Five reasons I love Milwaukee!

McKinley Beach and the skyline of Milwaukee

Nearby nature and the arts combine for a high quality of life

Recently Milwaukee Magazine, for which I write a column called Urban Wilderness, asked contributors to list reasons why we love Milwaukee. My slightly amended answers are listed below. The magazine used one of my own photos to illustrate the first of my answers and then a couple of stock photos after that. I’ve included all of my own photos in this version—as you would expect! 

Warnimont Park, Milwaukee County Parks, Cudahy

1. Lake Michigan. Not only does Milwaukee have public beaches and parkland for a front yard in its downtown but also miles of lakefront parks that stretch the length of Milwaukee County.

Milwaukee River Greenway, view north from Locust St. Bridge

2. Four rivers. All four of Milwaukee’s rivers—the Milwaukee, Menomonee, Kinnickinnic and Root—have been endowed with parkways that enable citizens to hike and bike long distances in natural settings.

The Big Bang over the Calatrava wing of the Milwaukee Art Museum

3. Calatrava. The newly improved Milwaukee Art Museum is the place to go to for outstanding art, and even after 16 years the Calatrava wing with its kinetic roof still seems like a miracle—a very worthy setting for fireworks!

The tropical dome in winter, Mitchell Park Conservatory

4. The Domes. The Mitchell Park Conservatory is the best place to go when the weather is lousy; of course they need to be repaired!

The Marcus Center for the Performing Arts

5. The theater scene. Milwaukee has so many theatrical offerings it’s impossible to keep up with them all: the Milwaukee Rep, Pabst Theater, Renaissance Theater, and Next Act, to name just a few.

Scenic Route: MKE in Riverside Park

In fact, on occasion my favorite things overlap, as in this performance of “Scenic Route: MKE” wherein the dancers used Riverside Park and the Milwaukee River as a stage.

The original version of this story was posted by Milwaukee Magazine on April 12, 2017.

To see more reasons why I love Milwaukee go to my Flickr albums.

"We Are Water" draws a diverse crowd to Bradford Beach to celebrate Milwaukee's waters

There was music, poetry, puppetry, art and invocations of the spirit on Bradford Beach last Sunday evening. It was the third in what has become an annual event called "We Are Water" organized by the Milwaukee Water Commons. Billed as a "celebration of Milwaukee's waters," the event has become a mini-arts festival as well as a meditation on the importance of water to Milwaukee and all life on earth.

Jahmes Finlayson and Dena Aronson got things going with some lively drumming...

...as well as a ritual libation: reflections on water and life while pouring Lake Michigan water onto the sand.

True Skool entertained the crowd with a rap about water.

Three young artists with Still Waters Collective gave an impassioned spoken word performance.

Off to the side of the beach members of Exfabula set up a roving interview station and recorded water stories told to them by volunteers from the audience.

Margaret Ann Noodin, faculty member at UWM, gave everyone a lesson in Ojibwe...

...as member of the Overpass Light Brigade, with help from the audience, spelled out Ojibwe words for water and water-related terms. Jiibigiig means "at the beach," or "along the shore."

Puppeteers got into the act with LED-illuminated figures of a heron and several accurately depicted species of fish native to Wisconsin waters. Mookiibii means "emerge from the water."

The event culminated in an audience-participation creation of a peace sign with lighted cups of water, directed by artist-in-residence Melanie Ariens.

This is the short version of the story. To see many more photos of the event go to my Flickr album.

Water, Art and Spirit on Bradford Beach in Milwaukee

Months in the making, We Are Water: Beachfront Celebration of Milwaukee's Water had its debut last night on Bradford Beach. The celebration took many forms, including recitations of poetry and spoken word, a dance performance, and a solemn spiritual ceremony led by members of a local Indian community.

As dusk grew deeper the beach was set aglow. The culminating activity was a participatory temporary art installation created and led by environmental artist Melanie Ariens. The audience was invited to take a clear plastic filled with water illuminated with small LED lights and to place them on the beach in a prearranged pattern that represented the Great Lakes. In the gathering darkness the radiance of the lakes were joined by illuminated words provided by members of the Overpass Light Brigade.

The event was organized by Milwaukee Water Commons, a network of individuals and organizations intended "to foster connection, collaboration and broad community leadership on behalf of our waters" that was inspired by plans to make Milwaukee a “fresh water hub." (The Milwaukee Water Commons is the local chapter of a larger initiative called the Great Lakes Commons.)

There were a wide variety of participants of all ages. I didn't hear an official estimate but it looked to me like over a hundred people. When the ceremony ended with everyone gathered around the glowing Great Lakes in the darkness a local pastor gave a blessing and said, "Go in peace." No one moved; no one, it seemed, wanted the moment to end.

Here is my visual meditation on the event.

I was delighted to be in the company of many talented photographers. To see more images from the event go to the Milwaukee Water Commons Facebook page.

Best in Show of Envronmental Art

The Concordia Center for Environmental Stewardship at Concordia University is hosting Shorelines, their first annual exhibit of Environmental Art through Feb. 22. I am honored to report that at the opening Friday night my piece entitled Storm won Best of Show. Storm (above) was one of two pieces I had accepted into the show. The other, Ice and Fog, is below.