climate change, mass migrations, the disruptions of war and disjunctions of politics. (David Luhrssen)
“Light and Shadow: John Constable’s English Landscape Prints,” through March 16
“True Story: Photography, Journalism, and Media,” through March 16
“On Site: Derrick Adams Our Time Together,” through May 11
MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY THEATRE marquette.edu/communication/theatre-arts.php
MASTER SINGERS OF MILWAUKEE mastersingersofmilwaukee.org
MATERIAL STUDIOS + GALLERY materialstudiosandgallery.com
Henrik Ibsen was unafraid to stir controversy. The Norwegian playwright’s A Doll’s House (1879) concerned a housewife in a society where opportunities for women were severely limited. It was received with a “storm of outrage” by the era’s critics for questioning social norms and has survived to become one of the most performed works in the theatrical canon. (David Luhrssen)
Snow background by GettyImages/Amina Design. Watercolor Trees by GettyImages/Svetlana Kuzmina. Secondary Watercolor Trees by GettyImages/vector_ann.
Two years ago, MOT and Danceworks debuted its imaginative version of Antonín Dvořák’s Rusalka, an opera about a water nymph who comes to bad ends at the hands of humankind. It was, as MOT’s Artistic Director Jill Anna Ponasik quipped, the smallest production of Rusalka in the smallest space ever attempted. The opera is beloved in the composer’s Czech homeland but seldom performed in the U.S. (David Luhrssen)
MILWAUKEE REPERTORY THEATER milwaukeerep.com
Lumberjacks in Love, through Jan. 12 (Stackner Cabaret)
Conceived and written by the late Fred Alley (book, lyrics, story) and James Kaplan (music, story)—the guys that brought us Guys on Ice—it’s easy to understand why Lumberjacks in Love is so thoroughly entertaining. Only this time, they’ve traded ice fishing and the Packers for tree-cutting and mailorder brides. (Harry Cherkinian)
The Craic , Jan. 17-March 16 (Stackner Cabaret)
The Woman in Black, Jan. 21-March 23 (Stiemke Studio)
Romeo and Juliet, Feb. 25-March 30 (Marcus Performing Arts Center/ Wilson Theater at Vogel Hall)
MILWAUKEE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
mso.org
“McGegan Conducts Haydn,” Jan. 17-18
Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet, Jan. 24-25
Love stories don’t always have happy endings.
Shakespeare’s enduring account of socially doomed romance was set to music by Peter Tchaikovsky as a fantasy overture. A masterpiece of suspense and heart-tearing tragedy, Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet throbs with passion and a yearning that can never be fulfilled. Ken-David Masur will conduct the MSO with violinist Jinwoo Lee. (David Luhrssen)
Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons,” Jan. 31-Feb. 2
“American Voices,” Feb. 21-22
“Ingrid Fliter Plays Mozart,” Feb. 28-March 1
MILWAUKEE YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA myso.org
“Rhythmic Revolution,” Jan. 24
“Soaring Passages,” Feb. 5
“Classical Voyages,” Feb. 8
“Romantic Rhapsodies,” Feb. 9
“Winter Wonders,” Feb. 13
“Frosty Adventures,” Feb. 20
“Founders Concert,” Feb. 22
MILWAUKEE YOUTH THEATRE milwaukeeyouththeatre.org
MKE BLACK THEATRE FESTIVAL blackartsmke.org
MKE STUDIO TOUR mkestudiotour.com
MORNING STAR PRODUCTIONS morningstarproductions.org
MUSEUM OF WISCONSIN ART wisconsinart.org
“Chris T. Cornelius: ukwé·tase (newcomer/stranger)” through January
The three-dimensional structure blends contemporary and traditional architectural aspects in unique and compelling ways, while exploring themes of familiarity and alienation within the environment it seeks to capture. The work represents humankind’s place in a world to which it is both resident and stranger, creating a sense of wonder and wariness of the world around us, the Milwaukee-born Indigenous artist says. (Michael Muckian)
“Art Gebhardt: A Painter’s Painter,” through Feb. 23
“Jennifer Angus: Into the Blue: An Immersive Installation,” through March 2
MOWA | DTN (Saint Kate-The Arts Hotel)
MOWA on the Lake (St. John’s on the Lake)
NEXT ACT THEATRE nextact.org
The Children, Feb. 12-March 9
Snow background by GettyImages/Amina Design. Watercolor Trees by GettyImages/Svetlana Kuzmina. Secondary Watercolor Trees by GettyImages/vector_ann.
NŌ STUDIOS nostudios.com
NORTH SHORE ACADEMY OF THE ARTS facebook.com/northshoreacademyofthearts
NORTHERN SKY THEATER northernskytheater.com
OCONOMOWOC ARTS CENTER oasd.k12.wi.us/artscenter
OIL A CITY GALLERY oilmilwaukee.com
OPTIMIST THEATRE optimisttheatre.org
OUTSKIRTS THEATRE facebook.com/outskirtstheatre
Cruel Intentions: The ‘90s Musical, Jan. 10-19 (Waukesha Civic Theatre)
OVER OUR HEAD PLAYERS overourheadplayers.org
“2025 Snowdance® 10 Minute
PHILOMUSICA QUARTET
philomusicaquartet.com
European Sampler, Feb. 10 (Wisconsin Lutheran College Schwan Concert Hall)
PIANOARTS pianoarts.org
PORTRAIT SOCIETY GALLERY portraitsocietygallery.com
“Magic Mud,” through Jan. 10
“Magic Mud” goes a long way to reconcile the fraught relationship between ceramics and fine art. The title alone tips curator and gallery owner Debra Brehmer’s hand just a little bit as it leans toward the charmed potential for silicated earth to transcend its humble material origins and objectified associations. (Shane McAdams)
PRESENT MUSIC presentmusic.org
Moby Dick; or, The Whale, Feb. 14 (Oriental Theatre)
“This Valentine’s Day, Present Music brings you a visually stunning new silent film by MacArthur-winning artist Wu Tsang, whose work has captivated audiences worldwide,” says PM Artistic Director Eric Segnitz. “This provocative adaptation of the Herman Melville classic features beautiful artistry and choreography while exploring hidden histories, marginalized narratives, and issues of social class and capitalism.” There will be live accompaniment with music by Caroline Shaw, Andrew Yee and Asma Maroof. (David Luhrssen)
PROMETHEUS TRIO wcmusic.org
RACINE ART MUSEUM ramart.org
“Craft in Color,” through Jan. 11
“In Between: Contemporary Artists Working in Two and Three Dimensions featuring Dennis Lee Mitchell,” through Jan. 25
“Low: Rene Amado,” through July 2025
Rene Amado showcases the cars, bicycles, and community of lowrider culture through photography and video. “Low” blends his photography with custom bicycles and other small vehicles from various builders/makers (including himself) and a video in which he expands on the story of lowrider culture through interviews and documentation. (Morton Shlabotnik)
RAM Showcase: “Storytellers-Narrative Photography from Artists of Color,” through Feb. 22
RACINE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA racinesymphony.org
RACINE THEATRE GUILD racinetheatre.org
Over the River and through the Woods, Jan. 10-26
Junie B’s Essential Survival Guide to School, Jan. 31-Feb. 2
Michael Perry, Feb. 1
Broadway at the Movies, Feb. 6
Lenard Simpson Quartet, Feb. 8
And in This Corner: Casius Clay, Feb. 21-March 2
Chicago playwright Idris Goodman’s And in This: Corner Casius Clay explores the early life of the boxer who—as Muhammad Ali—became one of the world’s most famous athletes and America’s most controversial sports celebrity. (David Luhrssen)
REAL TINSEL GALLERY realtinsel.com
RENAISSANCE THEATERWORKS r-t-w.com
Nether, Jan. 12-Feb. 2
SACRA NOVA CHORALE sacranovacathedrale.com
SAINT KATE
- THE ARTS HOTEL GALLERY saintkatearts.com
“Lunchbox Drawings: Art by Parents for their Children’s Lunches,” through Jan. 12 (The Vitrine)
“The Art of Family” Presented by Arts for All Wisconsin, through Jan. 12 (The Space)
“Lucio Arellano: Oracion,” through Jan. 12 (The Closet)
“Generations; Opaque Mirrors of Beauty,” through Jan. 12 (The Gallery)
SCULPTURE MILWAUKEE sculpturemilwaukee.com
Sculpture Milwaukee has been programming the streets of Downtown since 2017, with certain works remaining and becoming permanent fixtures on our urban landscape. This year’s cohort of artists joins works still in place from “Actual Fractals Act I” and a few holdovers from its predecessor, “Nature Doesn’t Know About Us.” Each iteration of the program seeds Downtown streets with unexpected surprises and seems to get more ambitious with each trip around the sun. (Shane McAdams)
SEAT OF OUR PANTS READER THEATRE mkereaderstheatre.com
SHARON LYNNE WILSON CENTER FOR THE ARTS wilson-center.com
Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble, Feb. 1
Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Feb. 22
The South African male chorale group came to international attention after adding their voices to Paul Simon’s pathfinding album Graceland (1986). Since then, they have won five Grammys for their contemporary adaptation of traditional Zulu harmonies. (David Luhrssen)
SHEBOYGAN THEATRE COMPANY
SKYLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE skylightmusictheatre.org
Juliet and Romeo, Jan. 17-Feb. 2
Frankenstein: The Musical,” Feb. 21-March 9
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) was one of the most prescient novels ever written. Her vision of the unanticipated outcomes of science and technology set the stage for science fiction and dystopian drama and has been translated often for stage and screen. With book and lyrics by Jeffrey Jackson and music by Mark Baron, Frankenstein: The Musical debuted off-Broadway in 2007, presenting Shelley’s story in an imaginatively non-linear staging. (David Luhrssen)
SOUTH MILWAUKEE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER southmilwaukeepac.org
Musical Theatre Cabaret, Jan. 11
Luka in Artifice, Jan. 27 (Bucyrus Club)
SUNSET PLAYHOUSE sunsetplayhouse.com
Sweeney Todd (Bombshell Theatre Co.), through Jan. 12
The Odd Couple, Jan. 16-Feb. 2
Neil Simon’s 1965 Broadway hit about mismatched roommates was indelibly stamped onto pop culture through the 1968 film (with Walter Matthau and Jack Lemon) and the ‘70s sitcom (Tony Randal and Jack Klugman). The story is still a funny story and the theme about coexistence is as relevant as ever.
(David Luhrssen)
‘90s Country Tribute, Jan. 20-21
Tiny Beautiful Things , Jan. 23-26
Sailing: Cool Grooves of the ‘70s and ‘80s, Feb. 13-16
THIRD AVENUE PLAYHOUSE, STURGEON BAY thirdavenueplayworks.org
THRASHER OPERA HOUSE, GREEN LAKE thrasheroperahouse.com
THREE POINT PROJECT threepointproject.wi.wordpress.com
Milwaukee has an important new dance company founded last year by 27-year-old artistic director Ashley Tomaszewski whose previous years as a dancer and associate artistic director with Water Street Dance Milwaukee helped that group to greatness. (John Schneider)
TOOTH-AND-NAIL GALLERY toothandnailmke.com
TORY FOLLIARD GALLERY toryfolliard.com
“T.L. Solien: Vessels on Vessels/The Spacious Landscape,” Jan. 4-Feb. 1
“Bill Reid: Know Way Out,” Jan. 4-Feb. 1
Claire Kellesvig, Feb. 8-March 8
Caitlin Lempia-Bradford, Feb. 8-March 8
UW-PARKSIDE THEATRE
uwp.edu/the rita/theatreperformances.cfm
UW-MILWAUKEE PECK SCHOOL OF THE ARTS uwm.edu/arts/events
Winderdance, Jan. 30-Feb. 2 (Theatre Building Mainstage Theatre)
Vocal Arts Festival, Jan. 31-Feb. 1 (Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts Bader Hall)
Terminus , Feb. 27-March 9 (UWM Kenilworth Studio 508)
Co-artistic directors Mark Anderson and Isabelle Kralj describe Terminus as “A rip roaring crazy whirlwind of a ride told in verse—a dark tale written by one of Ireland’s contemporary darling playwrights,” Mark O’Rowe. (David Luhrssen)
MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM & MITCHELL PARK DOMES FINALISTS
Harley Davidson Museum
Lakefront Brewery
The New Fashioned
AXE THROWING BAR AXE MKE FINALISTS
Falls Axe and Escape
NorthSouth Club
BAR FOR QUIET CONVERSATION AT RANDOM FINALISTS
Bryant's
Layman Brewing
Pomona Cider Co.
BAR ON A BUDGET THE BRASS TAP FINALISTS
Blackbird Bar
Sabbatic
The Gig
BAR TO BE SEEN IN THE BAR AT SAINT KATE – THE ARTS HOTEL FINALISTS
Room Seven
Tied House Milwaukee Vault
BAR TO WATCH SOCCER NOMAD FINALISTS
Highbury Pub Moran's Pub Pete's Pub
BAR WITH A PATIO BLACKBIRD BAR FINALISTS
Room Seven
Tied House Milwaukee Vault
BEER GARDEN SOUTH SHORE TERRACE KITCHEN & BEER GARDEN FINALISTS
Estabrook Park Beer Garden
Oak Creek Beer Gardens
The Vine at Humboldt Park BLOODY MARY
SOBELMAN'S FINALISTS
Lobby Lounge at The Pfister Hotel
Steny's
Wicked Hop
BREWERS SHUTTLE
STENY'S
FINALISTS
Jack's American Pub
Milwaukee Brat House
O'Lydia's
BREWERY TOUR
LAKEFRONT BREWERY FINALISTS
Layman Brewing
Miller Brewery Tour
Sprecher Brewing Co. CAR SHOW
WEST ALLIS CLASSIC CAR SHOW
FINALISTS
Cheaterama Car Show
Georgie Porgie's Oak Creek
Mexican Fiesta Car Show
COCKTAIL LOUNGE AT RANDOM FINALISTS
Blu Bryants Vault
COMEDY CLUB
COMEDYSPORTZ MILWAUKEE
FINALISTS
Lakefront Brewery Keg Stand Up
The Laughing Tap
The Milwaukee Improv CRAFT BEER SELECTION AT A BAR SUGAR MAPLE
FINALISTS
Centraal Grand Cafe & Tappery
Fourth N Long
The Brass Tap
DANCE CLUB MAD PLANET
FINALISTS
Frieght 38
La Cage
Room Seven
ESCAPE ROOM
ESCAPE MKE
FINALISTS
City 13
Escape the Room
Sixty to Escape
HAPPY HOUR
MASON STREET GRILL FINALISTS
Copper on King
La Pina
The Brass Tap
HOOKAH LOUNGE
CASABLANCA FINALISTS
Dream Lab
Pourman's Room Seven
HOTEL LOUNGE
THE BAR AT SAINT KATE – THE ARTS HOTEL FINALISTS
Blu at the Pfister
Solomon's
The Iron Horse Hotel
The Outsider
The Trade
IMPORT BEER SELECTION AT A BAR
VON TRIER
FINALISTS
Archie's Flat Top
La Pina
The Brass Tap
IRISH PUB
COUNTY CLARE
FINALISTS
Moran's Pub
Mo's Irish Pub
Paddy's Pub
JAZZ CLUB
CAROLINE'S FINALISTS
Bar Centro
Blu
KARAOKE BAR
LANDMARK LANES
FINALISTS
Amped
Drunken Cobra
The High Note
LIVE MUSIC VENUE
TURNER HALL
FINALISTS
Cactus Club
Milwaukee Tool Amphitheatre
X-Ray Arcade
MARGARITA BOTANAS FINALISTS
Cafe Corazon
La Pina
Noche Restaurante
Tied House Milwaukee
MARTINI
BLU
FINALISTS
Cream City Coffee Co.
Mo's... A Place for Steaks
Sala Modern Sicilian
Vault
MICROBREWERY/TAPROOM
LAKEFRONT BREWERY FINALISTS
Layman Brewing
Mobcraft Beer
Ope! Brewing Co.
Pomona Cider Co.
MILWAUKEE TOUR
LAKEFRONT BREWERY
FINALISTS
City Tours MKE
Historic Milwaukee, Inc.
Miller Brewery Tour
MOCKTAIL SELECTION
BOONE & CROCKETT
FINALISTS
Agency
Cactus Club
Copper on King
NATURE CENTER
MITCHELL PARK DOMES FINALISTS
Schlitz Audubon Nature Center
Urban Ecology Center
Wehr Nature Center
NEW BAR (OPENED IN 2024)
WIGGLE ROOM
FINALISTS
Copper on King Pink Agave
The New Fashioned
OLD FASHIONED
BOONE & CROCKETT
FINALISTS
Copper on King
Jackson Grill
Pourman's
The New Fashioned
PET-FRIENDLY ESTABLISHMENT
OPE! BREWING CO.
FINALISTS
Boone & Crockett
Draft and Vessel
Lost Valley Cider Company
Riley's Social House
PLACE FOR FAMILY FUN
SAFEHOUSE
FINALISTS
Little Sprouts Play Cafe
The Little Village Play Cafe
The New Fashioned
ROCK CLUB
CACTUS CLUB
FINALISTS
Sabbatic
Shank Hall
X-Ray Arcade
ROMANTIC BAR AT RANDOM
FINALISTS
Blu Bryant's La Pina
SPORTS BAR
STENY'S
FINALISTS
Pete's Pub
Potawatomi Sportsbook
The Brass Tap TRAVEL GATEWAY (BEST WAY TO GET OUT OF TOWN)
MILWAUKEE MITCHELL INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
FINALISTS
Amtrak Lake Express High Speed Ferry MCTS
TRIVIA NIGHT
LAKEFRONT BREWERY
FINALISTS
Blackbird Bar
Pete's Pub
The Brass Tap WHISKEY SELECTION AT A BAR
THE VANGUARD FINALISTS
DOC's Commerce Smokehouse
Jackson Grill
The Brass Tap
WINERY
COOPER'S HAWK WINERY
FINALISTS
Cedar Creek Winery
Pomona Cider Co.
Spirits of Norway Vineyard
Real Estate
REAL ESTATE AGENCY
MILWAUKEE
FLAT FEE HOMES
FINALISTS
Coldwell Banker
Level Up Real Estate Team (Keller Williams)
Mahler Sotheby's International
Realty
Root River Realty
Sheree Wegenke
Shorewest Realtors
REAL ESTATE AGENT/BROKER COURTNEY STEFANIAK
FINALISTS
Kim Yencheske
Sheree Wegenke
Wendy Kaprelian
RENTAL PROPERTY
MANAGEMENT GROUP
REAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT
FINALISTS
Harmoniq Residential
Home Path Property Management
Welcome Home Milwaukee
SERVICES RENDERED
ACCOUNTANT/TAX ADVISER
NELSON TAX
ACCOUNTING
FINALISTS
Jaznelly’s Tax Service
KKCPA
Simply Balanced Accounting
AESTHETICIAN
BLOOM SKIN SPA
FINALISTS
Elevate + Co.
EpidermiSpa
Solskin Wellness
ANIMAL WELFARE ORGANIZATION
MADACC MILWAUKEE AREA DOMESTIC
ANIMAL CONTROL COMMISSION FINALISTS
Almost Home Cat Rescue MKE
Happy Endings No Kill Cat Shelter
Urban Cat Coalition
AUTO BODY SHOP
PINKY'S FINALISTS
Manyo Motors
VCA Auto Body
AUTO DETAILER
METRO CAR WASH & DETAILING
FINALISTS
Ibarra Auto Detailing
Lmtless Auto Spa
MGM Detailing
AUTO SERVICE & REPAIR
RIVERSIDE AUTOMOTIVE
FINALISTS
FM Auto
Manyo Motors
RK Motors
State of the Art Import Auto
Repair
The Family Mechanic BANK BMO
FINALISTS
Associated Bank
North Shore Bank
PNC
Tri-City National Bank
U.S. Bank
WaterStone Bank
BARTENDING SERVICES
OVER THE MOON
BARTENDING
FINALISTS
Noble Catering & Events
Pour Inc.
The Crafted Tavern
BED AND BREAKFAST
COUNTY CLARE
FINALISTS
Brumder Mansion
The Muse Gallery Guesthouse
BODY PIERCING STUDIO
AVANT-GARDE
BODY PIERCING FINALISTS
Atomic Tattoos
Body Ritual
Kapow Ink
BOUTIQUE HOTEL
SAINT KATE – THE ARTS HOTEL
FINALISTS
Kinn Guesthouse
The Plaza Hotel
CARPET CLEANING
GOLDSTAR CLEANING SERVICES
FINALISTS
J&S Carpet Cleaning
Meyer Carpet Cleaning
TidyUp & Go, LLC
CATERER
BUNZEL'S FINALISTS
Charcuter-Me
Flour Girl & Flame
Tall Guy and a Grill
Zilli Hospitality Group
COLLEGE / UNIVERSITY
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSINMILWAUKEE
FINALISTS
Alverno College
Carroll University
Marquette University
Mount Mary University CREDIT UNION
EDUCATORS CREDIT UNION
FINALISTS
Landmark Credit Union
Summit Credit Union
UW Credit Union
DOG WALKER
OFF LEASH MKE
FINALISTS
Milwaukee Paws Pet Care
Tails N Trails
While You Were Out
DOGGY DAY CARE/BOARDING THE HOUNDS & TAP FINALISTS
Bay View Bark
Central Bark Wauwatosa
Dog City Hotel & Spa
Off Leash MKE
The Doggy Office
ESTATE SALE COMPANY
CREAM CITY
ESTATE SALE
FINALISTS
Chanos Warehouse
Denali real estate
FINANCIAL INSTITUTION FOR GETTING A BUSINESS LOAN EDUCATORS CREDIT UNION
FINALISTS
BMO HARRIS BANK
Johnson Bank
Mariner Finance
Summit Credit Union
FINANCIAL INSTITUTION FOR
GETTING A HOME MORTGAGE
EDUCATORS
CREDIT UNION
FINALISTS
Summit Credit Union
Wisconsin Mortgage Corporation
WaterStone Bank
FINANCIAL INSTITUTION
FOR OPENING A CHECKING
ACCOUNT
EDUCATORS CREDIT UNION
FINALISTS
Landmark Credit Union
Summit Credit Union
UW Credit Union
WaterStone Bank
FINANCIAL INSTITUTION
PROVIDING BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE
EDUCATORS CREDIT UNION
FINALISTS
Associated Bank
Summit Credit Union
UW Credit Union
Waterstone Bank
Wisconsin Mortgage Corporation
HAIR REMOVAL
BLOOM SKIN SPA
FINALISTS
Beauty Marked
Milan Laser Hair Removal
Quintessa Aesthetic Center
HAIR SALON - MEN'S STAG BARBERSHOP
FINALISTS
Dapper & Co Barbershop
Groom for Men
Tailored Salon
HAIR SALON - WOMEN'S
JELLY SOSA'S HAIR BAKERY
FINALISTS
Fever Salon
Julia's Hair Lounge
VitaBella Salon
HOME CLEANING SERVICE
GC CLEANING SERVICE
FINALISTS
Fresh Cleaning
Magnificent Mamas
TidyUp & Go, LLC
HOTEL ROOMS
THE PFISTER HOTEL
FINALISTS
Iron Horse
Saint Kate- The Arts Hotel
The Trade Hotel
IMMIGRATION SERVICES
SOBERALSKI
IMMIGRATION LAW
FINALISTS
Claire Longdin Law Firm
Immigration Medical Exams (Henry Rosler M.D.)
Sesini Law Group, S.C.
INSURANCE AGENCY
SHOREWEST
FINALISTS
Reilly Insurance Services
Sovereign Select
INSURANCE AGENT / BROKER
BRIANNA THOMPSON
FINALISTS
Gramoll & Associates
Kurt Conrath
Melinda Gibas
JUNK REMOVAL
CAMO CREW
JUNK REMOVAL
FINALISTS
College Hunks Hauling Junk
Junk Shuttle
Two Men and a Junk Truck
LASHES
LASH DOLLS
MILWAUKEE
FINALISTS
AmyEyesthetics LLC
JP Beauty Services
Kira Sonnen - Winx
Nail Studio Aesthetics
Solskin Wellness
Tokyo Rose's Lash and Beauty
LAW FIRM - BANKRUPTCY
DEBT ADVISORS
LAW OFFICES
FINALISTS
Miller & Miller Law
Richard A. Check
Watton Law Group
LAW FIRM - BUSINESS HUSCH BLACKWELL LLP
FINALISTS
Affeldt Law Office
Fox, O'Neill & Shannon
Gimbel Reilly Guerin & Brown
Melnick & Melnick
LAW FIRM - CRIMINAL DEFENSE KIM & LAVOY
FINALISTS
Fox, O'Neill & Shannon, S.C.
Gimbel Reilly Guerin & Brown, LLP
Mishlove and Stuckert, LLC
LAW FIRM - DIVORCE
NELSON KRUEGER & MILLENBACH
FINALISTS
Gagne, McChrystal, DeLorenzo & Burghardt
Karp & Iancu
Marcus Sengstock
Zimmermann Law Offices
LAW FIRM - ESTATE PLANNING
VON BRIESEN & ROPER S.C.
FINALISTS
Fox, O'Neill & Shannon, S.C.
Law Offices of Carlson & Lunde
Niebler Pyzyk
LAW FIRM - FAMILY LAW
NELSON- KRUEGER & MILLENBACH
FINALISTS
Gagne, McChrystal, DeLorenzo & Burghardt
Gimbel Reilly Guerin & Brown
Zimmerman Law Office
LAW FIRM - FULL SERVICE
LEGAL AID SOCIETY OF MILWAUKEE
FINALISTS
Fox, O'Neill & Shannon
Gimbel Reilly Guerin & Brown
von Briesen & Roper, S.C.
LAW FIRM - NEW (UNDER 5 YEARS)
CLAIRE LONGDIN LAW FIRM
FINALISTS
Jurowski Law
LAW FIRM - PERSONAL INJURY
GROTH LAW FIRM
FINALISTS
Gimbel Reilly Guerin & Brown
Gruber Law Offices
Hupy and Abraham
LAW FIRM - SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE
LEGAL AID SOCIETY OF MILWAUKEE
FINALISTS
Fox, O'Neill & Shannon
Gruber Law Office
Hupy and Abraham
Melnick & Melnick
MOVING COMPANY
TWO MEN AND A TRUCK
FINALISTS
Badger Brother Moving Bluemound Express
JL Moving Power Moves Relocation
NAIL SALON
L.U.X.E NAILS
MILWAUKEE
FINALISTS
Carrie's Cuteicles
Nail Bar Milwaukee
WELL Spa + Salon at The Pfister Hotel
Wildwood Nail Spa
PEST CONTROL
BATZNER
FINALISTS
Advanced Wildlife and Pest Control
Pest 2 Rest Pest Control
Premier Pest Solutions
PET BEHAVIORIST / TRAINER
BAY VIEW BARK
FINALISTS
Off Leash K9 Training
Wag the Dog and Company
Zoom Room Dog Training
PET GROOMING
COMMUNITY BARK - BAY VIEW
FINALISTS
Embark Pet Spa
Fancy Pants Pet Salon
Honeysuckle Hounds
Madra Pet Styling
Shed Shop Grooming
PET SERVICES
OFF LEASH MKE FINALISTS
Almost Home Cat Rescue MKE
Camp Bow Wow
Fancy Pants Pet Salon
Tails N Trails
PHOTOGRAPHER
SARAH G
PHOTOGRAPHY
FINALISTS
Dee Von Drasek Photography
Eric J. Ellis
Jamie Robarge Photography
PICTURE FRAMING GALLERY
SOUTH SHORE FRAMING
FINALISTS
Bresler Eitel Framing Gallery
Creative Enterprises
Manders Picture Framing Services
Sadler Gallery
SENIOR LIVING FACILITY
SAINT JOHN'S ON THE LAKE
FINALISTS
Clement Manor
Milwaukee Catholic Home
Three Pillars
TATTOO PARLOR
WALKER'S POINT
TATTOO COMPANY
FINALISTS
Kapow Ink Tattoo and Piercing Low Rain
Str8 Klownin Ink
TRAVEL AGENCY
FOX WORLD TRAVEL
FINALISTS
Arens Travel Design
Elm Grove Travel
Hurlbut Travel
Island Getaways
Passports and Cappuccinos
VETERINARIAN
MILWAUKEE
VETERINARY CLINIC
FINALISTS
Bayshore Veterinary Clinic
Community Veterinary Clinic
Silver Spring Animal Wellness
Center
VIDEOGRAPHER
DENA ARONSON
FINALISTS
C*Lee Creations
Cinemabryce
Isaiah Joseph
WEALTH MANAGEMENT / FINANCIAL PLANNING
EDUCATORS CREDIT UNION
FINALISTS
Andrew Due - Educators
Investment Services
Annex Wealth Management
DBHW Wealth Management
Ellenbecker Investment Group
Summit Credit Union
WEDDING VENUE
THE PFISTER HOTEL
FINALISTS
Greenhouse No. 7
Story Hill Firehouse
The Cooperage
Sports and recreation
BOWLING ALLEY
LANDMARK LANES
FINALISTS
Bayview Bowl
Falcon Bowl
The New Fashioned
DANCE STUDIO
DANCEWORKS
FINALISTS
Academy of Performing Arts
Dynamite Dance Studio
Pole Factory MKE
ENDURANCE EVENT
RIVERWEST 24
FINALISTS
Leukemia & Lymphona Society
Scenic Shore Bike Tour
Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon
Sweet Home Milwaukee 5k
FAVORITE BREWERS PLAYER
CHRISTIAN YELICH
FINALISTS
Brice Turang
Jackson Chourio
Sal Frelick
Willy Adames
FAVORITE BUCKS PLAYER
GIANNIS
ANTETOKUMNPO
FINALISTS
Bobby Portis
Damian Lillard
Khris Middleton
FAVORITE PACKERS PLAYER
JORDAN LOVE
FINALISTS
Jaire Alexander
Josh Jacobs
Malik Willis
GOLF COURSE
WANAKI
FINALISTS
Kettle Hills
Naga Waukee
Oak Hills
The Bog Valley Green
Warnimont Golf Course
MINI GOLF COURSE
MOORLAND ROAD
GOLF CENTER
FINALISTS
Big Putts
Holey Mackerel
Missing Links
Mulligan's Mini Golf
Nine Below
PADDLESPORTSRENT OR BUY
MILWAUKEE
KAYAK COMPANY
FINALISTS
Lakeshore Paddle Sport Rentals
Paddle Pewaukee
Paddle Tavern
REC SPORTS LEAGUE
BREWCITY BRUISERS
FINALISTS
Milwaukee Rugby Football Club
NorthSouth Club Shuffleboard
League
Rock League Baseball
ROCK CLIMBING VENUE
ADVENTURE ROCK
FINALISTS
Turner Hall Climbing Gym
GO OR NOT TO GO?
Dog Parks: TO
HERE'S THE POOP... HERE'S THE POOP...
When it comes to dog parks, folks often seem to be staunch supporters or harsh critics. There are pros and cons, of course, but I, personally and professionally, fall somewhere in the middle of the two viewpoints. In general, I encourage folks to err on the side of caution and consider several points before visiting a dog park!
1. Visit the dog park during off-peak hours so there are fewer dogs (and variables) to keep track of.
2. Take your dog only when you’re able to provide your full, undivided attention and can ensure your dog has the best experience they can have there.
3. For some dogs, it is best to avoid the dog park: puppies, dogs who aren’t comfortable or appropriate with other dogs (or people), dogs who guard resources, elderly dogs, dogs who are sick or injured even in small ways, or dogs who are likely to jump fences or runaway.
4. Before visiting, train some skills that help both you and your doggo, such as name recognition, coming when called, handler attention and engagement in public, and leash walking skills (to name a few).
5. Especially if new to them, look for dog parks that are spacious and allow for spreading out and taking breaks from the other dogs and people as needed/wanted.
At the end of the day, every pawrent needs to assess both the risks and benefits of dog parks for themselves! This article is very much the TLDR version of a dog park discussion and determining if your dog is one of the truly social, tolerant dogs who will enjoy dog parks; feel free to reach out if you’d like to chat more!
Jennifer Prill, CPDT-KA, CBCC-KA Owner, Lead Trainer & Behavior Consultant 414-207-8060
sidekick-dogtraining.com Monday-Saturday 10AM-8PM
This Month in Milwaukee
8 THINGS TO DO IN JANUARY
BY SOPHIA HAMDAN, DAVID LUHRSSEN AND BLAINE SCHULTZ
JANUARY 8
Leroy Airmaster
Nashville North
Back in the ‘80s, the Up & Under Pub was the place to be if you liked the blues. The Up & Under went under in 2020 and has since been rehabbed as Nashville North. Acknowledging history, the club recently launched Wednesday Blues Night. One of the Milwaukee’s premiere blues bands from the ‘80s, Leroy Airmaster, has returned to Nashville North with plans to perform on one Wednesday each month in the early months of 2025.
JANUARY 9
Morning Train: A Tribute to John Prine Shank Hall
Since 1986 Peter Jest’s Alternative Concert Group presented John Prine concerts around Wisconsin and Illinois. So, it is only fitting that Jest’s homebase is the site of this special event. An all-star cast of Milwaukee musicians including members of Chicken Wire Empire, Funkclub Wagon, The WhiskeyBelles and more take the stage to remember the music of the great John Prine.
JANUARY 12
Big Head Todd and the Monsters: 40th Anniversary Tour Pabst Theater
For close to four decades, the members of Big Head Todd and The Monsters have continued to both throw down in the studio and light up stages worldwide. Rallying around a core vision, the platinum-selling Colorado quartet kick out the kind of blues-drenched rock ‘n’ roll bangers that make you want to rev the engine a little louder, sing along like no one’s looking and live a little freer. “To me, my band means four people who listen to each other, work hard, and share a goal,” Todd Mohr observes. “The goal has to do with reaching out to people, catching their ears, and sharing a story we hope they relate to.”
Photo of Milwaukee by GettyImages/Jon Mattrisch, snowflakes by
JANUARY 14
Jessie Garcia author of The Business Trip q Boswell Book Company
Jessie Garcia is a Milwaukee author and sports journalist presenting her debut thriller, The Business Trip. The novel follows two women who have more in common then they might think. As Stephanie takes her business trip and Jasmine flees an abusive relationship, the two women are found to be missing, and the story of what happened is full of twists, turns, and drama. The perfect start to the new year is a novel that combines feminist literature with a captivating thriller.
JANUARY 17-18
Goblin King Masquerade Ball Turner Hall
The 3rd Annual Goblin King Masquerade Ball returns to Milwaukee’s Turner Hall Ballroom. Hosted by Awkward Nerd Events, attendees will step into a world of fantasy, reveling in performances by The Goblin King Players, signature cocktails, cosplay, waltz dance class and more. Learn about the event at pabsttheatergroup.com.
JANUARY 24
Hi Score w/ Arcade Mode
Linneman’s Riverwest Inn
Imagine a band that plays live versions of video game music. Hi Score plays jazz-funk versions of music from Mario, Sonic, Zelda and Halo and is influenced by Japanese fusion groups Casiopea and T-Square, as well as jazz artists such as Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock, whose music originally inspired many of these video game tunes. The evening will include a DJ playing Japanese/ video game music and video game related vendors.
Jeffrey D. Boldt author of Big Lake Troubles
Boswell Book Company
The protagonists of Big Lake Troubles are playing for the biggest possible stakes—the future of our planet. No, the novel isn’t science fiction, but an “ecothriller” written in simple, descriptive, declarative, message-driven prose. Will former judge Jason Erickson enjoy his Chardonay and post occasional protest pictures on Instagram, or will he roll up his sleeves to fight a coal company willing to play dirty?
JANUARY 30
Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis
Marcus Performing Arts Center
With its swinging rhythms and soulful melodies, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, led by artistic director and nine-time Grammy Award® winner Wynton Marsalis, brings jazz from the heart of New York City to cities around the world. Last February, Marsalis and JLCO delivered a Milwaukee concert that was also part history lesson on Eastern music.
The meetings at Karen’s workplace often vibrated with tension and fervor. Voices rose, tempers flared and exasperation oozed, that is except from her. Unperturbed, she observed the frenzy with a mindset I call “detached concern.” As the term implies, that means one cares but not too much. It also means avoiding becoming sucked into interpersonal melodramas and the emotional hijacking they usually create.
Occasionally, Karen would offer an idea or observation but did so dispassionately. Then, if someone baited her by criticizing her input, she let it go, choosing not to engage. Even though she continued to perform well in her job, her colleagues viewed her lack of emotional investment as an indicator of something amiss. After all, everyone else was popping emotional rivets, and Karen’s failure to do so left them unnerved.
Leaving the Mainstream Behind
BY PHILIP CHARD
This transformation occurred in her personal life as well. Returning home from work, she often sat on her porch, sometimes for hours, reading, listening to music or watching dusk turn to night. Invitations to office parties, happy hours and other people-laden events rarely captured her interest. Predictably, Karen’s behavior began worrying not only her colleagues but also her family. This once ambitious career woman had evolved into a Sphinx-like observer of the madding crowd, rather than an all-in player.
“What’s wrong?” many of them asked, but she simply replied, “All is well.”
OMINOUSLY TRANQUIL?
But they didn’t buy it. In her work and social circles, being a laidback soul was an oddity, so for a young and capable person to be so tranquil appeared disconcerting, if not ominous. In hopes of assuaging her family’s concerns, she agreed to a mental check-up from yours truly.
What’s more, she asked that I openly share my conclusions with her family, claiming she had nothing to hide. Based on my assessment, Karen checked out just fine.
“I don’t care much about the career rat race and all the social networking anymore. There are far more important things in life,” she shared.
Many view such utterances as harbingers of depression or a dangerous deviation from the established path toward the socalled American Dream. However, for Karen, her Zen-like detachment from the urgency of “having it all” proved liberating, not debilitating. How did she flip from up-and-comer to go-withthe-flow?
“I was at the office one day and everyone was so agitated and rude, and that’s when it just hit me,” she explained. “The whole thing seemed over the top and senseless.”
LIFE PERSPECTIVE
What struck Karen most was the lack of life perspective and kindness in her colleagues.
“They were treating everything minor as major, like it was the end of the world, and then ignoring the important things, like each other and something bigger than ourselves.”
After that, she began emotionally detaching from the obsessions of modern life, instead following a simpler and more meaningful path. She cancelled her TV service, used her smartphone sparingly, exited social media, picked up her guitar again, spent quality time with close friends and began looking for a new vocational path.
Karen’s family and colleagues remained alarmed, certain she was losing it. In fact, she had simply deviated from what they considered normal in our culture, that being frenetic activity, obsessive
connectedness, hurry sickness, intense competition, materialism and tunnel vision.
When someone unplugs from the competitive feeding frenzy and feverish pace of modern, technosaturated life, particularly in an abrupt fashion, we often assume the worst. These dropouts, so to speak, can unnerve those who remain deeply invested in the cultural mainstream. Outliers like Karen offer an alternative path, one requiring its own brand of courage.
“How do you know she’s really alright?” Karen’s sister asked me.
My reply? “I looked at most of the rest of us, then at her, and realized who was the most sane.”
Philip Chard is a psychotherapist and author with a focus on lasting behavior change, emotional healing and adaptation to health challenges. For more, visit philipchard.com.
Dear Ally,
I’ll make this short and sweet. Every year, I make the same New Year’s Resolutions—lose weight and exercise more. And every year, I fail miserably at both. Can you give me any tips that will make this year different? Maybe in 2025, I could finally feel good at the end of the year and achieve what I really want in my life.
Failed Achiever
Dear Failed Achiever
You are not alone. The Forbes Health/ One poll survey found that the average resolution lasts just 3.74 months. Only 1% of people who set resolutions, keep them the full year. The good news is that every day offers you a fresh start to make positive changes in your life.
Let’s remember that New Years Resolutions, just like any small or big change we want to make, fall in the same category. They are inside jobs. We need to set ourselves up for success by building a strong foundation. Rather than loading up on specific tasks that we want to change, we must start with the basics. Here are my six steps to get you started.
F.L.Y.: First, love yourself—this one is the hardest, but most important step. I’ll make it easy and apply it to your resolution– lose weight. (It’s been ongoing on my list for years.) If I want to lose weight and I’m at a dinner party where I’m given a choice between fish and fried chicken, if I loved myself, I’d choose the fish because it’s the healthy option.
When faced with a decision, ask yourself, if I loved myself, what would I choose? (Of course, this same line of questioning, can be applied to relationships and all other aspects of our life.) I know it’s easier said than done. But it’s an important start.
Let Go: When thoughts come up that consciously cause you stress, let them go. Your negative thoughts about yourself, and self-doubt do not serve you. When they creep into your mind, you can even say the word STOP. That allows your brain to shift gears. If a worry emerges, ask yourself: Is this something I need to be concerned about or can I let it go?
Retire the Judge: Our judgment of ourselves becomes our worst enemy. It will stop creativity or any life changes in their tracks. If we notice our judge creep into our thoughts, we can also say STOP, letting our brain think of something else.
Stay in Your Lane: We can support our friends without fixing their problems or rescue them from a crisis. Sometimes it’s easier to focus on others rather than ourselves. We justify the time it takes, because we’re helping someone in need.
The truth is, that we are robbing the opportunity for our friend to learn and experience their own success if we do it for them. We can be supportive and cheer them on but let them do the work.
Be Inspired: Some days are harder than others. Those are the days we need something to inspire us and keep going on our life’s journey. Whether it be music, poetry or a cooking lesson, we need inspiration to make choices that will be good for us.
This quote from Daily Om is one of my favorites: “The moment you change your perception (of yourself) is the moment you rewrite the chemistry of your body.” This quote gives me hope, because it reminds me that it’s never too late to start over. Even changing my thinking about something will alter my body for the good.
Joy: Joy is an essential ingredient in our lives. We all need joy. It’s what makes life fun and meaningful. It’s up to us to find out what brings us joy. Experts say that if we can do three things daily, that bring us joy, we are living a happy life.
When we feel good about ourselves, it’s easier to do good things for our life like eat healthy food and exercise. By following these six steps, you are building a strong foundation to love yourself and live a happy, healthy life. You can do this!
Send your questions to AskAlly@shepex.com.
Fostering Mental Wellness in Ourselves and Our Communities
WE CAN PERSONALLY AND COLLECTIVELY TAKE STEPS TO SUPPORT EMOTIONAL RESILIENCE AND BALANCE
BY VIRGINIA SMALL
Being human, we all experience ongoing shifts in our mental and emotional equilibrium. Often, getting the support and skills needed to manage distress can be challenging. Economic and cultural factors, stigmas and other barriers can decrease access or inclination to seek help. Education, awareness and compassion can demystify the process of dealing with whatever challenges we face. Understanding symptoms and impacts of stress, grief, trauma, and isolation helps us to foster healthy environments and outcomes.
Here are some ways to move toward inner wellness and community resilience:
Assess ever-changing needs. Paying attention to what’s happening within ourselves, and with those in our circles, can help us notice when action might be warranted. There are many reasons to develop new perspectives. For example, we may not understand the physical and emotional changes that are common with aging or with grieving a loss. Even positive changes, such as the birth of a child or a new job, call for expanding our knowledge and coping strategies.
Learn about available resources. Help can be as close as a phone call. The 211 social services hotline is available for all Milwaukee-area residents 24 hours a day. Operators provide callers with information on a wide variety of non-emergency family, financial, health and social service issues, including counseling options. On a land line, dial 211. On a cell phone, dial 414-773-0211. More information is available at https://www.impactinc.org/ impact-211/ . The Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) of Milwaukee County (414-289-6874) also provides information and referrals.
The Grand Avenue Club in downtown Milwaukee is a volunteer-based, non-clinical community that serves individuals who are experiencing mental-illness. Programming, training, placement and recreational opportunities are among the services offered.
Take action in a crisis. If you believe you or a loved one is experiencing a crisis, you can call Milwaukee County’s Department of Health & Human Services’ 24-Hour Crisis Line at 414-257-7222. The national Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is available 24/7/365 by dialing 988. Conversations are free and confidential.
Cultivate connection. A 2023 advisory by Surgeon General Vivek Murthy states that while “loneliness and isolation is widespread and has profound consequences for our individual and collective health and well-being, there is a medicine hiding in plain sight: social connection.” Specific strategies in the advisory include strengthening “social infrastructure” and enacting pro-connections public policies within communities.
Seek out peer relationships. Support groups create safe spaces for open dialogs. They often are available at no cost. For example, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) offers ongoing support groups in greater Milwaukee. The nation's largest grassroots mental health organization, NAMI is dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness, through its 700 local organizations (https://namisoutheastwi.org/support-and-education/ support/). Some religious organizations, hospitals and other institutions host support groups for individuals facing specific challenges. Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous and related groups provide peer support for people coping with substance-use disorders.
Others serve caregivers and those facing other issues. Wide-ranging grief-recovery groups offer support specifically for those who have lost a spouse, or a child, or for those experiencing suicide loss.
Get moving. Physical exercise interrupts depressive or anxious thoughts and other behavioral challenges. One adage is that the best form of exercise is the one that you will actually do. If possible, combine movement with connection, whether by finding a walking buddy or two, taking a class, or exercising around other people.
Feelings of isolation can be countered simply through the “weak ties” of regularly encountering others in gathering places such as community centers, coffee shops and gyms.
Consider online resources. Some podcasts and other online programs offer education about mindfulness techniques and how to cope with anxiety and other challenges. Many such tools are available for free. They can augment direct forms of human contact in addressing effects of isolation.
Frequent places where everyone belongs. Welcoming, safe public spaces, with no barriers to access, promote belonging and community health. Libraries, parks and playgrounds are crucial spaces of inclusion for all. Outdoor seating open to everyone encourages sociability and counters isolation. Public benches are needed and appreciated everywhere, not just in neighborhoods with enough affluence to enlist donors to fund them.
Advocate. People who have become familiar with ways that mental health is misunderstood or unsupported can be effective ambassadors within their circles and the wider community. Speaking up to share personal stories and insights can help to decrease stigma and increase understanding. Creating health-promoting cultures and environments requires sustained collective effort.
Go low tech. Within family and other social circles, simply putting aside devices and engaging in attentive listening can make a big impact on everyone’s mental well-being. Intentionally doing activities without screens, such as taking walks together, playing cards or board games, and sharing a meal around a table (with phones off and stashed) can ease isolation and loneliness. Time and attention support the sharing of our truest stories. And simply turning off devices allows us to periodically de-stress.
Be present and be kind. Whenever we are unsure of what to do or say when someone is grieving or otherwise in crisis, simply showing up matters most. We can check in on someone, whether in person or through a text or phone call, send a card, give food, or offer to help with a task. Inviting someone to walk in nature or visit a place they enjoy can yield multiple benefits.
Think small. Noticing and appreciating beauty and finding joy in simple things are proven ways to counter anxiety and depression. Taking incremental steps toward attainable goals builds confidence.
Remember that we are all related. A community thrives when many people look out for what serves humanity and everyone’s well-being. Chances are that we encounter people on a daily basis who may be struggling. Appreciating our interdependence can lead us to actions that make us all healthier, happier and more vibrantly connected.
Virginia Small is an award-winning journalist and lifelong writer. She has served as a senior editor for a national magazine, a staff reporter and cultural reviewer for several newspapers, and a contributor to many national and regional publications.
Mimic a Fast and Rejuvenate in 2025!
BY KATHERINE BAYLISS, MD
Along with healthy lifestyle choices, longevity researchers long ago discovered that fasting can be one of the most powerful anti-aging interventions. While much of the research on the impact of fasting has been limited to animal studies made feasible by their shorter life spans, we now have a window into the impact of fasting on humans with the advent of biological surrogate markers of aging and health. Traditionally this type of fasting has consisted of days of water only. Excitingly, to make fasting more doable for us average humans, science-based refinements to fasting regimens can mitigate the downsides (who wants to starve and undergo muscle wasting?) while still reaping the benefits. Enter the Fasting Mimicking Diet or FMD.
Created by Dr. Valter Longo, director of the Longevity Institute at the University of San Diego, the FMD is an easily implemented calorie restricted five-day program with a specifically designed nutrient profile that comes in a box. The specific foods in the FMD are formulated to stay below nutrient-sensing pathways responsible for controlling energy expenditure, metabolism, and cellular repair. So, in essence, one gets the benefits of a water fast without the same degree of deprivation, risk of muscle loss or
The benefits of the FMD are supported by several clinical trials with Dr. Longo’s team currently conducting additional studies to assess impact in the setting of cardiovascular disease, inflammatory bowel disease, cancer and more. Bearing in mind the close linkage of chronic disease and longevity, and referring to my last article on the hallmarks of aging, benefits of the FMD include:
• Cellular rejuvenation (autophagy)
• Fat focused weight loss (especially abdominal) while protecting lean body mass
• Improved insulin sensitivity (Type 2 Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome)
• Reduced biological age (median 2.5 years after 3 cycles in one study)
• Reduced inflammation
• Healthier, younger looking skin
• Positive impact on blood pressure and cholesterol
• Change in relationship with food.
Each five-day fast is considered one cycle. The suggested number and frequency of cycles depends on personal circumstances—anywhere from once a month to two-three times per year. Results above were from trials using one cycle once a month for three consecutive months. Still, for someone that is very healthy, two times a year might be good. For someone that has significant weight to lose or has type 2 diabetes, once a month for 8-12 months might get them to their goals.
I often counsel patients to do this diet as part of their health optimization efforts. I have personally done FMD at least seven to eight times over the past few years, dragging my reluctant husband along about 75% of the time. A “fasting buddy” is helpful! I appreciate dropping those last few stubborn pounds (or holiday gains) while doing a mental reset.
While I miss yummy food during the throes of it, I never contend with much hunger and generally experience good clarity and energy by day 4-5 when ketosis really kicks in. We always feel great afterwards and enjoy the regenerative mode that follows. I liken it to the impact that pruning has on plants—they become healthier and more vibrant after being cut back.
If this past holiday season has left you feeling heavy and sluggish, or if you feel energized to do a reset for 2025, the FMD just might be for you. Check with your physician first if you have significant health issues, especially if you are using blood sugar lowering medications.
You can learn more at this site: https://prolonlife.com/
As an aside, the last I heard, Dr. Longo has no financial interest in the sales of this product—so no conflict of interest in his research.
Information in this article is for educational purposes only and should not be misconstrued as medical advice. Always consult with your personal physician or health care professional.
Katherine Bayliss, a Milwaukee native, has practiced in conventional medicine as a pathologist for 25 years. She now lives her passion, helping others through the more holistic Functional Medicine model.
Header photo by GettyImages/Sasithorn Phuapankasemsuk. Photo of measuring tape by GettyImages/Rawf8 Photo of measuring tape 2 by GettyImages/MarinaKuzminykh.
DON’T FALL FOR A GASLIGHTING GUY
DEAR RUTHIE,
I had suspicions about my husband texting an ex-lover. We do run into his ex often at the gay bars, so my husband was able to gaslight me into thinking that nothing was happening between them. Then I checked his phone.
I discovered they’d been sexting this whole time, exchanging nude photos and videos. While it appears they have yet to hook up, I feel that he’s cheating on me regardless.
I’m going to approach him, but I know he’s going to say he didn’t cheat because they never met in person. What I should I say to that?
THANKS,
Feeling Jealous
DEAR JELLY,
Don’t let your man gaslight you! If he did it when you originally asked him about the texting, he’ll do it now that you caught him sexting. He lied to you; plain and simple. Focus on that and don’t let him get you off track.
Is it cheating? That depends on the rules of the relationship. In this case, you likely haven’t talked about it, so talk about it now. Establish that you feel this is cheating so it cannot happen again moving forward. If things aren’t working out to your satisfaction, consider couples counseling—and tell his ex to stay the fuck away!
XXOO
Ruthie's Social Calendar
JANUARY 2
OPENING NIGHT SWEENEY TODD AT SUNSET PLAYHOUSE (700 WALL ST., ELM GROVE): The demon barber makes his way to Cream City with this production from Bombshell Theatre. Discover why this Sondheim musical has captivated the world when you purchase tickets via www.bombshelltheatre.org before the run closes January 12.
JANUARY 4
“MANIA: AN ABBA TRIBUTE” AT PABST THEATER (144 E. WELLS ST.): Mania, one of the leading ABBA-tribute bands of all time, exchanges London for Milwaukee to perform an incredible 7:30 p.m. concert. The unforgettable night includes all your favorites songs, so hurry to www.pabstheatergroup. com for tickets.
JANUARY 9
BITCHIN’ DRAG BINGO AT POP (124 W. NATIONAL AVE.):
Support local charities, win prizes and enjoy frosty drinks when you spend the night with me and the crew at Pop! See why this Walker’s Point hot spot is the talk of the town with a few rounds of fun at 7:30 p.m. Bingo is always free, and parking is plenty in the next-door lot.
JANUARY 10
CRUEL INTENTIONS: THE ‘90S MUSICAL AT WAUKESHA CIVIC THEATRE (264 W. MAIN ST.): Outskirts Theatre brings this cult classic to the stage with a six-performance run. The naughty plot is accompanied by music from No Doubt, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and others. Stop by www.waukeshacivictheatre.org for more.
JANUARY 11
MISS GAY WISCONSIN USOFA CLASSIC PAGEANT AT LACAGE NITECLUB (801 S. SECOND ST.): LaCage hosts another jaw-dropping night of glamor and talent. The exciting competition begins at 9:30 p.m. (doors open an hour earlier). Reserve a table by emailing kmichaelswiusofa19@gmail.com.
JANUARY 14
CHICAGO: THE MUSICAL AT MARCUS PERFORMING ARTS CENTER (929 N. WATER ST.): Start the car … I know a whoopee spot! It’s the Marcus Center! See www.marcuscenter.org for ticket to this popular musical that keeps spirits high and toes tapping.
JANUARY 19
DISH ‘N DIVAS DRAG SHOW WITH TERESA GUIDICE AT TURNER HALL BALLROOM (1040 N VEL R. PHILLIPS AVE.): Local divas join America’s favorite housewife for a table-turning night of storytelling, music and drag. Two shows (7 p.m. and 10 p.m.) make it a snap to catch the Bravo star in her Jersey glory. See www.pabsttheatergroup.com for tickets.
JANUARY 25
“JOAN RIVERS & FRIENDS” AT PYRAMID EVENT VENUE
(117 S. MAIN ST., LAKE MILLS): I don my best Joan Rivers drag for a night of comedy and celebrity impressions. Join Joan’s guests Lady Gaga, Dolly Parton and others for an 8 p.m. drag show you’ll never forget. Make your reservation at www.pyramidlakemills.com.
JANUARY 31
“BURNING RED: A TRIBUTE TO TAYLOR SWIFT” AT PABST THEATER
(144 E. WELLS ST.):
Billed as “the nation’s best live-band tribute to Taylor Swift” this all-ages concert guarantees to have you on your feet. Enjoy hits from every aspect of Taylor’s career when you pick up tickets care of www.axs.com.
Mental Health Issues Among LGBTQ Youth Already Disproportionate but Likely to Increase in 2025
BY PAUL MASTERSON
Last year, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction released its “2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey Summary Report” (YRBS). Focusing on high school age youth, the YRBS studied their mental health challenges and surveyed levels of depression, anxiety and non-suicidal self-harm. Not surprisingly, its findings revealed a disproportionate number of mental health concerns among LGBTQ+ students. Of those surveyed, 79% reported anxiety, 63% depression, and 40% had considered suicide.
Those results correspond to studies by the Trevor Project, a national LGBTQ+ youth advocacy and suicide prevention organization. However, the Trevor Project explored this demographic more specifically noting youth from highly rejecting families are 8.4% more likely to attempt suicide and 86% percent had experienced harassment at school. On a positive note, it found a supportive environment with at least one accepting adult decreased the risk of suicide attempts by 40%.
Such results are not surprising. High school age youth are understandably at a critical stage of development regardless of their sexual orientation. Impact of school shootings adds another stressor to the formative years of any child forced to fear for their life as part of simply going to school. It is particularly traumatic when even the vice president-elect cavalierly called a recent school shooting a “fact of life” and “the reality we live in.”
ADDITIONAL STRESSORS
However, those identifying as LGBTQ+ have to cope with additional stressors. The Trevor Project recognizes rejecting families and school bullying but there are a myriad of additional factors, like social media, which impact the mental health of youth growing up LGBTQ+.
In the first case, an LGBTQ+ child rejected due to cultural expectations or religious beliefs, in which those closest to a child withdraw love, affection and support, can suffer irreparable emotional harm. In some cases, it goes beyond simple rejection. A family may subject the child to conversion therapy in an attempt to change the child’s sexual identity through exorcism, pseudo therapies, or even corporal punishment.
Condemned by the American Medical Association among other professional medical groups, conversion therapy itself is considered a cause of depression, anxiety and self-harm. Despite Milwaukee and over a dozen other Wisconsin municipalities having banned the practice for minors and Gov. Tony Evers’ 2021 Executive Order #122 forbidding the use of state funds for the conversion therapy, the state’s Republican dominated legislature refuses to implement a statewide ban.
A specific impact of rejection can be the occurrence of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). It is particularly high among LGBTQ youth. Manifesting itself in the late teens, it evolves from trauma experienced during the individual’s childhood. Expressed through emotional dysregulation and fear of abandonment, any child raised in a dysfunctional family environment, especially if there is homelessness, emotional, physical or sexual abuse directed towards the child or others in the household, can develop BPD, but being LGBTQ+ heightens the probability.
BULLYING AND REJECTION
“School bullying” is another matter. Like “rejecting family,” the term itself seems simplistic and belies its deeper implications. Bullying is a disruption of the child’s social development and self-image. Ideally, if reported, the school administration would intervene with suitable consequences for the bully. Sadly, LGBTQ+ kids may not report bullying out of fear of being outed. They may also fear retribution by the school itself. In Wisconsin, a growing number of school districts have instituted policies to deny any recognition of LGBTQ students, calling supportive efforts like Gay-Straight Alliances or DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) programs “divisive.” In this environment, it is the school itself that becomes the bully.
Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Republican Robin Voss, who called DEI “indoctrination,” blackmailed the University of Wisconsin system to cut DEI programs in order to receive funding. Meanwhile, calls by members of the incoming Republican regime for an all-out rainbow ban coupled with book bans and other interventions to block any access to LGBTQ resources further deny youth the ability to develop self-worth and positive self-awareness.
A recent spate of terminations of LGBTQ teachers and school administrators, including a recent case in Racine deprive kids of role models and reinforce their negative self-image. Codified in the right-wing Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 such efforts to erase LGBTQ+ identity at all levels of public education will likely become the law of the land.
Finally, increasing numbers of hate crimes against the LGBTQ+ community, murders of transgender women, the vandalism at Courage MKE in April 2023 serve as constant reminders that growing up queer is fraught with danger and stress. These factors further complicate development at a time when teens endure more than their share of life’s burdens.
SEEKING CARE
The problem for those who suffer from any mental health issue is often not the lack of accessible care but rather the failure to seek it out. Youth in particular may not admit to having mental health problems, others might simply not realize they have any. The internet, while providing legitimate information through a host of legitimate medical websites also harbors what may appear to be seemingly easy alternatives such as yoga, diet or mysticism-based therapies. The latter appeal to youth because they convince prospective clients that treatment under the guidance of health care professionals is not effective. Others, in an effort to dull their pain, may exacerbate their problems by self-medicating with drugs or alcohol. The real solution is seeking out LGBTQ+ affirming mental health professionals.
The coming year presents new challenges to LGBTQ mental health care. Given the outright attacks by the incoming Republican administration on the community in general and its transgender members in particular, we can expect significantly less Federal funding and support for mental health services.
Milwaukee’s resources include Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin Inclusion Health Clinic on the Froedtert Hospital campus, private LGBTQ+ dedicated therapists, 988 Suicide Lifeline and referral services through the LGBT Community Center among others.
Most importantly, seeking care is the first step in addressing mental health issues. Helping others (whether youth, adults or seniors) in that pursuit and offering them a supportive environment must be a community effort. As in the past, ultimately, once again our LGBTQ+ community must care for itself.
Paul Masterson is an LGBTQ activist and writer and has served on the boards of the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center, Milwaukee Pride, GAMMA and other organizations.
From the City That Always Sweeps From the City That Always Sweeps
BY ART KUMBALEK
I’m Art Kumbalek and man oh manischewitz what a world, ain’a? So how’s this new year been treating you’s so far? I don’t know if it’s just me but to be honest, just like any ol’ new year, I don’t notice a dime’s (or a dollar, inflation) worth of difference from the previous crappy year, again. But it’s got that “new” year smell that mathematical and astronomical experts predicted, so what the fock.
Yeah yeah, it’s that time of year when we’re up to our eyeballs with all kind of “prediction” malarkey, when all these so-called soothsayers come crawling out of the knobwork. “Soothsayer.” Look it up in the dictionary sometime, why don’t you. I’ll bet you a buck two-eighty it says this: “ Soothsayer — Bullshit artist of ancient times.”
And I’ll tell you’s, I recall that at the beginning of the last year, I looked back at 2023 and said it had sucked, and my crystal balls (I use two increase accuracy) told me to say that the future-2024 would also suck, but even more. Cripes, I should’ve put my money where my mouth was ’cause if I had, I’d be living the luxury life on Easy Street and lighting my Pall Malls with $100-dollar bills, what the fock.
Anyways, I ask you this: Do I dare offer my decades-long traditional top-of-the-year Look Back/Watch Out Ahead gala essay, once again?
Hey, I’ll provide the answer for you’s: Why the fock not.
Now to refresh the memories of you constant, if not always gentle, readers, (and to create new memories for the non-constant reader or never-been reader) to wit: In early January 2022, I wrote:
And now, without further ado, my “Look Back/Watch Out Ahead” essay, and remember that pithiness is the soul of brevity; so here it is for you to pith on:
The Year 2021: Sucked, jeez louise, I’m telling you, and now we got the inflation while millions of yahoo wannabe fascists still turn down the vaccine???
2022: Will suck humongously when/if these knobshine Republicans regain top-dog control of Congress.
No sir, retrospectively not hard to believe at all and so not possible to argue that kind of accuracy, I kid you not. And just so you know, I’ve been putting out these kind of essays for more than 30 years and dag-focking-nabit if I’ve ever been off the mark. For example, here from Dec. 30, 1993:
1993: Sucked.
1994: Will suck
And let’s go back to Dec. 30, 2004, when I opined:
The Year 2004: Sucked.
A Look Ahead, 2005: Will suck, even more.
And what about January 2017? Here:
The Year 2016: Sucked, but good.
Watch Out Ahead, 2017: Will suck, even more. Can you believe it? And the only surefire thing I predict is that there will be a sucker born at least every minute.
And:
The Year 2020: Sucked, but good, major big-time.
Watch Out Ahead, 2021: Will suck, even more. Hard to believe, ain’a?
So, how ’bout this:
The Year 2024: Hold on, who’s president, again? Sucked, abso-focking-lutely.
Watch Out Ahead, 2025: Will suck, even more, as we make extinction of “advanced” life-forms a thing again.
There you go. Clean, economical and near-elegant with the pith, ain’a? And that’s all I’ve got to say about that ’cause I’d like to break this off right here, right now, and do something nice for myself like crank up the thermostat and mix another hot focking toddy, after all, it’s focking January ain’a?
But over the holidays I received a very nice and much appreciated card from a faithful reader, which caused me to reflect on what a very lucky fellow I am after all. We’re into January and the “holiday season” is much considered to be done and done, except by me. No sir. As I’ve said many times, many ways, every day’s just another focking holiday to a guy like me, you betcha. Yes sir, you name the day, and it’s sureas-hell bound to be some kind of a focking holiday for Mr. Art Kumbalek. Nothing but seashells, balloons, topped with a generous dollop of you got to be jerking my beefaroni!!
So, as always, I wish that you’s all have a happy, at least relatively comfortable, new year and make a resolution that we may yet, lo, these days of age and rage, to believe that one of these days “We’ll drink a cup of kindness yet / For the sake of auld lang syne ”—hey, at my age I still like to think anything’s possible, what the fock, ’cause I’m Art Kumbalek and I told you so.
