Shepherd Express - June 2022 by Shepherd Express

JUNE 2022

IN THIS ISSUE: SUMMER ARTS GUIDE | OUTDOOR DINING GUIDE | SUMMERFEST PREVIEW

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NEWS 08 Medicaid Expansion Funds Could Help Raise the Quality of Wisconsin’s Healthcare – and Legislature 11 This Modern World 12 Can the January 6th Committee Become Another Watergate Committee? — Taking Liberties 14 LGBTQ+ Tobacco Prevention as an Intersectional Approach to Fighting Plastic Pollution — Issue of the Month 16 Richard Diaz Fights for Families with Lead Poisoning — Hero of the Month 18 “Every young person should have a mentor in their life,” says MENTOR Greater Milwaukee’s LaNelle Ramey — MKE SPEAKS: Conversations with Milwaukeeans

FOOD & DRINK 24 Solly’s Grille is a Milwaukee Classic

26 Chicken Husbandry — Flash in the Pan 28 The Best Wines You Don't Know About — Beverages

PUBLISHER & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Louis Fortis (ext. 3802) GENERAL MANAGER: Kevin Gardner (ext. 3825) MANAGING EDITOR: David Luhrssen (ext. 3804) BUSINESS MANAGER: Peggy Debnam (ext. 3832) EVENT COORDINATORS: Casey Trotter (ext. 3816) Jan Bruder (ext. 3810) ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES: Bridgette Ard (ext. 3811) Petra Seymore (ext. 3828) Tyler R. Klein (ext. 3815) SALES MANAGER: Jackie Butzler (ext. 3814) BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER: Chuck Hill (ext. 3822) IN MEMORY OF DUSTI FERGUSON (OCTOBER 18, 1971 – NOVEMBER 20, 2007)

SPECIAL SECTION

WEBMASTER: Barry Houlehen (ext. 3807)

30 Outdoor Dining Guide 39 Summerfest Preview

DIGTAL STRATEGIST: Allen Halas (ext. 3803)

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STAFF WRITER & CIRCULATION COORDINATOR: Blaine Schultz (ext. 3813)

SPONSORED BY

ART FOR ART'S SAKE 82 From the City that Always Sweeps

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Cover: Illustration by Sophie Yufa.

PUBLISHER'S LETTER

Are We Becoming Angry People?

Unfortunately, there are real reasons for people to be angry. More than half the population are truly struggling and are falling farther behind while they see the other half appearing to be living quite comfortable lives, however, more and more of these middleclass folks are also struggling. Much of rural America is really hurting. You read the various studies that show half the population cannot handle a $1,000 set back—like needing a major repair on their car that they depend on to get them to work each day. All this is occurring in the richest nation the world has ever seen where the billionaire class continues to grow, and where many of them pay little or no taxes. With respect to the anger from the individuals who have truly gotten the short end of the stick, the MAGA leaders have done an excellent job of focusing that anger away from the real issues and redirecting it toward various conspiracy theories and untruths blaming those they label as the “elites” along with religious, ethnic, racial, gender and LGBTQ minorities along with refugees.

appointees to the Supreme Court have basically misrepresented their positions on “settled law” in their confirmation hearings, won confirmation by a few votes and can now reverse a 50-year-old ruling and the will of the majority on an issue that can be life or death to some Americans. Yes, we need an honest non-political court that is governed by our constitution. Unfortunately, that is not what we have now. We have a political court. Recent polls show that only 40% of Americans have confidence in our Supreme Court. One thing we can do is to have U.S. Supreme Court justices confirmed by a two-thirds vote so we end up with less political people being rushed onto the court by people like Mitch McConnell. Unfortunately, as long as we have leaders like McConnell who is “win at all costs and to hell with the damage it does to our democracy,” it won’t happen.

SO WHAT IS HAPPENING IN WISCONSIN?

In Wisconsin, we have extreme rightwing Speaker, Robin Vos, who won his election with only about 20,000 total votes and about 6,000 more votes than his opponent in what the federal courts described as extreme gerrymandered districts. Issues like expanding Medicaid and getting an additional $1 billion from the federal government to provide more health care insurance to Wisconsin residents, or legalizing medical marijuana, supported by 80% of Wisconsin residents and important to many Wisconsinites including children with epilepsy, cannot move forward in the State Assembly because of one person, Robin Vos. Over the past year it was pathetic to see Vos, who is not a dumb guy, do a 180-degree switch in his positions because a recently defeated president demanded that he lie to Wisconsin.

THE GRIEVANCES OF THE LIBERAL, EDUCATED MIDDLECLASS

Vos correctly said that Biden won Wisconsin in the 2020 election as every examination of the election had concluded. Then Trump got wind of that and yanked Vos’ leash demanding he go down to Mara Lago. When Vos returned, he was a new boy preaching the Big Lie. Unfortunately, Vos seems to care about only two things, amassing as much power as he can for himself and using the levers of state government to assist his private businesses.

Roe v. Wade, for example, which polls show is supported by somewhere between 62% and 66% of the population, will probably be reversed or gutted by five unelected individuals on the U.S. Supreme Court. The recent

PEOPLE NEED TO SEE HOPE AND FAIRNESS

On the other side, the “elites”—the liberal, educated and professional middleclass and upper-middleclass crowd—are angry because they see American democracy being undermined. They see their elected representatives in totally safe gerrymandered districts able to completely disregard them and impose ignorant and unpopular laws on them.

constitution, such as two senators per state no matter their population, or the electoral college. If there is hope to have a decent life, people are willing to accept less than perfection in their government. In American, that hope has been education. If you work hard and play by the rules, you can get additional education whether it is technical training at an MATC or a four-year college. You have a path forward in your life. With Republicans continually cutting back on proposed K-12 funding or the fact that college is becoming unaffordable to many, people are not seeing a way forward to themselves, but more importantly, for their children. The current path in America is making the rich richer, but the majority of Americans angrier with the status quo. We can change a lot of this, not all, but we need to have fairness. First, we need to have fair elections in honestly drawn legislative districts, and an end to all the forms of voter suppression. We need to start pushing back on the lies and misinformation that is misleading a large segment of the population. We also need to provide more opportunities for a path to a decent job and a middleclass life for all our citizens. And we need to cut back the influence of the wealthy special interest groups. We definitely have some work in front of us if we want to see our democracy survive and flourish. Louis Fortis

Louis Fortis is Editor/Publisher of the Shepherd Express, and formerly taught Economics/Political Economy at Smith College and served three terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly.

Photo by Tyler Nelson

t is hard not to notice that people are angry these days, some very angry, and it’s not a personally healthy state to be in, but it is also not healthy for our democracy. People feel something is terribly wrong in America, and it is not being changed through our democratic processes of majority rule. It is dividing our nation, our communities, and our families. This dividing of America is providing an opening for demagogues and autocrats to step in with simplistic solutions that further divide us. What is different today from a few decades ago is that the grievances—along with the simplistic solutions —are being stoked by social media and by rightwing news networks like Fox News.

People need to see hope in order to tolerate actions like the blatant politicization of U.S. Supreme Court or the structural flaws in our JUNE 2022 | 7

NEWS

Photo by Aleksandr Grosmov/Getty Images.

Medicaid Expansion Funds Could Help Raise the Quality of Wisconsin’s Healthcare – and Legislature BY MICHAEL MUCKIAN

f your physician graduated from medical school with a C average, you might not want him or her to treat you. The good news is that such a low score would never happen. Medical schools, as a rule, require at least a 3.5 (or B+/A-) average for students to graduate into the residency phase of their training. Only the very best practitioners proceed and ultimately become licensed to care for patients. 8 | SHEPHERD EXPRESS

The bad news is that health care delivery systems are altogether different beasts. They may stumble or break down due lack of personnel, absence of appropriate federal and state funding and legislation, or a misalignment between patient communities and the providers and resources that should be serving them. According to the 2021 Wisconsin Population Health and Equity Report Card issued by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, part of the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, the state last year earned a paltry C based on key healthcare measures like length and quality of life for its citizens. Granted, Wisconsin is not the worst state and shares the middle ground with neighbors Iowa and Illinois, which also earned Cs, but falls behind Minnesota. At the top end sit Hawaii (length of life) and Colorado (quality of life) both graded A, while at the bottom are Mississippi (length) and West Virginia (quality), each earning an F grade. You can probably guess which population segments and educational levels tilt the scale either upward or downward in each of the states. One trait the Badger State does share with one of the F states (Mississippi and West Virginia) is that it’s also one of 13 states (including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming ) that refused expanded Medicare funds as part of the Affordable Care Act. Even very conservative states like Mike

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NEWS

Pence’s Indiana and Mitch McConnell’s Kentucky have chosen the Medicaid expansion, but not Wisconsin. In other words, rather than increase services to reach underserved populations, Wisconsin’s Republican legislature went its own way, leaving various population groups to suffer under C-grade care, or worse, depending on who they are and where they live. If we’re grading state legislatures on the healthcare decisions they make, Wisconsin’s may deserve a D or perhaps less.

GONE IN 60 SECONDS The idea of turning down additional federal health care funding of more than $1.3 billion for just 2022 in the midst of a worldwide pandemic seems thoughtless at best, but it’s also a political move that can be especially destructive to low-income communities and individuals—both urban and rural—who could most benefit from the additional care such funding would support. Most of these very red rural counties would benefit greatly. It would help keep rural hospitals from going under. Wisconsin’s Republican legislature on May 25, 2021, not only deftly dismissed Gov. Tony Evers’ recommendation, but did so in record time just to add an extra little sting to their legislative slap. Acceptance of the funding, which reaches back to 2014, would have extended healthcare benefits to an additional 91,000 Wisconsin residents by raising the income gap from 100 percent of the poverty level, then $26,500 for a family of four, to 138 percent, or $36,570. Evers’ proposals offered various ways to spend the money, including broadband expansion, lead pipe replacement and other public needs. No thank you, the state assembly and senate said, both convening and adjourning their sessions in less than a minute between the two groups without holding any debate or counting votes. Instead of joining 38 other states and Washington, D.C. who already have benefited from such funding, Wisconsin found itself relegated to a group of more conservative states not necessarily known for their progressive public service policies. Moreover, health care providers have noted that BadgerCare Plus, the state’s Medicaid program, is not as foolproof as its Republican supporters claim. “Many of our friends, family and neighbors are falling through the cracks and going without adequate coverage through no fault of their own,” Dr. Madelaine Tully, a family physician in Milwaukee County, told Wisconsin Public Radio in the wake of the legislative decision. “As a doctor, I’ve seen what happens when people go without coverage.” Tully also argued that expanded Medicaid coverage would allow for more preventive care, saving taxpayer money by avoiding more costly and invasive procedures down the line. Medicaid money not only provides health care and save lives of low-income Wisconsinites, but also saves money for all of us. How? When individuals without health insurance begin to get ill, they wait before going to a doctor or hospital because medical care is costly. Their conditions get worse. They may resort to

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emergency rooms often with conditions that have worsened from lack of care, such as a stage four cancer instead of stage one or stage two cancer. Emergency rooms are much more expensive. So, who ends up paying the bill? The hospitals must initially eat the expense. Then they cost shift and spread much of the “charity care” expenses to those who have insurance or are paying out of their pockets. Insurance companies then raise their rates to cover the costs of the care that has been shifted. This means higher rates for employers who provide health insurance to their employees or those who are paying out of their pockets. Some employers then lower the percent of the premium they pay for their employees. Basically, we are all paying for these higher costs because Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and the Republican majority in the legislature are willing to let people get seriously ill, and in some cases die, so they can try to gain political points with the extreme wing of their base. At the same time, Wisconsin legislators have excellent health insurance for themselves and their families.

SO WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN? According to a report by independent healthcare analyst KFF – the firm’s preferred acronym to its full name of Kaiser Family Foundation – states that accepted expanded Medicaid funds saw positive results in many medically related areas. Needless to say, Wisconsin wasn’t part of its positive reporting. Results from KFF’s study, Building on the Evidence Base: Studies on the Effects of Medicaid Expansion, February 2020 to March 2021, indicated that Medicaid effectively has served as a safety net especially during the pandemic and resulting economic crisis. Coverage options for adults from low-income areas are limited in states that turned down the expanded funds. Think Wisconsin’s C grade at this point. The report analyzed data culled from 200 different studies of various states’ programs, which built on a prior report which analyzed earlier results from 400 different studies. Analysts concluded that Medicaid funding expansion is linked to gains in health care coverage, including improvements in access, financial security, and some measures of health status/outcomes, and economic benefits for states and providers. Specific highlights include the following: • Medicaid expansion has led to a 3.6 percent reduction in overall mortality, and a 1.93 percent improvement in mortality rates connected to specific health conditions. • Fund expansion has led to largely positive results in treating people with cancer, chronic diseases and disabilities. Cancer patients, especially, seem to have benefitted from earlier and improved diagnoses, treatments and outcomes. • Increased funding also led to better outcomes for adults and teens with diabetes, including increased affordability for preventive care and treatment.

Photo by Aleksandr Grosmov/Getty Images.

• Access to care for substance abuse disorders also improved under increased funding. • Additional funding also helped improve access to health care in rural areas, where providers and facilities are fewer and farther between. • Surprisingly, perhaps, expanded Medicaid funding had a net positive impact on financial expenditures, including net savings in costs of other areas, such as substance abuse initiatives, mortality reductions, and significant annual health and welfare gains. In the end, the KFF study points out positive results from its analysis of nearly 600 studies, which may help states who still haven’t accepted Medicaid expansion funds take another look at the possibilities. With any luck even states like Wisconsin—with grade D health care and, apparently, a grade D legislature—might learn something useful about improving health and saving lives of its citizens.

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. Louis Fortis contributed to this article.

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NEWS TAKING LIBERTIES

Can the January 6th Committee Become Another Watergate Committee? BY JOEL MCNALLY Illustration by Michael Burmesch.

nce upon a time there was a bipartisan congressional committee investigating a terrible crime committed against America by the Republican president of the United States. After the committee revealed shocking details about the crime in live television hearings that riveted the nation, Republican leaders told their president he had to resign. He did, leaving in disgrace.

Cheney and Kinzinger were among the small Republican minority of 10 House members voting to impeach Trump for inciting the insurrection and seven Senators voting to convict him. Cheney and Kinzinger have been publicly shunned by Republicans ever since who closed ranks in support of Trump and now pretend January 6 never happened.

That certainly sounds more and more like a fairy tale after the hostility President Trump unleashed against American democracy within the Republican party. But we do know thanks to good journalism Republican House and Senate leaders Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell were just as disgusted as the rest of America by the violent mob Trump sent to attack Congress to prevent the House and Senate from certifying his defeat by President Biden.

CHENEY IS DEFIANT

But the January 6th House Committee will need to recreate the true horrors of that assault on democracy when their televised hearings begin on June 9 because the official position of the Republican party now is that the violent insurrection killing nine people and seriously injuring 140 police officers, many with permanent physical and brain damage from beatings with flagpoles, iron pipes and other weapons was simply the result of “citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse.”

WHAT DID THE PRESIDENT KNOW?

Cheney is defiantly running for re-election as Republican Wyoming’s only House member. Kinzinger decided not to run for a seventh term in a heavily Republican district. Cheney tops Trump’s hit list among Republicans he’s targeted for defeat for criticizing him. She vows to “do everything I can to make sure the former president never again gets anywhere near the Oval Office. This is not about policy. This is not about partisanship. This is about our duty as Americans.” The January 6th Committee, chaired by Mississippi Congressman Bennie Thompson, also includes Adam Schiff and Jamie Raskin, the leaders of both House impeachments of Trump, one for threatening to withhold military aid protecting Ukraine from Russia unless Volodymyr Zelensky started a criminal investigation smearing Biden during the 2020 election and the other for urging the violent mob attack on the Capitol to overthrow Biden’s election.

That’s a far cry from the Republicans serving on the 1973 bipartisan Senate Watergate Committee investigating the burglaries, illegal wiretaps and other crimes committed by President Nixon and his henchmen. Republicans considered it their patriotic duty to determine “What did the president know and when did he know it?”

REPUBLICAN HYPOCRISY

The House January 6th Committee is bipartisan because Wyoming Republican Liz Cheney, daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, and Illinois Republican Adam Kinzinger were appointed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. After initially telling Republicans Trump’s actions on Jan. 6 were indefensible, McCarthy refused to appoint any Republicans to participate in the investigation and shamelessly begged Trump’s forgiveness for criticizing him.

Most Americans probably don’t expect Trump ever to be held accountable for his crimes. They watched Trump bob and weave through one of the most personally corrupt presidencies in history filling his own pockets by using the office to funnel millions of dollars into his private businesses and cut his own personal and corporate taxes by millions more.

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Both organized powerful cases outlining Trump’s guilt, but McConnell’s Republican Senate had no intention of convicting him. After joining Republicans voting to acquit Trump for the insurrection, McConnell hypocritically denounced Trump for inciting it and encouraged the Justice Department to prosecute him.

Trump never understood why even his own family members didn’t enjoy the violent insurrection as much as he did, watching it live on television chortling over the best parts. Trump reveled that the riot was all about him. But there really is an outside chance well-crafted televised hearings by the January 6th Committee like those presented during both impeachment trials could have a major effect on voter turnout in November. The hearings will be part of a one-two punch in June reminding voters just how dangerous returning Republicans to power could be. Americans have already seen a leaked first draft of the new Trump Supreme Court’s majority decision expected in June destroying the Constitutional right of women to make their own life decisions that has existed for a half-century. Republican leaders know how dangerous the violent lunatics Trump attracted to their party really are. They were running for their lives from that crazed mob on Jan. 6 just like Democrats were. But Republicans need their votes to win back power in the midterms. But what if the dangerous lunatics decide they want to be the party’s leaders? Will we be able to tell the difference?

Joel McNally was a critic and columnist for the Milwaukee Journal for 27 years. He has written the weekly Taking Liberties column for the Shepherd Express since 1996.

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NEWS ISSUE OF THE MONTH

LGBTQ+ Tobacco Prevention as an Intersectional Approach to Fighting Plastic Pollution

BY ANNA OSTERMEIER

ach year, nearly 22 million pounds of plastic enter the Great Lakes. Plastic pollution not only harms wildlife, but also jeopardizes the health of the 48 million people who rely on the lakes for their water supply. As plastic is exposed to the elements, it breaks down into small pieces called “microplastics” and releases toxins, which make their way into the Great Lakes food chain and drinking water. The most common type of plastic litter in the world is hiding in plain sight. Many of us have become so accustomed to partially disintegrated cigarette filters scattered across popular beaches or lodged in cracks of the sidewalk, that we hardly even register them anymore. Cigarette filters are made from cellulose acetate, a type of plastic. When they wash into waterways, they not only break down into microplastics, but also release nicotine, heavy metals and other harmful chemicals. In Milwaukee alone, volunteers have picked up 40,000 smoking-related products at clean ups—equivalent to 1,500 packs of cigarettes and 2,000 packs of cigars. Even before they reach the environment, tobacco and smoking related products have deadly impacts. According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, over 16 million Americans are living with smoking-caused diseases which include cancer, heart disease, stroke, lung diseases, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Each year secondhand smoke contributes to over 40,00 deaths of nonsmoking adults. Tobacco use and exposure continue to be the leading preventable cause of death.

EDUCATION AND MOBILIZATION While these figures are startling, they present an opportunity for plastic pollution activists to address the intersecting harms to environmental and public health caused by Big Tobacco and Big Plastic. Plastic-Free MKE, Milwaukee’s grassroots movement to 14 | SHEPHERD EXPRESS

end plastic pollution, is doing just that by joining forces with the City of Milwaukee’s Tobacco-Free Alliance. Formed in 2010 by the Community Advocates Public Policy Institute, the City of Milwaukee Tobacco-Free Alliance (CoMTFA) works to “eliminate health disparities, highlight the tobacco industry’s marketing tactics, and implement effective tobacco prevention and control policy interventions” through education and community mobilization. The CoMTFA started an initiative in 2019 to combat the environmental impacts of smoking products, playfully calling the new program Hold On To Your Butt MKE (HOTYB MKE). At its inception, HOTYB MKE installed 24 cigarette receptacles across the city, and has since collaborated with other organizations and volunteers to expand receptacles and organize clean ups. Plastic-Free MKE has worked with the program to educate community members, broaden their reach to more environmental organizations, and encourage local businesses to install receptacles through their Lake Friendly program. Installing receptacles and cleaning up smoking related litter are important ways to reduce environmental harms, but it’s also important to address the source of the litter. Rather than pointing fingers at those who smoke or vape, we must look to those who have been aggressively marketing to and manipulating the public for over half a century: Big Tobacco. Tobacco companies target those who are most vulnerable and marginalized, such as members of the LGBTQ+ community. A 2019 Wisconsin survey found that 24% of LGBTQ+ residents use tobacco, compared to 15% of non-LGBTQ+ residents. Youth are especially susceptible– in Wisconsin twice as many LGB+ youth smoke compared to straight youth. Structural inequities and ongoing discrimination mean LGBTQ+ individuals face a great deal of stress and social pressures, which make it more likely they will take up smoking or vaping, according to Charlie Leonard, Coalition Coordinator with the CoMTFA.

GETTING HOOKED In Leonard’s words, “there’s a whole new generation getting hooked on nicotine through vape products.” Manufacturers and sellers of e-cigarettes (vape products) specifically target LGBTQ+ youth, marketing using the internet, retail environments, and recreational venues and events. Candy-like packaging and flavors are designed to appeal to kids, while advertisements use language like “freedom,” “choose” and “pride” to create a false sense of allyship with the LGBTQ+ community. For years Milwaukee’s PrideFest celebration accepted sponsorship from Big Tobacco, and allowed a smoking area called the Newport Pleasure Lounge where company employees handed out menthol cigarette coupons for $1-a-pack. With considerable advocacy work from the CoMTFA, this all started to change. Twenty LGBTQ+ and allied health organizations supported Milwaukee PrideFest in offering smoke-free spaces in 2017, and rejecting tobacco company funding altogether in 2018. In 2019, young members of Neu Life Community Development FACT hosted an educational booth at the festival

Photo by bennymarty/Getty Images.

to share ugly truths about Big Tobacco with attendees. The CoMTFA has also developed educational materials, including their creative video series profiling local LGBTQ+ people impacted by tobacco. The Milwaukee LGBTQ+ community is winning the fight against Big Tobacco.

SO HOW DOES THIS ALL RELATE BACK TO PLASTIC POLLUTION? The Summerfest grounds, where the PrideFest celebration is held, are located directly on the shore of Lake Michigan. That means cigarettes and vape products move from harming people on the festival grounds to harming the environment and the health of others indirectly if they reach the lake. During my time with Plastic-Free MKE as a Movement Co-Leader, we continually worked with the CoMTFA in encouraging event organizers to install receptacles and become entirely smoke-free when possible. We also directly engaged with a local LGBTQ+ youth group which was part of the CoMTFA. The strong, ongoing collaboration between Plastic-Free MKE and the CoMTFA illustrates how local plastic pollution movements should address the intersection of environmental, social justice, and public health issues, and how they can have a greater impact as a result.

Anna Ostermeier is an Americorps member serving as the sustainability coordinator for the nonprofit Milwaukee Riverkeepers and organizer of the Plastic Free MKE coalition. JUNE 2022 | 15

NEWS HERO OF THE MONTH

“actionable level” refers to the specific amount of lead one must have in their blood for the health department to respond to the problem. At the time, Wisconsin defined someone as lead poisoned if they had 20 micrograms per deciliter (μg/dL) of lead in their blood, even though the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)’s definition is only five μg/dL. That means the health department was not responding to anyone who had lower than 20 μg/dL of lead in their blood. Even then, the health department didn’t have the funds to respond to all children and families who test at 20 μg/dL. “The health department has had its struggles because it’s been under resourced,” says Diaz. “The health department gets about two percent of the city budget when the police get like half.” COLE, led by Diaz, actively worked with health department officials and advocated at the 2021 state biannual budget hearings for more money to address lead poising. Thanks to their work, the health department received $26 million from the American Rescue Plan which reduced the state’s actionable lead level to 10 μg/dL.

ADDRESSING LEAD POISONING, BOOSTING THE ECONOMY Photo by Erin Bloodgood.

Richard Diaz Fights for Families with Lead Poisoning BY ERIN BLOODGOOD

hree thousand, nine-hundred and twelve children up to the age of six were reported being poisoned by lead in Wisconsin in 2018—and that’s with a testing rate of only 10 percent of children. The fact is simple. There is not enough being done in Wisconsin to prevent lead poisoning and to help families who are being lead poisoned. “There is no safe exposure level,” says Richard Diaz, founding member of the Coalition on Lead Emergency (COLE), a volunteer-run group advocating for policy and funding to address the lead crisis. “Even the lowest blood lead levels can affect the developing brain and central nervous system having irreversible effects.” Lead exposure has been shown to cause diminished academic abilities, increased attention deficits and damaging behaviors. Unfortunately, communities of color and lower-income residents are impacted most by lead. For Diaz, this work is very personal. He has seen the impacts lead poisoning has had on loved ones who have trouble keeping jobs and have extreme behaviors. Those firsthand experiences caused him to dedicate himself to helping others with lead poisoning, which eventually led him to COLE. In 2018, he brought community groups and volunteers together, and was integral to the beginning of COLE.

As Diaz explains over and over, addressing the lead crisis will not only benefit the health of our residents, but it will boost the economy and save the state billions of dollars. “Wisconsin reports that if lead poisoning in children were completely eliminated, annually the state would save $7 billion in costs for medical treatments, special education, crime, and juvenile delinquency,” he says. COLE focuses a lot of its efforts on workforce development because removing lead from homes and water presents a huge opportunity to create new jobs and train workers. Lead service lines need to be replaced around the state and homes need to be lead abated (removal of lead-based paint), but the state doesn’t have enough trained workers to do these jobs, much less the money to pay for these projects. Recently, COLE successfully negotiated $3 million in funding to go to Employ Milwaukee, the workforce investment board of Milwaukee County. That money will allow them to recruit, train and hire 250 lead abatement workers over the course of two years. This is a big step, but not nearly enough to prevent lead poisoning across the state. “We need an army of lead abatement workers,” says Diaz. “We need those to be Black and Brown workers especially.” Our state—and this country—have a long way to go. COLE has successfully brought in millions of dollars to improve the lives of communities with lead exposure, but there are still thousands of people across the state who face this health threat. “We’re still going to organize so that families are protected,” states Diaz, “so that we have access to economic mobility for folks, and so families who are poisoned by lead are taken care of.”

Learn more about COLE at coalitionleademergency.org

THE ACTIONABLE LEVEL OF LEAD IN THE BLOOD Early on, COLE set out to lower Wisconsin’s actionable level of lead in the blood stream according to the state statute. The 16 | SHEPHERD EXPRESS

Erin Bloodgood is a Milwaukee photographer and storyteller. See more of her work on her website at bloodgoodfoto.com.

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NEWS MKE SPEAKS: CONVERSATIONS WITH MILWAUKEEANS

Photo by Tom Jenz. Illustrations by Michael Burmesch.

“Every young person should have a mentor in their life,” says MENTOR Greater Milwaukee’s LaNelle Ramey BY BY TOM TOM JENZ JENZ

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always thought of a mentor as an adult who shows an interest in a young person, takes them to sports and community events, maybe the movies, out to lunch.

Ramey has been a dedicated public and private servant for his adult life. We met at the cafe in the No Studios Arts building near the Fiserv Forum. Ramey communicates through a warm conversational style, like listening to a song that makes you feel good.

According to LaNelle Ramey, Executive Director of MENTOR Greater Milwaukee, most adults can be mentors and in almost any setting. “We believe that every young person should have a mentor in their life,” he told me.

Tell me about your background, how you were raised, your parents, your neighborhood and schooling.

One concept in mentoring holds the key: Listening with thoughtfulness and empathy. At 49 and the father of eight children,

I grew up in Milwaukee’s central city, 32nd & North,and later 49th & Hampton. My parents both worked at General Electric, but my mom later worked as a teacher

for the public schools. I have four sisters, two older and two younger. If it wasn’t for my sisters, I don’t know how I would have ended up. I went to 38th Street Elementary School on Congress, and John Burroughs Middle School, and then to the best high school in the country, Riverside University High School on Locust. I liked the diverse student population. My high school days were some of my best days, the birthplace of my social work and activism. I was very involved in the Stop the Violence campaign, went on protests, attended press conferences. After JUNE 2022 | 19

NEWS MKE SPEAKS: CONVERSATIONS WITH MILWAUKEEANS

high school in 1990, I went to Morehouse College in Atlanta, but when I found out I was gonna be a father at 19, I transferred to Marquette and eventually graduated in pre-law and criminology. Took me six and a half years because I was also working full time and being a parent. But I continued right on through to get my Masters in Public Administration.

How did you get involved in social work? I became a case manager at New Concept Self Development, a small nonprofit run by June Perry and Jerry McFadden. Under the mentorship of June Perry, I began to have aspirations of being an executive director. She taught me how to connect as an executive. I worked there for six years as a case manager, and when I left, I was a director. Then, I spent 14 years at the Boys & Girls Clubs. I started as an executive director over one club, then moved up as an area director for seven clubs. Milwaukee Boys & Girls Clubs are one of the biggest in the country. 33 locations. Some are located in MPS buildings.

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What kind of activities do the kids do at the Boys & Girls clubs? There are several core areas: education, character and leadership, sports fitness and recreation, art including acting, and healthy lifestyles. Kids find an area they love, and they participate in after school settings. In 2017, Superintendent of Schools Dr Driver, Mayor Barrett and Peter Feigin of the Milwaukee Bucks started MENTOR Greater Milwaukee. Dr Driver brought me in, and I helped do the setup of the organization. I became the Executive Director in October 2019. MENTOR Greater Milwaukee is an affiliate of the Mentor National organization. There are 26 affiliates around the country.

What exactly does the MENTOR Greater Milwaukee organization do? We are kind of the middle-man for mentoring programs throughout the greater Milwaukee area. We provide recruitment and training and also connections to organizations who are advocates. Mentoring is versatile, can be one on one, in groups, in arts programs, sports, business,

the trades. We offer the basic principles. If you want to be a mentor, we show you the different programs that align with your interests. For instance, if you’re a gardener, we can align you with programs that are working with young gardeners. That way, you are doing something you love while working with kids.

Quoting from your website: “Mentoring, at its core, guarantees young people that there is someone who cares about them, assures them they are not alone in dealing with day-to-day challenges, and makes them feel like they matter.” But what is a mentor? And how does an adult become a mentor? We believe that every young person should have a mentor in their life. Even if a young person has two active parents, they still should have another voice to confirm the parents’ values. Kids need an adult who can identify and listen to them. A mentor is a mix of a teacher and a friend. In our training, we tell prospective mentors that there are three critical elements to being

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NEWS MKE SPEAKS: CONVERSATIONS WITH MILWAUKEEANS

a good mentor: One, be open and vulnerable, two, be willing to share your experiences and what you learned, and three, be committed to cultural competency. It’s important to comprehend a child’s culture, family, neighborhood, socio economics, schooling. In all these cases, you are trying to create a relationship with the mentee. We try to get adults in influential positions to have a mentoring mindset, no matter what the venue, school, business, church, government. Let’s say you’re a manager at McDonald’s. Instead of just ordering around the young employees, you take an interest in their lives. Listen to their problems, their issues. ‘Hey, how are you doing, what was your day like?’

To summarize, if adults have relationships with youth whether it’s in a business, school or community setting, what you try to do is teach them mentoring skills. Right? Exactly. If I show you how to be a mentor on the job, you will create a relationship with the young person. In many cases, you are working with that kid for many hours. You can create trust. For example, if men-

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toring happens at work, in school, and in the community, that kid might end up with three concerned and interested adults. We do seminars on this subject. We’ve done training for Goodwill, Northwestern Mutual, the Brewers, the Bucks. And for Employ Milwaukee, the Workforce Development Board in Milwaukee County, we trained all their organizations. One hundred plus supervisors, 800 young people.

Here is a quote from you: “A mentor understands the impact of implicit and explicit bias and removes biases from situations and circumstances while working with their mentee.” What do you mean by this? This goes back to cultural competency. We tell people that everyone has biases. The goal is the elimination of bias when working with someone different than you. Years ago, we were taking a bus load of central city kids to the beach. We pulled up to Lake Michigan, and one boy asked, “Is this the ocean?” For some young people, their reach is very narrow. A mentor has to be mindful of where a young person was raised, the culture, the neighborhood, the family, even the school.

We have to do a better job of showcasing Black men as role models. Mentoring helps to do that. Mentoring provides Black male role models the opportunity to step into these spaces. We did that through our First Thursday Mentoring Program in five public schools. We bring in 15 to 20 Black men as positive role models in these schools to create positive platforms. Remember that there can also be negative mentors spreading bad influence on the streets. If I am going to be a mentor, my objectives are first, not to assume that if someone looks like me, they have the same experience I do, and second, if they do look different than me, I need to understand their story. The goal is to connect.

If you’d like to be a mentor, you can find out more at MilwaukeeMentor.com Tom Jenz writes Central City Stories for shepherdexpress.com.

JUNE 2022 | 23

FOOD & DRINK

Photo by Michael Burmesch.

Solly’s Grille is a Milwaukee Classic BY SUSAN HARPT GRIMES

hen you step into Solly’s Grille in Glendale, you’ll immediately feel as though you’ve been transported back in time. A time when good food was served simply, without all the flourishes of today. A time when counter seating, rather than a drive-thru, indicated the need for “fast food.” A time before folks were concerned about how much butter they consumed in a single meal.

When you eat at a place renowned for their burgers you should definitely order a burger. If you want to keep it simple, go for the Original Solly Burger ($7), made with a 100% sirloin patty topped with a lot of butter and their amazing stewed onions, add a slice of Wisconsin made cheese for 50 cents extra. It is possible to order it with less, or no, butter, but that may defeat the point of the Original Solly Burger, because it is pretty exceptional with lots of butter.

Photo by Michael Burmesch.

For all of these reasons, and more, Solly’s has been recognized by the James Beard Foundation with an American Classics award. The award is granted to restaurants that have stood the test of time and reflect the character of their communities with the quality of the food they serve. As only six of these awards are granted each year, it is a well-deserved honor for an establishment that has been faithfully serving up their beloved butter burger with stewed onions to hungry Milwaukeeans since 1936. Photo courtesy of Glenn Fieber/Solly's Grille.

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Other burgers of note at Solly’s include one created for the 1997 Packers Superbowl win, appropriately named the Cheesehead Burger ($14). This burger is made up of two 1/3 pound sirloin patties, smothered with stewed onions, raw onions, Swiss, cheddar, and American cheese, sautéed mushrooms, topped with an onion ring and served on a brioche bun with fries. Equally rich, but a newer addition to the menu is Solly's delicious tribute to the classic Big Boy burger ($15). This burger is also made up of two 1/3 pound sirloin patties and stewed onions, but features toasted middle bread, shredded iceberg lettuce, Solly’s own tasty version of Big Boy sauce, and American cheese, served on a sesame bun with fries. The rest of the burger menu is rounded out with several other versions and variations ($11-$15), all with plenty of that rich, rich butter, of course. Solly’s does offer options other than burgers. There are many sandwiches available ($9.50-$15) including a standout grilled cheese ($12) featuring Havarti, provolone,

smoked gouda, and butterkäse cheese all melted together into a gooey, delicious filling on grilled sourdough bread and served with chips. For the more health-minded diners, salads ($8-$13) are also available. If you are able, make sure to save some room for dessert, specifically a slice of Solly’s outstanding, homemade Door County Cherry pie ($6).

SOLLY’S GRILLE 4629 N. Port Washington Road (414) 332-8808 sollysbutterburgers.com handicapped Accessible? Yes $-$$

Susan Harpt Grimes is a longtime restaurant and features writer for the Shepherd Express.

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FOOD & DRINK FLASH IN THE PAN

Chicken Husbandry BY ARI LEVAUX

’ve raised a lot of chickens. Probably hundreds. For eggs, not meat. I give them the best lives I can, including a generous retirement plan when they reach a certain age, with free room and board, yet they rarely arrive at those emerald pastures. Precious few have lived long enough to die in their sleep. I blame myself. If you aspire to keep hens, don’t let me discourage you. The eggs are of incomparable quality, and the byproduct is rich manure that’s like steroids for your garden, which will produce plenty of weeds and garden waste that your chickens can turn into more eggs and byproduct. It’s a nutritious, virtuous circle, without the bother of a compost pile. But just know that hen husbandry is a full-contact sport. And while there are many upsides to flockster life, the eggs aren’t free, and they aren’t always sunny side up. You can order baby chicks in the mail. The little box is labeled “LIVE ANIMALS.” The post office will call you to come get them immediately, day or night. The box is full of cute little fuzz balls huddling together for warmth, perhaps standing on the bodies of their trampled comrades. If one develops a wound the others will peck at the wound until there’s nothing left to peck. Darwin would be truly impressed with baby chickens. Older hens, if given the chance, would quickly dispatch all the

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Illustration by Michael Burmesch.

chicks, neutralizing future competition like the plumed dinosaurs they are. Hens can also get a taste for eggs, causing obvious problems. And those are just some of the threats from within the flock. They will cower below the shadow of a passing hawk, but an owl strikes with more stealth. Some people think raccoons are cute, but not when they are pulling a chicken through a small hole, piece by piece. Many times I’ve run outside to smack their shiny-eyed heads with a shovel. When it’s a skunk, I keep my distance and throw the shovel, followed by any other throwable objects within reach. One night at dusk I nearly stepped on a rattlesnake, hunting eggs. Its hiss sent me running. I returned with my shovel. One might suggest that my choice of chicken farming locations has played a role in the dangers they have suffered. But chickens are never safe. If you raise hens in New York City, you probably have to fend off the rats. Huskies are chicken-killing machines. And they like to wander. Once, a husky wandered into my backyard when the hens were grazing and quickly killed them all before I could chase it off. Even the sun can kill chickens. In New Mexico one summer morning, I forgot to let the chickens out of their extremely fortified coop. When I got home that night, all but

one were cooked. A few years later while I was on vacation, a lightbulb exploded in the cold and burned down the coop. The fire department came. The house sitters were traumatized. Amazingly the chickens all survived, but that was the exception. I returned to the task of building a coop in the middle of winter. The other morning, I was on the couch with a cup of tea, and saw a fox in my backyard. A real actual fox. As in the kind of animal that you are not supposed to let guard the hen house. And presumably nowhere near the hen house. It had a huge bushy tail, and casually left the yard without appearing to notice the chickens, or so I thought. That was my cue to inspect the fence and coop for weaknesses, but its bushy tail must have hypnotized me. A few days later, four hens were dead. At the winter farmers market, I saw the farmer that sells me my chickens. I told her what happened, and she agreed to set aside a new flock. I prefer buying six-weekp-old chickens from willing, local farmers to baby chicks in the mail. Adolescents are tougher and less likely to get trampled, pecked, or picked off by the house cat. Until then, my remaining three chickens will have extra space in the avian equivalent of Fort Knox. In April my farmer friend will bring a box of teenage chickens to market for me, and the cycle continues.

Scrambled Eggs One of my favorite scenes in any food film comes from Big Night. After preparing a very important meal, capped with a magnificent timpano, the cooks finally had a chance to feed themselves. It was the simplest of meals. Eggs, scrambled in olive oil, seasoned with salt, and served with a hunk of bread. It hammers home the idea that eggs are as satisfying as the fanciest of foods. I thought I knew everything about how to scramble an egg, but I learned a lot from that scene. So here it is, the scrambled egg recipe, as best as I can tell, as prepared by Secondo in Big Night.

SERVES 1 • 2 eggs, cracked in a mixing bowl • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil • A pinch or two of salt, to taste • A section of baguette Secondo turned the pan Photo by onto high and gave it a genAri LeVaux. erous pour of olive oil. He then beat the eggs furiously for about 20 seconds, while the other hand slowly rotated the bowl, letting go and re-gripping as he turned the bowl into the circular motion of the fork. He added a pinch of salt and gave it a final stir. I know that those who believe you can’t fry in olive oil will be skeptical, as will adherents to the “low and slow” school of scrambled eggs. With this technique the high heat allows for a taut yet supple skin surrounding a perfect fluffy interior, thanks to the trapped steam. He poured the eggs into the pan and they spread out with a hiss. With a wooden spatula, Secondo began gently teasing the edges of the egg toward the middle, detaching the yellow disc and allowing him to shake it around the pan. After about 30 seconds, he gave it a casual flip, and slid the finished eggs onto a plate. Your flip need not be perfect. It’s easier than you think. If the eggs land in a crumpled pile that’s fine. Secondo slid the eggs onto plates next to torn hunks of baguette. They ate in silence. At the risk of breaking character, I garnish mine with a few leaves of parsley for color and flavor. And hot sauce, which I require on my savory egg dishes.

Ari LeVaux has written about food for The Atlantic Online, Outside Online and Alternet.

JUNE 2022 | 27

FOOD & DRINK BEVERAGES

The Best Wines You Don't Know About BY GAETANO MARANGELLI

It was night. It was summer. I was in an alley in a city in a foreign country. I was lost. I was in Bologna, Italy, meeting friends for a play. But I couldn’t find the theater. Nobody else was around me. Except for a stranger in an ochre cape closing upon me from the opposite side of the alley. “Do I look away and pass the stranger by?” I asked myself. “Or do I look up and greet the stranger?” “Buona sera,” I say to the stranger. “You’re looking for the theater,” the stranger says to me. “I’ll take you there.” As my days and weeks and months in Italy passed me by, the stranger in the ochre cape became my best friend. But I didn’t see that ochre cape again. My friend, whose name was Carmen, didn’t customarily wear clothes twice. Carmen wore a kaleidoscope of stylish clothes, and Carmen wore all of them beautifully.

Swartland, and the Coastal Region of South Africa, along with the California regions of the Central Valley, Clarksburg, Mendocino, the Sierra Foothills and Santa Barbara also cultivate quality chenin blanc wines. In the Old World and the New, chenin blanc makes wines in a kaleidoscope of styles. The colors of the chenin blanc kaleidoscope reflect the soils of where its vines are being grown, the climate of their regions, and the kinds of wines their growers like drinking. The high acidity of the chenin blanc grape makes every color in its kaleidoscope deeper, sharper, more intense. Chenin blanc appears before you. A stranger in an alley on a summer night in a foreign county. You can look away and pass the stranger by. Or you can look up and make a friend for life.

AN INTRODUCTORY PRIMER TO THE STYLES OF CHENIN BLANC

But it was more than that. Every time I saw Carmen, Carmen didn’t just appear to me. Carmen appeared to me like characters out of books and paintings and plays and movies. James Bond. Blanche DuBois. Fitzwilliam Darcy. Holly Golightly.

Dry Chenin Blanc Dry means all of the sugars of the grapes in the wine ferment into alcohol. These chenin blanc wines are bright and svelte, with aromas and flavors of green and yellow grove and orchard fruits. Cool Loire Valley regions impart their chenin blancs with honeysuckle and jasmine. Warm regions of South Africa and California, with summer melon and tropical fruit.

Chenin blanc is native to the Loire Valley of France, where the grape thrives in the regions of Vouvray, Savennières, Saumur, Anjou, and the Coteaux du Layon. The regions of Stellenbosch,

Off-Dry and Sweet Chenin Blanc Styles where the sugars of the grapes in the wine do not completely ferment into alcohol or the wine includes grapes affected

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Photo by L_R_Styles/Getty Images.

by botrytis cinerea, a mold which concentrates a grape’s flavors and sugars. These wines have viscousy textures and rich flavors of passion fruit, honey, and ginger. Sparkling Chenin Blanc Whether dry or demi-sec, chenin blanc makes the best sparkling wines which aren’t made in the regions of Champagne. Aromas and flavors of apple, pear, plum, quince, and wild summer flowers. Which Chenin Blanc The best appellations of chenin blanc to begin exploring are those of the Loire Valley. The 2019 Domaine Filliatreau Chateau Fouquet Saumur Blanc reminds me of Carmen in that ochre cape. 2019 Domaine Filliatreau Chateau Fouquet Saumur Blanc Appellation: Saumur Soils: Clay and limestone Farming: Certified biodynamic Winemaking: Natural, with additives restricted to 20 mgs. per liter of sulfur at press and 20 mgs. per liter of sulfur at bottling. Importer: Louis Dressner Selections Price: $22.99

Gaetano Marangelli is a sommelier and playwright. He was the 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.

JUNE 2022 | 29

SPECIAL OUTDOOR DINING GUIDE

Oułdoor Dining Guide

t's hard to remember but for many years, restaurants with outdoor seating were rare in Milwaukee. Since the 90's, patio dining has exploded and there's no going back. This summer as the world continues to return to normal, Milwaukee's patios may well be busier than ever before. Here are a few of our favorite places to eat outside.

ART BAR 722 E. Burleigh St. • Milwaukee (414) 372-7880 Artbarwonderland.com Art Bar’s Wonderland Diner offers delicious scratch-made comfort food with full service on our sidewalk patio for dinner, Tuesday-Sunday 4-9 p.m. and for brunch Friday, Saturday & Sunday 9 a.m.-3p.m. Photo courtesy of Art Bar.

BEERLINE CAFÉ 2076 N. Commerce St. • Milwaukee (414) 265-5644 Beerlinecafe.com Tucked in a quiet residential area just a half block from the Milwaukee River in Riverwest, watch dog-walkers, bikers and neighbors strolling by while you dine on award winning vegan/ vegetarian fare. Photo courtesy of Beerline Cafe.

BEST PLACE AT PABST BREWERY 917 W. Juneau Ave. • Milwaukee (414) 630-1609 Bestplacemilwaukee.com Historic Tours, Two Unique Event Halls for any Occasion, Vintage Beer Gift Shop. Enjoy a Cold PBR or Hot Cup of Coffee in the King's Courtyard! Have you been to the BEST PLACE? What’s keeping you? Don’t forget to stop by the best patio in Milwaukee. Visit our Tours page for updates and hours visit www.bestplacemilwaukee.com Photo courtesy of Best Place at Pabst Brewery.

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Illustration by MIchael Burmesch.

JUNE 2022 | 31

SPECIAL OUTDOOR DINING GUIDE

BOONE & CROCKETT

Photo courtesy of Boone & Crockett.

BOONE & CROCKETT 818 S. Water St. • Milwaukee (414) 212-8115 Boonemilwaukee.com Situated right at the Milwaukee and Kinnickinnic River confluence, Boone & Crockett's patio hasn’t even reached its final form. Boasting amazing views of the Hoan Bridge and Lake Michigan, it features Taco Moto food truck's permanent home, with a seasonal bar and weekly live music.

BOTANAS RESTAURANT 816 S. Fifth St. • Milwaukee (414) 672-3755 Botanasrestaurant.com In the summer, sip margaritas and munch on chips and guacamole on Botana’s open-air patio. It’s spacious enough for large groups and also perfect for a table of two. If the outdoor seating is full, request a table under the covered patio to still take advantage of a summer evening. Both options are a great way to enjoy this casual cantina that offers authentic Mexican dishes. Photo courtesy of Botanas Restaurant.

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Illustration by MIchael Burmesch.

JUNE 2022 | 33

SPECIAL OUTDOOR DINING GUIDE

BOTTLE HOUSE 42

Photo courtesy of Bottle House 42.

BOTTLE HOUSE 42 1130 N. Ninth St. • Milwaukee (414) 988-1550 Bottlehouse42.com Bottle House 42 is an approachable and modern restaurant located in the Pabst Brewing District. The Rooftop is a semi-covered patio with incredible views of the Milwaukee skyline and Deer district. Seasonal weekly specials include Wine Wednesdays and Tequila Thursdays!

CAFÉ CORAZON Multi locations in Bay View, Riverwest & Mequon Corazonmilwaukee.com The patio at each of the Café Corazon locations feels like a natural extension of the quaint, colorful restaurant interior. The Riverwest location is alongside the Beerline Trail, lending a natural backdrop for the restaurant’s bright, fresh Mexican-inspired food. At their restaurant in Bay View, you’ll find the vibrant decor adds to the welcoming atmosphere both indoors and on their patio. Photo courtesy of Cafe Corazon.

CAMINO 434 S. Scond St. • Milwaukee (414) 763-0232 Caminomke.com Camino, located in Historic Walker’s Point, is a craft beer bar and eatery. We strive to bring the freshest local ingredients possible to our unique pub menu. We’re also confident you’ll find a great beer on our well-curated draft menu. Stop by and check us out!

Photo courtesy of Camino.

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Illustration by MIchael Burmesch.

JUNE 2022 | 35

SPECIAL OUTDOOR DINING GUIDE

CRAFTY COW Multi locations in Milwaukee, Oconomowoc & Wauwatosa Craftycowwi.com Crafty Cow offers outdoor dining in unique capacities at every location. Nestled within the cozy neighborhood of East Tosa, footsteps from the lake of Oconomowoc, and surrounded by local artists' murals in historic Bay View.

Photo courtesy of Crafty Cow.

FIVE O’CLOCK STEAKHOUSE 2416 W. State St. • Milwaukee (414) 342-3553 Fiveoclocksteakhouse.com Relax and enjoy your supper club experience on our intimate patio lined with beautiful flowers and firepit. Five O’Clock Steakhouse specializes in serving award winning steaks and seafood paired with a notable wine list, classic cocktails, and outstanding personalized service. Photo courtesy of Five O'Clock Steakhouse.

GOLDEN MAST W349 N5293 Lacy’s Lane • Okauchee (262) 567-7047 Weissgerbergroup.com The Golden Mast is a family-run restaurant and special events venue that offers delicious steaks, seafood, and traditional German specialties in a truly unique setting. It’s gorgeous views of Lake Okauchee and warm European atmosphere, make it a Lake Country favorite. Classic Fine Dining, Lakeside Lounge Patio, Casual Menu, Banquets & Weddings, Marina & Boat Launch, Bay Runner Pontoon. Photo courtesy of Golden Mast Inn.

MULLIGANS IRISH PUB & GRILL 8933 S. 27th St. • Franklin (414) 304-0300 Mulliganson27th.com Enjoy lunch or dinner on their beautiful, spacious smoke-free patio that is perfect for private parties and large groups. You can also catch live music with Ian Gould each First Tuesday of the month, starting in July (weather permitting).

Photo courtesy of Mulligans Irish Pub & Grill.

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Illustration by MIchael Burmesch.

JUNE 2022 | 37

SPECIAL OUTDOOR DINING GUIDE

SALA 2613 E. Hampshire St. • Milwaukee (414) 964-2611 Saladining.com SALA, situated on a quiet street just off Downer, offers a European outdoor dining atmosphere. Without a trip across the ocean, guests enjoy fresh Sicilian cuisine, fine wine and housemade tiramisu. Sala's patio makes dining on the East Side feel like an evening in Palermo or Rome. Photo courtesy of Sala.

SANDRA’S ON THE PARK 10049 W. Forest Home Ave. • Hales Corners (414) 235-8889 Sandrasonthepark.com Come to Hales Corners for great food with a great atmosphere. Sit outside on our beautiful patio or relax in our inside dining area. Party room available for your events. Try our amazing house specialty, our must try Ribs. Delicious Friday Fish Fry. Saturday mouthwatering Prime Rib special. Food for everyone’s taste. Come try Sandra’s, you won’t be disappointed. Photo courtesy of Sandra's on the Park.

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WHO’S COMING TO AMERICAN FAMILY INSURANCE AMPHITHEATER AT THIS YEAR’S

SUMMERFEST? SUMMERFEST

Photo courtesy of Summerfest.

JUNE 23

JASON ALDEAN BY JAMIE LEE RAKE

And even as he was fashioning the template for bro’ country proponents like Brantley Gilbert, Aldean could duet with American Idol alum Kelly Clarkson a modern country equivalent of a power ballad. A more recent partnering with firebrand country traditionalist Miranda Lambert yielded an effective iteration of the heartbroken drinking song.

As he approaches his second decade in country music, Jason Aldean has proven himself both versatile and reliable bringing a sound that has sealed his brand. Debuting in 2005 in a kitsch mode with the goofy “Hicktown,” written by Big & Rich’s John Rich, Aldean quickly ramped up to more poignant fare depicting the travails of farm life with “Amarillo Sky” but wasn't above making a move like Kenny Chesney into working agricultural themes into romantic odes such as “Big Green Tractor.” Amid establishing himself as a troubadour of the agrarian heartland, the Macon native started offering up party-starting anthems including “Johnny Cash” (neither sounding like nor quoting its titular man in black), “Tattoos on This Town” and, entirely fittingly, “My Kinda Party.” With heavy guitar tones and the kind of roughneck bombast befitting the most raucous of glam metal outfits a couple decades prior, the rarely un-hatted Aldean fulfilled the lyrical prophecies of Hank Wiliams Jr. and Travis Tritt by putting rock and drive into commercial radio country to an arguably unprecedented level. Photo courtesy of Summerfest.

JUNE 2022 | 39

SPECIAL SUMMERFEST PREVIEW

JUNE 24

JUSTIN BIEBER BY JAMIE LEE RAKE

Along the way to having thrice been named one of Forbes' top 10 most powerful celebrities, he has also played well with others: his cameos on songs by Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee and Dan + Shay have resulted in, respectively, probably the most successful Spanish language songs ever on English language radio and a sizeable country music crossover.

In a business where most don’t, Justin Bieber has lived up to his hype. And it’s not like the Canadian singer's initial media buzz in the late ‘00s wasn't justified. When he was barely into his teens posting YouTube videos highlighting his mellifluous tenor voice and multi-instrumental prowess, Bieber attracted a savvy manager in Scott “Scooter” Braun. A recording deal ensued and the fan army, currently numbering upward of 40 million on Twitter alone, began to amass. Early singles rode the last wave of the tween pop that Radio Disney marketed to middle schoolers at the turn of the century. But Bieber has done well by a musical maturation into more explicitly R&B-adjacent rhythmic bangers addressing grown-up concerns like domestic love and where he buys marijuana. Photo: (Admat)

JUNE 25

LIL WAYNE, WU-TANG CLAN AND WIZ KHALIFA BY ALLEN HALAS

well. Wiz Khalifa is no stranger to the festival, though, with a 2021 show in the amphitheater alongside Miley Cyrus, and an infamous headlining slot on the ground stages in 2011 that was certainly among one of the festival’s biggest crowds of all time. No matter what generation of hip hop you claim, there’s an act for you on June 25. Photo courtesy of Summerfest.

Photo courtesy of Jason Landis.

A trio of hip hop heavyweights will take over the American Family Insurance Amphitheater to close out the opening weekend of Summerfest 2022. The bill of Lil Wayne, Wu-Tang Clan and Wiz Khalifa would be a highlight on just about any festival calendar, but the show is unique in the sense that it is the only time these three acts are together this summer. The Big Gig has done this before with hip hop, including Lil Wayne as part of a previously assembled bill with Snoop Dogg and Schoolboy Q in 2019. That show was a spectacle in its own right, and the Saturday night show is certain to be a memorable time as well. While Lil Wayne is considered the headliner here, Wu-Tang Clan will be using the Summerfest appearance as preparation for their upcoming “NY State of Mind” tour, beginning in August. It’s the legendary collective’s first appearance at Summerfest as a unit, boasting Method Man, Raekwon, GZA and many more superstars, and their first Milwaukee appearance in three years as Photo courtesy of Summerfest.

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JULY 1

MACHINE GUN KELLY AND AVRIL LAVIGNE BY ALLEN HALAS

Cleveland rapper turned pop punk poster boy Machine Gun Kelly headlines the American Family Insurance Amphitheater during Summerfest’s second weekend, and he’s bringing a resurging star from a previous wave of the genre with him. MGK is riding high, after 2020’s Tickets to My Downfall marked a dramatic shift in his sound, followed up by the recently released Mainstream Sellout. The genre overall is experiencing a resurgence, thanks in part to hybrid hip hop acts embracing the sound and nostalgia events like the When We Were Young festival, announced for Las Vegas later this fall. When he’s not comingling with fiancé Megan Fox or making cameos in Jackass Forever, he’s working with Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker on a hybrid of styles that involves the emotion of pop punk with the swagger of hip hop, creating earworm singles for the TikTok generation. Joining MGK on the Milwaukee date of the tour is Avril Lavigne, who initially made her mark 20 years ago with her Let Go album, and two decades later is touring behind comeback album Love Sux, her first release in three years. While the new material skyrocketed up the Billboard charts in February, undoubtedly many fans will be more familiar with the earlier iteration of Avril, who has reinvented her sound over the course of the last two decades. Emo-tinged rapper ian diorr will round out the show, behind the release of his On to Better Things album at the beginning of the year.

Photo courtesy of Summerfest.

JULY 2

HALSEY BY JAMIE LEE RAKE

well, that’s what a break-up—in this case, with rapper G-Eazy— can do. None of those preceding successes offered preparation for Halsey’s fourth studio album. last year’s If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power. The set delivers an emotionally complex, sonically expansive meditation on Halsey’s first pregnancy and childbirth while touching on related themes such as body autonomy.

It has been a long, fraught road from spoofing Taylor Swift to pop stardom for Halsey. As a bullied teen of multi-cultural parentage, the singer born Asley Nicolette Frangipane parodied the country-turned-pop chanteuse's fling with former boy band heart throb Harry Styles. Without many more steps between, a debut album, Badlands, hit the market and generated hits such as “New Americana.” Singing that song on an opening slot for a mid-2010s tour by anodyne pop alt rockers Imagine Dragons set Halsey up as something of a pop-stirrer in atmospheric synth pop guise, what with lyrics extolling Public Enemy’s agit-prop hip-hop and smoking dope as touchstones of commonality and nostalgia for the current generation. Featured spots on singles by Justin Bieber and the dance-pop duo The Chainsmokers’ 2016 chart-topper, “Closer,” set the stage for Halsey’s most successful single as a solo act yet, “Without Me.” If it sounded unusually tender and vulnerable coming from someone who built a reputation on toughness and cultural disruption, Photo courtesy of Lucas Garrido.

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SPECIAL SUMMERFEST PREVIEW

JULY 7

ROD STEWART BY DAVID LUHRSSEN In the early ‘70s, with his bedroom eyes framed by an explosion of blond hair, Rod Stewart was everyone’s notion of a louche British rock star. Although he toured in his own turbojet, accompanied by an entourage, he also seemed like just a mate tossing darts— and tossing back a pint—down at the pub.

before turning to the past for inspiration. In the new century, he recorded several albums of numbers from the Great American Songbook, including “They Can’t Take that Away from Me” and a duet with Cher on “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered.” He also found time to reunite The Faces and sing “What a Wonderful World” with Stevie Wonder. Stewart was knighted not only for selling records but for raising money for charities.

Now, at age 75, Sir Roderick Stewart looks back on a long and varied career. He honed his gritty, expressive voice in London’s ‘60s blues scene before becoming the powerhouse singer in the Jeff Beck Group. He divided his time in the early ‘70s between The Faces, a high-spirited hard rock band, and a solo career that melded vulnerability and affection with folk-rock arrangements on hits such as “Maggie My” and “You Wear it Well.” In the late ‘70s he became Mr. Celebrity, dating model-actress Britt Ekland and striding up the pop and disco charts with “You’re in My Heart,” “Hot Legs” and “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy.” More recent decades found him collaborating with Sting and Bryan Adams on “All for Love” and recording songs by Oasis and Primal Scream Photo courtesy of Denise Truscello.

JULY 8

BACKSTREET BOYS

influences the Top 40 today. As they have matured into manhood and other boy bands have emerged, BSB have maintained higher profiles than many of their peers such as being the boy band with the most Billboard Top 10 albums.

BY JAMIE LEE RAKE

Boy bands had been around before Backstreet Boys and their presence on pop charts the world over continues today. But the global reign of BSB from the mid-1990s into the turn of the century may represent a highwater mark in the idea of a group of young men assembled by family ties or friendship singing commercial songs directed primarily at adolescent girls. Two of the original Boys, Brian Litterell and Kevin Richardson, are cousins. Manager Louis Pearlman's savvy molded and guided the quintet's raw talent into the kind of R&B-adjacent, often danceable sound and imaging that captured the hearts, imaginations and disposable incomes of legions of girls and not a few boys, from backstreets or elsewhere, too. Calculation in maneuvering BSB from a professional European launch to U.S. and global dominance didn’t make for cynical music, however. With the contributions of international pop maestros such as Max Martin, Denniz Pop and other producers, the group fronted a glimmering sort of maximalist sound that still Photo: (Admat)

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JULY 9

THOMAS RHETT BY JAMIE LEE RAKE

Photo courtesy of Summerfest.

It’s likely not Thomas Rhett’s fault that he simply exudes “nice.” With a beard that’s not too scruffy and not too groomed, his photogenic social media magnet of a wife and their passel of kids, Rhett embodies the kind of gregarious thirtysomething with whom it would be easy to start up a conversation at a bar or, at least as likely, a Little League game. Rhett also turns out to be the kind of nice guy fit to become one of the biggest hitmakers on country radio for going on a decade. If that niceness also means that Rhett’s repertoire of #1 singles includes a tendency to shiny pop—including a go at unreconstituted disco—that have done him no favors among country traditionalists, true enough. But on his sixth and latest album, Where We Started, he sounds to be inching toward his music’s roots. Having a writing hand in most every one of the songs probably has something to do with Rhett’s increasing textural depth but so might his willingness to sing about subject matter outside of his wheelhouse of inveterate romantic, family man and second-generation country singer (his dad is ‘90s star Rhett Akins). Especially affecting is his reminiscence of singing for and commiserating with death row inmates.

FOR MORE ARTICLES ON SUMMERFEST AND BANDS PLAYING THIS YEAR’S FESTIVAL, VISIT SHEPHERDEXPRESS.COM.

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SUMMER ARTS GUIDE JUNE - AUGUST 2022

American Players Theatre Set for 2022 Season BY MICHAEL MUCKIAN Photo courtesy of American Players Theatre - americanplayers.org

he Spring Green company’s 2022 season’s nine productions run in repertory from June 11 through Nov. 20 in both the traditional Hill Theater as well as The Touchstone, APT’s intimate “black box” theater, offering a wide array of classics from a variety of eras. Here is a schedule of productions through the end of summer: • The Rivals by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Love and wealth collide in this 18th century comedy of manners, which features the delightful Mrs. Malaprop assuring everyone that the course of true love never runs smoothly. Opens in the Hill Theater June 11. • Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. In the 19th century, women often suffered under social mores regarding the dispensation of property and money, and so do the characters of this charming romance. Opens in the Hill Theater June 17. • The River Bride by Marisela Trevino Orta. Two sisters struggle with the challenges of love, but their points of view change when their father literally fishes a man out of the Amazon River in this lyrical fable. Opens June 17 in the Touchstone. • Hamlet by William Shakespeare. The Bard’s greatest drama comes to life under the direction of APT company member 46 | SHEPHERD EXPRESS

James DeVita, who helms this familiar tale of deception, infidelity, treachery, and other family values. Opens June 24 in the Hill Theater. • The Brothers Size by Tarell Alvin McCraney. Two brothers— one a hard worker, the other an ex-con—come together in conflict in their Louisiana Bayou home in this expressive tale. Opens June 28 in the Touchstone. • A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. The classic, much revered story of growing up Black on Chicago’s south side in the 1950s e involves a sudden influx of wealth that changes a family’s lives in ways they don’t expect. Opens Aug. 5 in the Hill Theater. • Love’s Labour’s Lost by William Shakespeare. APT Artistic Director Brenda DeVita directs one of the Bard’s earliest comedies. • The Moors by Jen Silverman. In this whimsical send up of the Bronte sisters, a governess arrives at a remote manor house, only to discover there are no children to govern. Opens at The Touchstone on Aug. 13.

For more information and tickets, visit americanplayers.org. Icon illustrations by goodvector/Getty Images.

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ACACIA THEATRE COMPANY

BOULEVARD THEATRE

CHARLES ALLIS ART MUSEUM

acaciatheatre.com

milwaukeeboulevardtheatre.com

charlesallis.org

ALFONS GALLERY

BREW CITY OPERA

alfonsgallery.org

brewcityopera.wixsite.com

THE COMPANY OF STRANGERS THEATER

ALL IN PRODUCTIONS

BRONZEVILLE ARTS ENSEMBLE

allin-mke.com

facebook.com/BronzevilleArtsEnsemble

AMERICAN PLAYERS THEATRE (APT)

BRONZEVILLE CENTER FOR THE ARTS

americanplayers.org

bcamke.org

APERI ANIMAM

CABARET MILWAUKEE

aperianimam.com

facebook.com/cabmke

thecompanyofstrangerstheater.com THE CONSTRUCTIVISTS theconstructivists.org CONCORD CHAMBER ORCHESTRA concordorchestra.org CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY cuw.edu ARTS @ LARGE

CARROLL COLLEGE THEATRE

artsatlargeinc.org

carroll.edu

“We Will March Forever,” through June 30 “From Drums to Drummers/Sam Kacala,” June 4

COVERED BRIDGE ART STUDIO TOUR cedarburgartistsguild.com

CARROLL PLAYERS carrollplayers.weebly.com

R.A.T.M.A.N. Open Jam, June 10

Green Day’s American Idiot, June 9-12, 17-19

AURA THEATRE COLLECTIVE

CARTHAGE COLLEGE THEATRE

auratheatre.com

carthage.edu/fine-arts

BACH CHAMBER CHOIR

CATEY OTT DANCE COLLECTIVE

DANCECIRCUS dancecircus.org DANCEWORKS PERFORMANCE MKE danceworksmke.org DAVID BARNETT GALLERY davidbarnettgallery.com

bachchoirmilwaukee.com

cateyott.com

“Out of the Darkness, Into the Light,” through July 15

BEL CANTO CHORUS

CATHEDRAL OF ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST

The Barnett Gallery is crowded with art, the walls covered in paintings and prints, and spare spaces occupied by sculptural objects. The eclectic collection speaks to owner David Barnett’s wide-ranging love for visual art. The current exhibit, selected from the gallery’s collection of 6000 artworks, explores the extremes of human emotion from fear and anxiety to happiness and serenity. (David Luhrssen)

belcanto.org BLACK ARTS MKE

stjohncathedral.org Wednesday Concert Series

marcuscenter.org/series/black-arts-mke Black Arts Fest MKE, Aug. 6, Summerfest grounds BLACK HOLOCAUST MUSEUM abhmuseum.org BOERNER BOTANICAL GARDENS boernerbotanicalgardens.org Meet the Artist Series: Laura Easey-Jones, June 4 BOMBSHELL THEATRE CO. bombshelltheatre.org Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, June 24-July 2

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CEDARBURG CULTURAL CENTER cedarburgculturalcenter.org “The Printmaking of Paul Yank and His Studio Artists” and “The Art of Claudette Lee-Roseland,” through June 5 Youth Plein Art Contest, June 10-22 Best of Bluebird Café Open Mic Night, June 18 CEDARBURG PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

DEAD MAN’S CARNIVAL facebook.com/Dead-Mans-Carnival Music circus variety show, June 3, Miramar Theater EARLY MUSIC NOW earlymusicnow.org

cedarburgpac.com CHANT CLAIRE CHAMBER CHOIR chantclaire.org

EX FABULA exfabula.org

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GROHMANN MUSEUM msoe.edu/grohmann-museum “Familias Unidas: Tribute to the Migrant Farm Worker Labor Movement in Wisconsin,” through Aug. 21 GROVE GALLERY gallerygrove.com HAGGERTY MUSEUM OF ART marquette.edu/haggerty-museum The Greater Milwaukee Foundation's Mary L. Nohl Fund Fellowships for Individual Artists, June 10-July 31 HARLEY-DAVIDSON MUSEUM harley-davidson.com Photo courtesy of The Fox & Beggar Theater.

FALLS PATIO PLAYERS

FLORENTINE OPERA

fallspatioplayers.com

florentineopera.org

FESTIVAL CITY SYMPHONY

FOX & BEGGAR THEATER

festivalcitysymphony.org

p “The Lonesome Spectacular: A New

FIRST STAGE

Circus-ish Show About a Lot of Things,” June 16, Kadish Park

firststage.org FRANK JUAREZ GALLERY fjgmke.com FRANKLY MUSIC

Last Stop on Market Street, through June 12 The idea that there might be magic in anything can be cloying, especially in a children’s show. Last Stop on Market Street swiftly avoids unearned sentimentality. Director Johamy Morales breathes a genuine sense of wonder into a production that manages to pack the rich diversity of a metropolitan area into the endearing warmth of a story unafraid to look into urban poverty. (Russ Bickerstaff)

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Building a Milwaukee Icon: HD’s Juneau Ave. Factory, continuing Tsunami Motorcycle Display, continuing H. F. JOHNSON GALLERY OF ART carthage.edu/art-gallery HOVER CRAFT HYPERLOCAL MKE hyperlocalmke.com

franklymusic.org

INSPIRATION STUDIOS ART GALLERY

FRESH COAST JAZZ FESTIVAL

“Different Strokes,” June 4-26

freshcoastjazz.com

Photo by Paul Ruffolo. Photo courtesy of First Stage.

“Off-Road Harley-Davidson,” continuing

inspirationstudiosgallery.com

Pabst Theater, Aug. 26–27

IRISH CULTURAL AND HERITAGE CENTER

GALLERY 218

ichc.net

gallery218.com Gallery Night & Day, July 15-16

JAZZ GALLERY CENTER FOR THE ARTS jazzgallerycenterforarts.org

gallerynightmke.com GREENDALE COMMUNITY THEATRE greendaletheatre.org Mary Poppins, July 28-Aug. 6

Icon illustrations by goodvector/Getty Images.

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KACM THEATRICAL PRODUCTIONS kacmtheatrical.weebly.com KETTLE MORAINE SYMPHONY kmsymphony.org KO-THI DANCE COMPANY ko-thi.org LAKE ARTS PROJECT lakeartsproject.com LATINO ARTS, INC. latinoartsinc.org “Big Idea IX: Visual Voices,” June 24-Aug. 19 LILY PAD GALLERY WEST lilypadgallery.com Lilith’s Lair and Other Stories of Deception, 2011 © Siona Benjamin, courtesy of Jewish Museum Milwaukee

LYNDEN SCULPTURE GARDEN lyndensculpturegarden.org JEWISH MUSEUM MILWAUKEE

JOHN MICHAEL KOHLER ARTS CENTER

jewishmuseummilwaukee.org

jmkac.org/home.html

p “Beyond Borders:

“Lee Hunter: Cosmogenesis,” through Aug. 7

The Art of Siona Benjamin” Colorful and drawing from pop art as well as East Indian traditions, the art of Siona Benjamin is as multifaceted as her life. The Indian-American-Jewish artist was raised in largely Hindu and Muslim Mumbai, where she attended Roman Catholic and Parsi schools before coming to the U.S. Through transcultural images she seeks to navigate “feelings of inclusion and exclusion and the notion of ‘home’” as well as fostering “dialogue about cultural and racial differences between religions and within Judaism.” (David Luhrssen)

“Sarah Zapata: A Resilience of Things Unseen,” through Aug. 28 “Archive Dive: Eccentric Machines,” through Sept. 25 “Woody De Othello: Hope Omens,” through Sept. 26 “In the Adjacent Possible,” through March 26, 2023

MAD ROGUES madrogues.com MARCUS PERFORMING ARTS CENTER marcuscenter.org Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, through June 5 Potted Potter, June 7-12 David Sanborn, June 10 Menopause: The Musical, June 14-19 Jersey Boys, July 22-23 MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY THEATRE marquette.edu/communication/ theatre-arts.php MASTER SINGERS OF MILWAUKEE mastersingersofmilwaukee.org MATERIAL STUDIOS + GALLERY materialstudiosandgallery.com MEMORIES DINNER THEATRE memoriesballroom.com MENOMONEE FALLS SYMPHONY

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MILWAUKEE MUSAIK milwaukeemusaik.org MILWAUKEE OPERA THEATRE milwaukeeoperatheatre.org L’Orfeo, June 9-12 (Calvary Presbyterian Church) MOT will present a new English-language adaptation of Monteverdi’s 1607 L’Orfeo, one of the first operas ever composed. As usual, MOT is collaborating widely with help from the dazzling early music vocal ensemble Aperi Animam, and includes a cast of 16, plus an orchestra of period instruments (harpsichord, viola da gamba, theorbo, violin, sackbut, and recorder/cornetto). (David Luhrssen) MILWAUKEE REPERTORY THEATER milwaukeerep.com Christy Matson (American, b. 1979), Rose Knot Variation, 2020. Linen, paper thread painted with acrylic and spray paints, and wool. The Art Institute of Chicago, Textile Society Acquisition Fund, 2020.270. Image courtesy of Volume Gallery.

MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM

MILWAUKEE CHAMBER THEATER

mam.org

milwaukeechambertheatre.org

“Shifting Perspectives: Landscape Photographs from the Collection,” through July 3

p “Currents 38: Cristy Matson,” through July 17 While weaving is as old as civilization, new technology is enabling artists to make woven pictures in novel ways. On display at the Milwaukee Art Museum is recent work employing digital technology allowing the artist, Christy Matson, to control each thread on her loom. This enables her to paint threads in acrylics and watercolors with pinpoint determination and manipulate the materials with previously impossible exactness. (David Luhrssen) “Distinctive Individuality: George Mann Niedecken’s Milwaukee Interiors,” through Sept. 25 “Always New: The Posters of Jules Cheret,” June 3-Oct. 16 “Convoy of the Wounded: An Artist’s Experience of War,” opens Aug. 5 MILWAUKEE BALLET milwaukeeballet.org

MILWAUKEE CHILDREN'S CHOIR milwaukeechildrenschoir.org MILWAUKEE COMEDY milwaukeecomedy.com MILWAUKEE ENTERTAINMENT GROUP milwaukeeentertainmentgroup.com MILWAUKEE FESTIVAL BRASS mfbrass.org MILWAUKEE FRINGE FESTIVAL mkefringe.com Aug. 27, Marcus Center for the Performing Arts MILWAUKEE INSTITUTE OF ART & DESIGN miad.edu MILWAUKEE MAKERS MARKET milwaukeemakersmarket.com June 19, Discovery World July 17, Discovery World August 21, Discovery World

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Murder on the Orient Express, through July 1, Quadracci Powerhouse

Photo courtesy of Angela Ingersoll.

“Get Happy: Angela Ingersoll Sings Judy Garland,” through July 1, Stackner Cabaret “Funny, I have hard time recalling a time without Judy Garland in my life,” says Angela Ingersoll, the star of “Get Happy,” coming to the Milwaukee Rep’s Stackner Cabaret in May. Ingersoll earned an Emmy for the PBS broadcast of her production and won acclaim—and several awards— for her performance as Garland in Peter Quilter’s musical End of the Rainbow. In “Get Happy,” she will sing a bevy of songs from Garland’s repertoire, including the melancholy “The Man that Got Away,” the jolly “Trolley Song” and—of course!—the yearningly hopeful “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” (David Luhrssen)

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MILWAUKEE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA mso.org Strauss & Schumann, June 10-11 Ode to Joy: Beethoven’s Ninth, June 16-19 In 1980s Western Europe, television stations signed off each night on a stirring note. The European Union’s anthem, “Ode to Joy,” sounded as the flags of each member nation materialized on screen to form a circle of harmony. Beethoven might have liked that. “Joy,” the setting for a poem Schiller, comes from what has been called “the mightiest of Beethoven’s symphonies,” music drawing on hope for progress and human dignity. By the time of the Ninth’s 1824 premiere, the composer was deaf and couldn’t hear his triumph of the major key over the minor. (David Luhrssen) MILWAUKEE YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA myso.org MILWAUKEE YOUTH THEATRE milwaukeeyouththeatre.org

Three Yellow Moretti Vases, 2006. Acrylic on paper, 36 x 48 in. Lent by the family of Marion Coffey. Image courtesy of Museum of Wisconsin Art and the family of Marion Coffey.

MORNING STAR PRODUCTIONS

MUSEUM OF WISCONSIN ART

morningstarproductions.org

wisconsinart.org

MOWA ON THE LAKE (ST. JOHN’S ON THE LAKE)

Khari Turner, “Mirroring Reflection,” through July 10

NEXT ACT THEATRE

p “Marion Coffey: The Art of Color,” through July 10

NŌ STUDIOS

Milwaukee native Marion Coffey always planned to be an illustrator, artist and printmaker, and her sea of accomplishments is testament to her extensive talent, intellectual curiosity, and expressive nature. The one thing Coffey never accomplished during her lifetime was being honored with her own dedicated exhibition. The Museum of Wisconsin Art has, at long last, rectified that shortfall. “The Art of Color” is a showcase of vibrant colors, natural scenery and visual chronicles of her travels to Europe and Africa. Coffey, who passed away in 2011 at age 87, once said, that she painted images “not exactly how they may look, but how I see them.” (Michael Muckian)

nextact.org

nostudios.com NORTH SHORE ACADEMY OF THE ARTS facebook.com/ northshoreacademyofthearts

Photo courtesy of Morning Star Productions.

Escape from the Gulag, June 4-5, June 10-12

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MOWA | DTN (SAINT KATE-THE ARTS HOTEL)

Icon illustrations by goodvector/Getty Images.

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NORTHERN SKY THEATER

OIL GALLERY MILWAUKEE

PORTRAIT SOCIETY GALLERY

northernskytheater.com

oilmilwaukee.com

portraitsocietygallery.com

Fishing for the Moon, June 15-Aug. 27, Peninsula State Park

OPTIMIST THEATRE

In this lighthearted romp, the War Between the States becomes a musical comedy set in rural Wisconsin, a place where the cows are mistaken for soldiers. Fishing was the first collaboration by Fred Alley and James Kaplan, the team that created the popular Lumberjacks in Love and Guys on Ice. (Morton Shlabotnik) Love Stings, July 16-Aug. 26, Peninsula State Park Dad’s Season Tickets, June 23-Sept. 3, Gould Theater Sunflowered, Sept. 9-Oct. 29, Gould Theater OCONOMOWOC ARTS CENTER oasd.k12.wi.us Cinderella, June 5 5678 Dance in Color, June 17-18

optimisttheatre.org Twelfth Night: Or, What SHE Will, June 18-Aug. 7 (at various outdoor locations) OUTSKIRTS THEATRE facebook.com/outskirtstheatre OVER OUR HEAD PLAYERS overourheadplayers.org The Roommate, through June 11

“This major exhibition by Milwaukee based artist Ricard Knight presents an interplay of wall objects, sculptures and paintings that bind meaning to the castaway parts of material culture,” explains Portrait Society’s Deb Brehmer. The exhibition by Lauren Semivan “features new photographs that offer synchronism between the eternal and the everyday.” (David Luhrssen) PRESENT MUSIC

PENINSULA MUSIC FESTIVAL

presentmusic.org

musicfestival.com

26 Little Deaths, June 23-24, Jan Sterr Studio

Aug. 2-20, Door Community Auditorium, Fish Creek For this year’s season finale, PMF will present pianist Juho Pohjonen. The accomplished Finnish musician and recording artist will perform “Nordic greats” including Grieg, Sibelius and Nielsen. The Symphony Series will also feature a variety of noted conductors and soloists. (Morton Shlabotnik) PENINSULA PLAYERS peninsulaplayers.com The Rainmaker, June 14-July 3 Write Me a Murder, July 6-July 24 In this Edgar Allan Poe award winner by British playwright Frederick Knott, a perfect crime is devised on a stately English estate. The author is a mystery writer who may not realize where the plot is headed. According to the New York Times, Write Me a Murder builds steadily, amusingly and suspensefully and reaches a swift and convincing climax.” Knott’s work was adapted for several classic films, including Dial M for Murder and Wait Until Dark. (David Luhrssen)

“A is for Amy who fell down the stairs, B is for Basil assaulted by bears …” So begins “The Gashlycrumb Tinies,” one of the “volumes of moral instruction” by Edward Gorey. A darkly sardonic, Edwardian depiction of childhood perils, the humor is cut with pathos (“ … Z is for Zillah who drank too much gin”). Carla Kihlstedt song cycle inspired by “Gashlycrumb,” 26 Little Deaths, receives its world premiere from Present Music. “She’s a one-of-a-kind talent, singing/ playing and writing” says PM’s Cartistic Director Eric Segnitz. “She's had some pretty big bands in the past (Tin Hat Trio, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum) that cover a lot of ground stylistically. I particularly love the album Tin Hat did of e.e. cummings works—so good.” The program will also include “Omie Wise” by Bryce Dessner of the rock band The National; “Bladed Stance” by Brazilian composer Marcos Balter; and an early Present Music commission, “Cheating, Lying, Stealing.” by David Lang, (David Luhrssen)

Ripcord, July 27-Aug. 14

“Interplay: Kentridge & Miller,” July 6, Milwaukee Art Museum

I and You, Aug. 17-Sept. 4

QUASIMONDO PHYSICAL THEATRE

PIANOARTS pianoarts.org North American Piano Competition, June 1 58 | SHEPHERD EXPRESS

“Richard Knight: Walking with a Purpose” and “Lauren Semivan: A Map Both Distant and Concrete,” June 3-July 23

quasimondo.org

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RACINE ART MUSEUM ramart.org “RAM Showcase: Abstraction,” through June 11 “Playful/Pensive: Contemporary Artists and Contemporary Issues,” through July 16 “In the Round: Vessels and Object from RAM’s Collection,” through July 30 “Blurry Boundaries: Contemporary Artists, Imagination, and the Spaces Between,” through Aug. 27 “Precedents: Past Meets Present in Contemporary Glass and Clay,” through Sept. 24 “Fool the Eye: Addressing Illusion in Contemporary Art,” through Sept. 24 RACINE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA racinesymphony.org Photo by Michael Steinbach - Bach Photography. Donna (Bryanna VanCaster), Tanya (Samantha Sustachek), and Rosie (Vanessa Schroeder-Weber) strike a Donna and the Dynamos pose. Courtesy of Racine Theatre Guild.

RACINE THEATRE GUILD

SCULPTURE MILWAUKEE

racinetheatre.org

sculpturemilwaukee.com

p Mamma Mia!, through June 12

“There is this We,” through Fall 2022

The peppy 1975 ABBA hit inspired British playwright Catherine Johnson to compose a storyline around a string of the Swedish group’s Euro-pop hits—“Dancing Queen,” “Knowing Me, Knowing You” et. al.—in the jukebox musical that enjoyed one of the longest runs ever on the West End and Broadway. And if Broadway ticket prices make you want to sing “SOS”—and you’ve seen Meryl Streep several times in the lively 2008 Hollywood adaptation—here’s a chance to enjoy the production on stage and close to home. (David Luhrssen)

“Nature Doesn’t Know About U,” opens in June

Into the Woods, July 15-31

skylightmusictheatre.org

RENAISSANCE THEATERWORKS

SOUTH MILWAUKEE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

r-t-w.com Rose: An Intimate Evening with Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, through June 5 SAINT KATE - THE ARTS HOTEL saintkatearts.com

SHARON LYNNE WILSON CENTER FOR THE ART wilson-center.com American Company of Irish Dance Presents Aisling, June 11 Guitar Fest with Tab Benoit, Aug. 13 SKYLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE

southmilwaukeepac.org Music at the Market, Thursdays June 25-Oct. 6, Milwaukee and 11th avenues, South Milwaukee Disney’s The Jungle Book Kids, July 16 Into the Woods Jr., July 29-31

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THIRD AVENUE PLAYHOUSE, STURGEON BAY

UW-MILWAUKEE PECK

thirdavenueplayworks.org

SCHOOL OF THE ARTS

Slow Food, through June 5

uwm.edu/arts/events

The Book Club Play, June 26-July 24 SUNSET PLAYHOUSE

The Last Five Years, Aug. 7-Sept. 11

sunsetplayhouse.com

Jason Robert Brown’s 2001 play debuted in Chicago before gaining traction Off-Broadway and being adapted as a film in 2014. The musical’s history of a married couple’s relationship—in non-chronological order—has become a staple in contemporary theater. (David Luhrssen)

An Inspector Calls, June 2-19 An affluent London family is celebrating the engagement of their daughter when their dinner is interrupted by a knock on the door. It’s a police inspector who grills the family members with increasingly disconcerting questions about their personally and socially uncaring or destructive behavior. The play by Britain’s J.B. Priestley was made into a 2015 film and returns to the stage this summer at Sunset. (David Luhrssen) Broadway Blockbuster Singalong, June 8-12 ABBA & Friends Tribute, June 13-14

UWM UNION ART GALLERY agallery@studentinvolvement.uwm.edu UW-WHITEWATER CROSSMAN GALLERY uww.edu UW-WHITEWATER THEATRE uww.edu

THRASHER OPERA HOUSE, GREEN LAKE

VAR GALLERY & STUDIOS

thrasheroperahouse.com

vargallery.com

Green Lake Festival of Music: LunArt Chamber Music Collective, June 10

VILLA TERRACE DECORATIVE ARTS MUSEUM

The Suffers, June 11

villaterrace.org

JD Simo, June 18

“In the Park with Olmsted: A Vision for Milwaukee,” through Sept. 25

TORY FOLLIARD GALLERY

Café Sopra Mar, Sundays from June 5-July 17

Rock This Town!, June 26

toryfolliard.com

Jayne Taylor, July 2

“Ben Grant: Re Signed,” through June 3

Broadway’s Best Summer Stars Cabaret, July 10

“Jeanette Pasion Sloan: New Paintings,” June 4-July 9

Newsies, July 14-Aug. 7

UPAF

Newsies Jr., Aug. 12-14

upaf.org

VILLAGE PLAYHOUSE villageplayhouse.org VOICES FOUND REPERTORY

Ride for the Arts, June 5 THEATRE GIGANTE theatregigante.org

UW-PARKSIDE THEATRE

THEATRICAL TENDENCIES

uwp.edu/the rita/ theatreperformances.cfm

voicesfoundrep.com WALKER'S POINT CENTER FOR THE ARTS wpca-milwaukee.org “Featured Member Exhibition Series: Jerry Styberg,” through July 1

theatricaltendencies.com

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Icon illustrations by goodvector/Getty Images.

MORNING GLORY ART FAIR

Photo courtesy of Wisconsin Craft.

WAREHOUSE ART MUSEUM

WEST PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

thewarehousemke.org

nbexcellence.org/community/westpac.cfm

WATER STREET DANCE MILWAUKEE

WILD SPACE DANCE

waterstreetdancemke.com

wildspacedance.org

Illuminate, June 10-11, Broadway Theatre Center

WINDFALL THEATRE

WAUKESHA CIVIC THEATRE waukeshacivictheatre.org Mamma Mia!, June 3-19 What began as an ebullient 1975 hit by Europop sensation ABBA became inspiration for the 1999 jukebox musical by Britain’s Catherine Johnson, adapted into a peppy 2008 film with an all-star cast. Yes, there was a movie sequel, and the momentum-attention has helped make Mamma Mia! one of the most prevalent musicals on stages throughout the world. (David Luhrssen)

windfalltheatre.com WISCONSIN CRAFT wisconsincraft.org

p Morning Glory Art Fair, Aug. 13-14, Fiserv Forum plaza WISCONSIN LUTHERAN COLLEGE CENTER FOR ARTS AND PERFORMANCE wlc.edu WISCONSIN MUSEUM OF QUILTS & FIBER ART wiquiltmuseum.com

Wisconsin Philharmonic String Quartet, June 4

“Midwest Views: SAQA Exhibition Pat Kroth,” through July 24

Outskirts Theater Co. Mocktail Hour, July 8

WISCONSIN PHILHARMONIC

Children of the African Dance, Aug. 20 WEST ALLIS PLAYERS

wisphil.org WOODLAND PATTERN BOOK CENTER woodlandpattern.org

westallisplayers.org

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HEAR ME OUT DEAR RUTHIE | SPONSORED BY UW CREDIT UNION

FINDING YOUR OWN PRIDE DEAR RUTHIE, It seems the meaning of “pride” has changed over time, and I’m not sure how I feel about it. What do you think pride means exactly nowadays?

SINCERELY,

Prideful Peter

DEAR PETE, If you ask me (and you did), the meaning behind pride has grown over the last few decades. When pride celebrations originated, they were a way to encourage the coming out process and communicate the need for equal rights. The goal behind pride marches and parades was to let the world know that LGBTQ+ folks were here to stay. “We’re here, we’re queer, get used to it,” was a popular mission statement we chanted for years. In time, pride festivals celebrated steps taken toward equality, honored those who fought the AIDS epidemic, revered earlier generations and strengthened a growing community. Today, pride month pays respect to all of these aspects of pride; however, the meaning behind pride movements continues to expand. I believe that current pride fests encourage folks to discover their true selves and live the lives they were born to live. This month, celebrate what pride means to you. Relish our strides toward equality! Honor those who came before us! Come out to family and friends! Live your true life! It’s all good. It’s all pride. It’s all positivity. Simply celebrate pride as it means to you!

XXOO

Ruthie

Have a question for Ruthie? Want to share an event with her? Contact Ruthie at dearruthie@shepex.com. Follow her on social media, too! Facebook: Dear Ruthie | Instagram: RuthieKeester | Twitter: @DearRuthie

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DEAR RUTHIE BROUGHT TO YOU BY

Ruthie's Social Calendar JUNE 2 THROUGH JUNE 4 MILWAUKEE PRIDEFEST AT SUMMERFEST GROUNDS (200 N. HARBOR DRIVE): The biggest, best and brassiest LGBTQ+ bash in state is back in full swing this year. Catch me and BJ Daniels during the “Throwback Thursday” show at 8 p.m. at the Dance Pavilion. See www.pridefest.com for tickets, lineups and more.

JUNE 3 RIDE WITH PRIDE AT HOUSE OF HARLEY DAVIDSON (6221 W. LAYTON AVE.): The world’s largest LGBTQ+ motorcycle run roars through Milwaukee with this popular event. Registration starts at 3 p.m. with the ride starting at 4:30 p.m. MR. & MISS LACAGE PRIDE PAGEANT AT LACAGE NITECLUB (801 S. SECOND ST.): There are a few crystal hats up for grabs at LaCage. Watch contestants vie for the crowns during this posh 9 p.m. event.

JUNE 5 MILWAUKEE PRIDE PARADE (S. SECOND ST, AND W. GREENFIELD AVE. TO S. SECOND ST. AND W. OREGON ST.): Pride is back! That’s the theme of this year’s pride parade, finally making its return to Second Street. The parade steps off at 2 p.m., but Second Street bars open for outdoor antics late morning, so get to your favorite hot spot early and nab a spot on the sidewalk. COMEDY DRAG SHOW AT THIS IS IT (418 E. WELLS ST.): Campy queens take the stage for a night of laughs. A perfect way to close out the weekend, showtime is 6 p.m. followed by the Pride Ball at 10 p.m.

JUNE 10 “LEGENDS LIVE” DRAG SHOW AT SAINT KATE ARTS HOTEL (139 E. KILBOURN AVE.): The “Legends of Drag” exhibit has taken residence at Saint Kate, featuring several Wisconsin icons (and me!). Check out the photographs by Harry James Hanson and Devin Antheus, then watch the legends perform during an 8 p.m. show. See www.wisconsinart.org/events for tickets.

JUNE 17 CRAFTS & LAUGHS (AND DRAG QUEEN BINGO) AT DRESDEN CASTLE (3775 E. UNDERWOOD AVE.): Join me for bingo, prizes, and more during this makers market that offers everything from crafts to comedians. I start yanking (bingo) balls at 6 p.m.

JUNE 18 DRAG QUEEN STORY HOUR AT LINCOLN PARK (1965 W. FAIRMOUNT AVE.): This family-friendly event spotlights acceptance, love and positivity. The 1-3 p.m. story time encourages all to come as themselves and enjoy the afternoon. THE SISTER’S BEER GARDEN AT SAINT JOSEPH CENTER (S. 29TH AT ORCHARD ST.): The sisters are back at the beer garden! Enjoy craft beers, wine, live music, food, games and more during the 4-8 p.m. party.

JUNE 27 DRAG BRUNCH AT THE DOCK (2400 N. LINCOLN MEMORIAL DRIVE): Party at the beach like never before when you enjoy brunch, cocktails and queens. Part of Bradford Beach’s monthlong pride celebration, the outdoor affair requires reservations via 847-660-0141. JUNE 2022 | 65

HEAR ME OUT | SPONSORED BY UW CREDIT UNION

Pride 2022

A YEAR OF CELEBRATION AND RENEWED POLITICAL ACTIVISM BY PAUL MASTERSON

his year’s Pride Parade, the first since the COVID pandemic essentially shut down life as we know it in March 2020, announced its official theme “Pride is …”, encouraging participants to fill in the blank with an appropriate response. While those responses could span a spectrum from “Pride is Personal” to “Pride is Universal”

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Photo by Michael Burmesch.

and almost anything in between, in these days of relentless attacks from the right on LGBTQ equality, I believe “Pride is a Political Act.” As it happens, for Wisconsin’s LGBTQ community, Pride 2022 marks some significant historical moments in our progress to equality. It is the 25th

Anniversary of the annual June PrideFest at Henry Maier Festival Park. The move there in 1996 was a significant achievement not only for the Milwaukee’s LGBTQ community but also for the city itself that, by including PrideFest in the lakefront festival line-up as part of World Festival’s Inc, raised its embrace of equality for all. To its great credit, through

Background by SophonK/Getty Images.

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HEAR ME OUT | SPONSORED BY UW CREDIT UNION

community support and the dedication of its volunteers, PrideFest has weathered not only the pandemic but sundry pitfalls along its history while other major festivals including African World Festival, Indian Summer and Arab World Fest have faltered under similar pressures and disbanded. Festa Italiana, meanwhile, has cancelled its 2022 event. PrideFest has evolved from its earliest iteration, an event in 1988 called a “Lesbian–Gay Celebration” with its theme “Rightfully Proud.” While it had the classic festival amenities, it also included a town hall meeting with politicians. Today, those politicians appear on the stage for the PrideFest Opening Ceremony in support of the city’s LGBTQ community. Mayor Cavalier Johnson, Milwaukee’s first elected Black mayor, made history in 2018 while an alderman as the lead sponsor of the city’s ban on conversion therapy for minors, a debunked practice that seeks to change a child’s gender identity. In recent years, ever more LGBTQ political candidates have run for local office and won. Most recently, Peter Burgelis became our first gay Milwaukee County Supervisor.

WHEN WISCONSIN TOOK THE LEAD The most important of this year’s anniversaries, however, is the signing of Assembly Bill 70 by Governor Lee Dreyfus in February 1982. The bill was the first in the nation to make illegal the practice of state and private businesses discriminating against LGBTQ people in employment and housing based on

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their sexual orientation. The saga of its passage began 15 years prior, in 1967, when Milwaukee’s Black state legislator and civil rights activist Lloyd Barbee introduced the first bill to decriminalize homosexuality. In 1971, he introduced another bill to protect the gay and lesbian population from job discrimination. It would take another 15 years for the efforts of State Representative David Clarenbach and activist Leon Rouse to assemble the political forces to convince Wisconsin lawmakers to support LGBTQ rights as outlined in AB 70. With bipartisan support the bill passed in February 1981 and, despite eleventh hour attempts to persuade Governor Dreyfus to veto it, it was signed into law on Feb. 25 of the following year. That Pride exists is the result of decades of political activism beginning long before the Stonewall Uprising that marked a turning point in the history of the LGBTQ struggle for equality. AB 70 was Wisconsin’s contribution to that struggle. In today’s political climate such a bi-partisan effort to grant rights to a marginalized group would be impossible. In fact, in Wisconsin and across the nation there are those who would take away our rights in an instant and are actively trying to do so. We cannot pretend that our celebrations do not come from political activism and should never deny the reality that “Pride is a political act.” Today’s activists are

continuing the fight. Perhaps when we consider what “Pride is …,” we should also consider what Pride is not: Pride is never returning to the closet and letting hate win. Meanwhile, ever more Pride events are taking place locally and throughout Wisconsin. Most take place during Pride Month but others are scheduled throughout the summer. Information about upcoming Pride dates may be found on social media. Here are a few select Pride events beyond our main Pride Weekend celebrations: In Milwaukee: • June 1 -5: Pride at This Is It, • June 3: La Cage 2022 Pride Pageant, • June 12: Castaways’ Leather Pride at Hunty’s In Wisconsin: • June 4: Wausau Pride • June 11: Pride Prom, LGBT Center of SE Wisconsin’s “magical new event” • July 10: Kenosha Pride 10th Anniversary • September dates TBA: NEW Pride Alive, Green Bay

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.

Background by SophonK/Getty Images.

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HEAR ME OUT | SPONSORED BY UW CREDIT UNION

LGBTQ+ Progress Award Winners

LGBTQ+ Progress Awards Presenting Sponsor:

Established in 2015 by the Shepherd Express, the LGBTQ+ Progress Awards recognizes individuals, businesses and organizations that have, through their long-term community engagement—from arts and culture to philanthropy and from activism to health and education—contributed to the progress of equality, human rights and quality of LGBTQ life in Milwaukee and Southern Wisconsin. This year’s LGBTQ+ Progress Awards will be held on Aug. 4 at Saint Kate—The Arts Hotel. For more information, visit shepherdexpress.com/shepherdevents.

THE FOLLOWING ARE THE 2022 RECIPIENTS: PIONEER OF LGBTQ PROGRESS: GARY HOLLANDER, PHD As founder and decades-long president of the capacity building organization, Diverse & Resilient, Hollander advanced LGBTQ health, focusing on underserved and marginalized Black, brown, and indigenous communities.

Sponsored by:

ACTIVISM: ELLE HALO Trans advocate and activist Elle Halo has become a prominent leader in the struggle for social and racial justice as well as LGBTQ rights.

Sponsored by:

ARTS & CULTURE: KAREN VALENTINE (AKA MICHAEL JOHNSTON) Coming out in 1978 Johnston immediately became engaged in the community and over the decades has worn many hats (and wigs) as an LGBTQ press columnist, fundraiser, philanthropist, volunteer, mentor and, of course, as drag icon Karen Valentine.

Sponsored by:

EDUCATION: GRETA VOIT Greta Voit, a science teacher at Waukesha North High School, is a long-time Gay-Straight Alliance advisor. She is a fierce advocate for just schools and queer kids in Waukesha.

Sponsored by:

HEALTH: HOLTON STREET CLINIC For 30 years a nonprofit community health service, Holton Street Clinic conducts awareness and outreach programs and provides evaluation, diagnosis and treatment of STI and HIV.

Sponsored by:

BUSINESS: PENZEY’S SPICES A local purveyor of both flavorful and political spice, Penzey’s has long been on the forefront of social justice with its unapologetic attacks on homophobia and racism as well as financial support for civil rights related causes.

Sponsored by:

EQUALITY: LESBIAN ALLIANCE OF METRO MILWAUKEE Since 1989 LAMM has represented the Milwaukee lesbian community, advocating for lesbian rights and awareness as well as providing social, health and education support to its members and the community at large.

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Sponsored by:

Background by SophonK/Getty Images.

JUNE 2022 | 71

CULTURE

This Month in Milwaukee 8 THINGS TO DO IN JUNE BY ALLEN HALAS, SHEILA JULSON, DAVID LUHRSSEN AND BLAINE SCHULTZ THURSDAYS THROUGH JUNE 16

JUNE 11

Big Beat MKE The Wicked Hop Big Beat MKE returns for the Thursday head-to-head producer battles. A beat battle consists of three one-minute rounds, in which two producers play original beats that are either pre-recorded or performed live on stage. No vocal tracks are allowed, other than sampling. After the three rounds, judges from the Milwaukee music scene will determine who moves on to the next round of the tournament. Producers are judged on sound quality, composition, and crowd response. Each night features two head-to-head battles, as well as two performances from Milwaukee hip hop artists.

Ayre in the Square Catalano Square

Photo by Allan Hallas.

JUNE 4

Photo taken by Shepherd Express Staff.

Wisconsin Cannabis Expo Wisconsin Center The Expo will feature more than 50 exhibitors such as dispensaries, apothecaries, edible makers, growers and entrepreneurs specializing in hemp marketing and specialty products. Representatives from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, along with advocacy organizations, will be in attendance. Guests will have opportunities to sample and purchase cannabidiol (CBD) and hemp products. Speakers and panel discussions will cover topics such as legalization, the health benefits of cannabis and navigating the hemp industry. Visit wicannabisexpo.com. JUNE 10-11 Strauss & Schumann Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra Bradley Symphony Center Robert Schumann, an impulsive embodiment of German Romanticism, injured his hand while training his fingers for virtuosity on piano. He compensated by becoming one of the era’s great composers. Schumann’s obsessive love for his much-younger wife Clara, inspired music seething with passion and its flipside, depression. Double billed with Schumann’s Fourth Symphony is Richard Strauss’ study of hard-won hope, Metamorphosen, composed during the last months of World War II. Ken-David Masur will conduct with pianist Awadagin Pratt in the spotlight. JUNE 10 R.A.P. Ferreira and BLAX Cactus Club A pair of Milwaukee-born touring hip hop acts will return home as R.A.P. Ferreira (formerly known as Milo) and BLAX will bring their “10,000 Miles of Fragrant Flowers” tour to Cactus Club. Known for experimental raps and unconventional production structure, Ferreira has become a national standout in the alternative hip hop scene, bolstered by his 2021 release, The Light Emitting Diamond Cutter Scriptures. On the contrary, BLAX is a throwback to the days of straightforward, lyrical rapping, sure to make any hip hop purist nod along. 72 | SHEPHERD EXPRESS

Now in its 10th year of existence, the Ayre in the Square concert series at Catalano Square has grown as a community event in the Historic Third Ward. The free monthly concert series features an afternoon of live music from local and regional acts, including June’s installment, with sets from Bisca Rae, Tigera, Catelyn Picco and more. There’s no better way to spend a sunny afternoon in one of Milwaukee’s most picturesque neighborhoods than with a picnic and some great live music. JUNE 16 Purity Ring Turner Hall Ballroom If you prefer your electronic music with a bit of techno-pageantry and just a touch of doom, Purity Ring is not to be missed at Turner Hall Ballroom. The duo is known for bringing elaborate stage shows on tour, fitting the aesthetic of a mystical underworld augmented by big synths and hard hitting percussion. The band are touring behind their 2020 album Womb, with another EP already in the works. Rescheduled from this past November, this show will shake Turner Hall Ballroom to its foundation. JUNE 25 Milwaukee Punk and Hardcore Summer Jam X-Ray Arcade All things heavy seem to pass through Cudahy’s X-Ray Arcade, and that will be the tone for a big afternoon and evening of punk and hardcore on June 25. Headlined by Big Laugh, there are 11 bands on the bill, for a $15 ticket. The patio will also feature a free cookout and vendor village with tables from Shock Treatment Tattoo, Blast Radius, Resonating Zine and Gothsconsin. It’s a good old fashioned punk party, so don’t miss your chance to mosh the day away. JUNE 25 The Smithereens/Marshall Crenshaw Summerfest, Briggs & Stratton Big Backyard Back in March, the Smithereens with Marshall Crenshaw were set to play the Northern Lights Theater. The gear was set up onstage. But at the box office, fans ready for a night of music were greeted with the news that due to illness the show was abruptly cancelled. Four months later Milwaukee gets another chance when the tour rolls back into town, this time at the Big Gig. Background photo by AlinaMD/Getty Images.

BAY VIEW To advertise on this page, contact BRIDGETTE at 414.292.3811 or bridgette@shepex.com

JUNE 2022 | 73

LIFESTYLE OUT OF MY MIND

Reconciling Our Deep Divisions BY PHILIP CHARD

y college years were a time of social unrest, war, protests and hate. Sound familiar? Vietnam was in full swing, as was the peace movement, and Americans were divided along sharp lines in either supporting or opposing the war. Some protests turned violent. Infamously, several students demonstrating against the war were shot dead by National Huard troops. All the while, the civil rights movement was underway, and feminism was taking root. Simultaneously, prior societal norms about hair, clothes, music, drug use and behavior, which were decidedly more conservative, began unraveling. The cultural spasms were palpable, often dividing family and friends. So, when I recently attended my college reunion, many of my former classmates and I mentally immersed ourselves in that earlier epoch. Those who organized this event were wise to include time and presentations encouraging us to openly discuss what it was like to live through that period in our nation’s history while still in our formative years. Most importantly, there was no effort to sugar-coat our divisions or ignore the past, but, rather, to look deeply into those experiences and at ourselves within them. To me, this seemed a particularly salient happening. Given the

deep divisions and rancor now erupting across our body politic, looking back at the tumultuous days of my college years also felt like peering into the nature of our dilemma today. Our current national conundrum seems to be testing Lincoln’s assertion that “A nation divided against itself cannot stand.” And the war of words between the factions in my college class seemed to do the same. Would those who vehemently opposed and, too often, disrespected each other ever find a path to reconciliation? Would the divergence of our beliefs prove too extreme to ever allow a rejoining of hands? Well, as serendipity would have it, I was about to find out.

REMEMBER THE HAWKS AND DOVES? One of our reunion events was a lecture by a history professor who, while considerably younger than us, became fascinated with the Vietnam War. He’d done his research and treated us to insightful back stories about the chain of events and players that led America into war. Seated next to me was a former classmate, David, who had been my ideological adversary in the sparring over Vietnam. On several occasions during our college years, we squared off in heated debates before the student body. I doubt there were two other students on campus back then who were more different in their political views than him and me. In the parlance of the time, we were hawk and dove, respectively. When the lecture was finished, a compatriot of mine in the peace movement shared his guilt and regret that we doves hadn’t done more to respect and support the soldiers who were in and returning from Vietnam. Some zealots on our side of the fence called them “baby killers,”

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while most of us simply turned a cold shoulder. That was wrong. Soon after, David expressed his remorse over having supported the war, going so far as to state, “I have blood on my hands.” When he’d finished, I put my hand on his arm and thanked him, saying, “It takes great courage to say those words.” Reconciliation. Of course, this chain of events left me wondering if those of us so divided against one another today will ever find a way to reach for each other again. I’d like to believe that, but America is clearly bifurcated by a political and ideological civil war. Will we find the courage that David displayed that day? I recall how, in 1913, some of the Confederate and Union combatants who fought in Pickett’s Charge, were called back to the battlefield at Gettysburg to re-enact that bloody day, absent the carnage. When the rebels reached the line of Union veterans, many embraced, weeping, while others ceremoniously exchanged battle flags. Mortal enemies were transformed into icons of kindness and mutual respect. Must that be so far out of reach for us now in this time of peril? Will we let the voices of division and hate, no matter their political pedigree, convince us to fear and despise each other? I want to think we’re better than that. I’d like to believe we will find a way to have our own reunion.

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.

Illustrations by vadimmmus/Getty Images. Background by Merydolla/Getty Images.

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LIFESTYLE OPEN HOUSE

Photos by Michael Burmesch.

Andrea Zysk transformed her 2.5-car garage into a bar to entertain friends.

This Milwaukee Garage Is Simply “Wunderbar!” MEET THE HOMEOWNER WHO TURNED A LITTLE BIT OF EXTRA SPACE INTO THE NEIGHBORHOOD’S MOST POPULAR BAR. BY MARK HAGEN

ilwaukee’s Andrea Zysk thinks outside the box, or, in this case, outside the rec room. A desire to beat the pandemic blues led Zysk to transform her southside Garden District garage into a neighborhood pub. “When COVID hit, I decided to utilize my garage to create a safe outdoor place for small groups of friends,” she explains.

Zysk already had a tiny bar in her 2.5-car garage but started to enhance the area in 2020. “The original bar was a kitchen island, two bar stools and a small fridge. When a friend suggested I expand the garage bar, I thought it was a great idea.” In fact, Zysk credits a lot of her bar’s development to friends. “People were so excited about the concept, they’d 76 | SHEPHERD EXPRESS

contact me about bars, stools and beer signs they found,” she says. “For example, a friend found a large bar on Facebook Marketplace for $90. It took four of us to move it to my house since it’s so heavy, but it’s perfect. “The owner of Club Charlie’s gave me some bar stools he had in storage as well as a few bar signs and glasses,” she adds. “When I stopped at the Drunk Uncle in West Allis, I told the owner about my garage bar and showed him photos. He gave me several things, including a New Glarus sign, a bar mat and a sleeve of coasters.” While the décor of the bar came together somewhat easily, the shiplap-like walls were more cumbersome. “Since lumber was expensive, I decided to use wood

from pallets,” Zysk says. “My friend found 50 free pallets and rented a trailer to pick them up. It took us two days to cut the pallets apart and pull out all the nails.” Plywood sheets were fixed to the garage’s studs, and the pallet wood was nailed on one piece at a time.

WELCOME TO WUNDERBAR Every good bar needs a good name, and this homemade hot spot is no exception. Ultimately, Zysk decided on a name that pays homage to her late, German-immigrant father. “My dad passed away when I was 21,” she shares. “He was very social and loved a good time. He built a bar in the basement of our family home, and we had some memorable parties there.

Background by olga_hmelvska/Getty Images.

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LIFESTYLE OPEN HOUSE

Photos by Michael Burmesch.

“I remember him saying things were ‘Wunderbar,’ which means ‘wonderful’ in German. l liked that it had ‘bar’ in the word, and it just felt right.” Zysk asked a friend to design a logo, a sign was made and Wunderbar was born.

The final result is a cozy spot where Zysk entertains. “The bar has a welcoming feel. I have an active neighborhood and people stop and ask questions about it,” she adds. “They seem to love it.”

A wooden monarch also hangs in the bar to commemorate Zysk’s mother. “I bought it from The Butterfly Man in Adams, Wisconsin. “When my mom passed in 2015, I felt we had some sort of connection through butterflies,” she notes. “When I first looked at this house, a giant monarch was in a bush, and I felt it was a sign. The butterfly in the bar is for her.”

Interested in transforming your garage into a neighborhood pub? Zysk has some sage advice. “Take your time,” she says. “It took me awhile to gather all the right beer signs and find stools that were the perfect height for the bar.”

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IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME

Zysk closes her bar for winter, parking her car in the garage instead. Consider how winter will affect your garage bar and plan accordingly.

Most important, Zysk recommends simply using your imagination. “If you have a garage, shed or any space you can turn into an entertainment space, go for it,” she suggests “If you have an imagination, you can create it! “It’s really a fun project, and a great place to hang out,” she adds. “I always have music playing and cold shots on deck, and I encourage singing. If the garage door is open, we're partying!”

Mark Hagen is a décor enthusiast whose house has been featured in numerous publications. His work has appeared in Fresh Home and Your Family magazines.

Background by olga_hmelvska/Getty Images.

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LIFESTYLE CANNABIS

| SPONSORED BY RA!

Employment Status Can Limit Access to State-legal Marijuana BY JEAN-GABRIEL FERNANDEZ Illustration by Michael Burmesch.

.S. Navy personnel recently received surprising news as the food giant PepsiCo released a new caffeinated drink, Rockstar Unplugged. This new drink “will cause you and your Sailors to pop-positive on drug tests,” the Navy warns. What may sound like an oddity is really a symptom of a societal dysfunction that limits access to legal marijuana to millions of people because of their employment situation. There is now a large majority of Americans who live in states where at least some marijuana—mostly medical—is legal. There are far more than 200 million Americans who live in areas where testing positive for marijuana is not proof of illegal behavior. Only 13 states, including our very own Wisconsin, are still considering medical marijuana illegal. A failed marijuana drug test becomes meaningless in a state where recreational marijuana is legal or if the person in question was legally entitled to access their state’s medical marijuana program. In most states, employees in the private sector exist in a gray area, as employers can choose to tolerate legal marijuana use in their employees’ free time, or they can choose to fire them for it. NORML reports that 21 states have provisions to protect employees from employment discrimination on the basis of legal marijuana use in their free time. However, the nature of at-will employment dictates that employees are, in fact, devoid of any actual protections since employers can simply lie about the reasons justifying a lay-off. Beyond access to the drug marijuana, be it medical or recreational, there is an entire industry dedicated to federally legal hemp. Since the 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp, which is just

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another word for cannabis, only Delta-9 THC (which stands for tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive component of cannabis) is banned. All strains of the plant with low Delta-9 THC content, as well as all products using other cannabis components, are legal by default. Delta-8 THC, THC-O, CBD and other cannabinoids have been prospering throughout the nation, even in states that choose to ban marijuana, because those products have little to no Delta-9 THC. Some of these are psychoactive, others are just relaxing or anti-inflammatory, but all are legal in every state. This has led to a trend of incorporating legal cannabinoids in foods, drinks and more. PepsiCo’s new drink, Rockstar Unplugged, contains hemp seeds and herbal blends, following this trend of using cannabis as a food supplement. And this is what causes problem for millions of Americans.

FEDERAL EMPLOYEES ARE NOT ALLOWED TO PARTAKE There is one category of the population that does not benefit from the legal marijuana market: federal employees. High-THC cannabis is still illegal at the federal level. It is a Schedule I drug, the harshest category under the Controlled Substances Act, so testing positive for it is grounds for termination or worse, among workers in the employ of the federal government. In a notice recently published in the Federal Register, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services clarified that this applies even if it is medical marijuana prescribed by a doctor in one of the 37 states where medical marijuana is legal. “A physician’s authorization or medical recommendation for a Schedule 1 controlled substance is not a legitimate medical explanation for a positive drug test result,” the notice reads.

That is not the worst of it yet. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), “passive exposure to marijuana smoke and ingestion of food products containing marijuana are not acceptable medical explanations for a positive drug test result,” either. In other words, testing positive for marijuana for any reason, including by accident and through entirely legal, benign actions, still counts as a major offense. This is extremely stringent, given that marijuana is a unique substance when it comes to testing. Through urine testing, most drugs are only detectable for a few days after ingestion. Someone could go on a cocaine binge, take a week off then have their urine test negative. But that same person might test positive for marijuana despite not touching any cannabis in months. THC binds itself to fat particles and remains in the body in amounts sufficient to trigger a positive drug test result for up to three months after the last ingestion. This is why Navy service members were warned to avoid the new Pepsi drink; even the potential trace amount of THC in the drink could lead to a positive urine test weeks later. “Sailors and Marines are prohibited from using any product made or derived from hemp, including CBD, regardless of the product’s THC concentration, claimed or actual, and regardless of whether such product may lawfully be bought, sold, and used under the law applicable to civilians,” the Navy told their service members. This applies to other branches of the armed forces as well, barring potentially millions of Americans from using even federally legal and state legal CBD products. There are roughly two million civilians employed by the U.S. government aside from military personnel targeted by this policy. None are allowed to partake in the nationwide craze for legal cannabis products, and all ar at risk of turning up a false positive in a drug test because some company incorporated a form of legal cannabis to their products. Currently, military service members could be punished by dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay, and confinement for up to five years for marijuana use. Being drunk on duty carries a much lighter punishment, with a maximum of nine months of confinement and a bad conduct discharge, which is much less severe than a dishonorable discharge. Sanctions for being drunk off-duty are even lighter, while punishment is extremely severe for service members who were high on marijuana off-duty … or, indeed, for service members who drank a hemp seed energy drink off-duty. One effort exists to address this injustice. Rep. Anthony Brown (D-MD) authored a bill, the Restoring Equity For Offenses Related to Marijuana (REFORM) Act. It aims to align punishments for marijuana use with punishments for alcohol use. It only addresses part of the issues relating to federal oversight of marijuana use among their own workers, but progress has to start somewhere.

Jean-Gabriel Fernandez is a Milwaukee journalist with a Ph.D from the Sorbonne, France’s top university.

JUNE 2022 | 81

ART FOR ART'S SAKE

From the City That Always SweEps

’m Art Kumbalek and man oh manischewitz what a world, ain’a? And cripes, can’t hardly believe it’s June already, which means, what with the global warming and climate change and the first day of summer coming up like a bad burrito, we’re now into that time of year where my five most favorite words are “cold front on the way,” I kid you not. And just so you’s know, the month of June is named after the Roman goddess Juno, and from my toe-tip into the waters of research, she was “the god of marriage and childbirth, and the wife of Jupiter, king of the gods.” No mention of Jesus and his clan involved in the naming of calendar dates and such, what the fock. But this Juno must’ve been some kind of hotsy-totsy to be the sixth-month-of-the-year calendar girl for, lo, these thousands of years, you think? Yes sir, love and marriage with the June, that popular time of year for young ladies to become new brides; and their boyfriends to become new grooms, whether they like it or not. And so June, as the years pass, does become the month for anniversaries, the remembrance pleasant, or bittersweet (divorce court), as in this little story: So this guy goes to the Wizard of all Knowledge to ask him if he can remove a curse he’s been living with for the past 40 years. The Wizard says, “Perhaps. But you will have to tell me the exact words

that you believe were used to put the curse on you.” Without hesitation, the man says, “I now pronounce you man and wife.” Ba-ding! But that’s not the kind of thing you newlyweds of this month need to hear. You want to hear something uplifting and hunky-dory. Something along the lines of what the great lexicographer Samuel Johnson said when he heard of a friend getting married for the second time after his first wife croaked, and remarked how he found that admirable ’cause it celebrated the spirit of hope over experience. Kind of a nice thought, isn’t it? Since none of you’s happy couples have invited me to your matrimonial shindigs, even for the open bar portion, where I could’ve wished you all the blah-blah best in person, I did a little research to find some bright words of wisdom about the wedded state I could pass on to you through this essay. I checked the Bible and you can just imagine the kind of gas they were passing on the topic. Of course, they’d be all gung-ho on marriage back when a wedding cost next to nothing. For christ sakes, think what you’d save on the reception alone. You wouldn’t have to pay a photographer since the snapshot had yet to be discovered; and a band? Hey, how much you think a couple guys tooting on potato pipes would’ve run you? You tell me. What the Bible had to say sounded trite and contrived to me and I figured you already heard it all before, anyways. Then I came across a couple things from the ancient Greeks. One, a proverb, “Marriage is the only evil that men pray for,” and the other from some guy named Hipponax out of the 6th century B.C.: “Two days are the best of a man’s wedded life: The days when he marries and buries his wife.” Kind of sexist for this day and age, so I kept researching. I leapt ahead a couple thousand years to Helen Rowland in 1922’s Guide to Men, “A husband is what is left of a lover, after the

82 | SHEPHERD EXPRESS

Wizard photo by jgroup/Getty Images.

BY ART KUMBALEK

nerve been extracted”; Ambrose Bierce wrote in The Devil’s Dictionary, “Bride, n. A woman with a fine prospect of happiness behind her.” What the fock? Sheesh. I thought of Shakespeare. He’s known for having a way with words and I found this of his from Twelfth Night: “Many a good hanging vents a bad marriage.” Can’t argue that, ain’a? None of the quotes I found had anything good say about marriage, which turns out to be the same thing I could’ve said myself on the subject in the first focking place—nothing good. So you’re on your own. Looks like you’ll have to come up with something good to say about marriage yourselves. Don’t worry, you got a whole lifetime to find it but since you’re married, it’ll only seem like two lifetimes. Ba-ding! And with June comes the Father’s Day, ’natch. And if you’re too focking cheap to spring for a gift for the old fart, how ’bout make a nice homemade card with a quote from no finer writer there ever be again than dear Mr. Yeats from near Dublin, celebrating his 157th birthday on June 13 as best he can: I have certainly known more men destroyed by the desire to have a wife and child and to keep them in comfort than I have seen destroyed by drink and harlots. You betcha, and as for me, yes, then, of fathers, of sons, this time of year, I’ll be seeing you, as the song goes, in all the old familiar places, in every lovely summer’s day; I remember you, ’cause I’m Art Kumbalek, and I told you so.

Shepherd Express - June 2022

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