Fantastic Food, Creative Collaboration, Seasonality, and Natural Wonders: MKE’s Got It.
- Elisabeth Gasparka
- Apr 29, 2024
- 1 min read
“Cheese in different ways,” is only the beginning of Milwaukee’s compelling cultural offerings. From the astounding waters, to the presence of industrious creatives who are making things happen and helping each other to develop their skills and talents—Milwaukee is a vibrant community that continues to exceed expectations and enable a strong quality of life for creatives of all disciplines.
This special episode of Creative MKE features more conversations with arts leaders held at Washington Park Media Center including Angela Damiani, CEO of NEWaukee, Peggy Williams Smith, CEO of VISIT Milwaukee, Joe Poeschl, Director of Engagement of MKE Tech Hub Coalition and Kevin Giglinto, President & CEO of the Marcus Performing Arts Center, Adam Braatz, Executive Director at Imagine MKE, Lafayette Crump, the City of Milwaukee Commissioner of City Development, Daniel Murray, Founder and Creative Director of FuzzPop Workshop.
The group spends time envisioning what the future might look like for the city, and discussing how it’s possible today to do so much in Milwaukee without encountering barriers that exist in other cities. Founding startups and launching profitable creative businesses, while building a network of collaborators and striking a fulfilling work-life balance... it can be done here. In Milwaukee, it's possible to dream big...and our creatives are the key to pushing the culture forward. “When artists come together, that’s when the real magic arises,” reflected Kevin Giglinto, President & CEO of Marcus Center for the Performing Arts.
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Full Interview Transcript (Click to Expand):
Note: the following podcast dialogue has been auto-transcribed, and accordingly, may contain some minor spelling or formatting errors.
Peggy Williams-Smith:
People are starting to understand that we can't continue to fund the arts through philanthropy. It's just not sustainable. It's not sustainable here, it's not sustainable anywhere. So, you know, I'm, I'm hoping that five years from now we'll be back here talking about how the arts were funded differently than they are right now.
Elisabeth Gasparka:
Welcome to Creative MKE, a podcast production from Imagine MKE. I'm your host, Elisabeth Gasparka. Each episode we feature conversations with arts leaders in Milwaukee and beyond, who are impacting Milwaukee's arts culture, and creative industries. We explore the cultural assets that make our community so special, and opportunities to help Milwaukee become a more vibrant city for all. Join us as we delve into topics, including the urgent need for funding for the arts in Wisconsin and Milwaukee. How arts organizations and creative entrepreneurs are fueling our economy, public art projects, and much more. Welcome to another special episode of Creative MKE featuring Arts Leader conversations recorded at Washington Park Media Center back in January. As with last week's episode, these leaders came together from the nonprofit, private and public sector to discuss the strengths and opportunities they see within Milwaukee's creative culture. To spark the conversation, each guest selected and responded to a set of randomly chosen pre-populated prompts and questions from the Glowing Bowl. Today. In this next portion of the discussion, you'll hear from Angela Damiani, CEO of Newaukee, Peggy Williams-Smith, CEO of VISIT Milwaukee. Joe Poeschl, director of Engagement of Milwaukee Tech Hub Coalition, and Kevin Giglinto, President and CEO of the Marcus Performing Arts Center.
Peggy Williams-Smith:
We ready? All right, I'll grab one. What cultural assets make us special? I mean, I can start obviously that we have so many cultural assets that define what Milwaukee is and what makes us so great. And just recently undergoing a branding process, we got to ask hundreds of milwaukeean what they thought our best cultural assets were. And it typically starts with water. People love the fact that we have access to our on close to use so much are able to build business around water. So I think that's one of our most important cultural assets. Hmm.
Kevin Giglinto:
There are many cultural assets in the city, including the Marcus Performing Arts Center. I actually was gonna say, I think it's the creativity and the collaboration among all artists and among arts institutions in the city. It's really pretty remarkable town of partnership. And I think that feeds the creativity exceptionally,
Angela Damiani:
I'm gonna say something, I think maybe goes against the way that these questions get answered. I think it's the fact that we have four proper seasons. I know we're like standing in 19 degree weather and it's, you know, the heart of winter. But I think the fact that we get to have the full range of seasonality is a unique thing that I don't know that we totally capitalize on, but it's one of my favorite parts about being here, Milwaukee.
Peggy Williams-Smith:
I do, I do see that, and I hear that all the time from people who come here Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative> to visit and to live. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>. We, they love it. You know, last weekend was a blizzard on Friday night, most things in the city canceled. We had a volleyball tournament, people coming in from four different states, and they all came. Yeah. So, yeah, I agree.
Joe Poeschl:
I've lived in some different places and I gotta, like, I have to be near water. I'm, I'm just gonna plus one. That one is, it's so important. But I will say kind of going in this theme of some of those natural resources that lend themselves to the cultural significance of of the city is our park system. Just to be so close to so much green and so much life and such diversity that is there is just, it's, I've never been in a park in Milwaukee that doesn't leave me feeling like there's a vibrancy and a new energy. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>.
Kevin Giglinto:
Yeah. The city itself. I think, you know, I left, I went to school here a long time ago, and so I'm coming back. So I've only been back for six months, but I've been coming back over many, many years. And to see the evolution of the city and the actual nature of, you know, how the city has evolved, what and I agree with you, the parks Absolutely. And I do think the lakefront is this amazing asset. And I, I had this wonderful experience of we had a cast party for we have, you know, Broadway tours coming through and we had to Kill a Mockingbird, and there's some really wonderful talent in there. And they were talking to me about, they had wandered around the city and they never had been to Milwaukee before. And it wasn't just blowing smoke saying, oh, I'm happy to be here. They were describing where they had gone. I went up Wisconsin Avenue and, and I went to the art museum and the War Memorial and up the lakefront, and they were all really taken aback at how beautiful the city actually is. And, and they had no idea.
Peggy Williams-Smith:
Well, that's phenomenal. Did you get that on tape or in writing That I can use
Kevin Giglinto:
I probably said it About 30 times because I want everybody to know it.
Peggy Williams-Smith:
Turn that into a commercial. Please.
Joe Poeschl:
I, I know you and I had this conversation just the other day the Fantastic food in Milwaukee. Mm. There is some just incredible like, hidden gem restaurants. I love when I have friends come and visit this city and I get to go, okay, what are you in the mood for right now? Because Milwaukee's got it. It's not gonna be as expensive as you pay elsewhere, but it's probably gonna be way better. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>. And and you can also get a cheese card appetizer wherever you go. So it's
Angela Damiani:
Cheese on every menu. Yes. Yeah.
Peggy Williams-Smith:
Like cheese in different ways. Pepper Pot has the best cheese curds and their taste, their take on it is completely different than anyone else on the north side. So, yeah. Yeah. We are fortunate to have numerous, I think when I wrote the list out in my notes, we have pages of what we call fact sheets that we give our team when they're learning about Milwaukee, when they're selling Milwaukee. And our fact sheets have gone from five pages to 50 pages. Oh my word. Of just the amazing things that we have. I mean, 15 museums downtown. There's not many other cities that have that type of, of dedication to arts and culture that we have in a city that's so affordable and so walkable.
Angela Damiani:
Yeah. I think the bigger theme is that we just punch above our weight in so many. Right. You know what I mean? Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> in every category, whether it's like the food scene or the actual, like natural amenities, the cultural institutions like way more than you would anticipate. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>
Peggy Williams-Smith:
And the parks. You're right. We hear all the time. So we have people who take calls at our visitor centers at our office, and the number one thing people ask about is our parks. Yeah. People who don't live here 'cause they don't realize we're on water. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>. So they don't know that they're gonna see this big huge lake when they come in.
Angela Damiani:
Alright. Should I go the next one? In what ways is Milwaukee a creative community on the rise?
Kevin Giglinto:
I think there are so many new young creatives all throughout the city who are making art and collaborating together. And there's a lot of groups that are working with young people to give them the ability to develop their skills and their talents. And, and I think that's what makes it really exciting. And I, we have an opportunity, we do a lot of community work and, and work with a lot of small arts groups, and they're really vibrant and they're really creative and have high levels of skill. And I think I start to see them coming together. And, you know, when it, when artists come together is when the real, you know, magic arises.
Joe Poeschl:
I almost feel like there's a necessity to innovate here so that you can make that splash that not only has the splash here, but also gets outside of, of Milwaukee. And so there's almost this like, background voice that says, take it one step further, do it a little bit bigger, do a little bit differently, collaborate in a way that like accelerates the, the message or, or you know, whatever vision you have for what you're creating. And, and that in and of itself makes for just something different. And and, and that punches above the weight thing really resonates.
Peggy Williams-Smith:
I'll say speaking to your Four Seasons, someone once told me, and I think this was in a podcast that we did for Imagine MKE, that the reason why we have so many creatives here is because of the Four Seasons. Oh. And that it gets so cold that during that time you hibernate and it gives you all of this time to do all of this creation because you don't wanna be outside in the cold. I don't know if that's true, but I think that that's it. It ties in with what you said earlier. Mm.
Angela Damiani:
I love that <laugh>. Yeah. I think you're right. There's like a time when you're actually like able to hunker down. Right. You know what I mean? Use all that energy in a new way. I think I don't maybe take this in a different direction. I think sometimes when we think about our creative class, we think just about artists or, you know what I mean? The performing arts centers, of course mainstay as it relates to that. But I'm really well connected to the Milwaukee founder community. And when I think about creatives who are building something from nothing, I'm really excited to see how that group is forming the ways in which they're like convalescing to be able to share resources, to be able to help one another find funding. There's just this like new buzz around our founder class Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative> as well that, you know, I think sometimes gets separated from like, oh, the artists are over here, but at the end of the day, an artist is also an entrepreneur. Right, right. Like, they're starting their own small business. Even if they end up working as like an individual sole proprietor.
Peggy Williams-Smith:
And I agree. 'cause I think that we've expanded arts beyond just what people traditionally think of as arts. You know, culinary arts was not part of this group, and I know that they've been embraced by it as well. So I think that we really, and I don't know if this happens in other places 'cause I'm, you know, maybe Kevin, you can talk about it, but I'm from here, born here, raised here. So I don't know if other communities take their creative economy and expand it beyond just what you think of as traditional art.
Kevin Giglinto:
Yeah. It does happen. Does it? But Yeah. But that, but, but Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative> it shows you that we're there with everyone else, right? Mm-Hmm. I mean, because I do think the culinary arts are a big part of it, and also embedding sport with art has Sure happened. You know, using technology in art has become really, really big. And it's big here too, you know, when you can see it growing and, Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative> and I think it'll continue to evolve. Okay. How do you see more investment in the arts and culture and creative industries?
Peggy Williams-Smith:
How do you see more,
Kevin Giglinto:
See more investment?
Peggy Williams-Smith:
I mean, we need more <laugh>. Yeah.
Kevin Giglinto:
Well, we do. I will say, and, and honestly, coming from two other larger cities, I think the philanthropic community here is really robust and really generous.
Peggy Williams-Smith:
Fourth in the nation.
Kevin Giglinto:
Yeah. And so, you know, and they have taken on a, a large burden of making sure that we have the creativity that we have in the city. I do see, and I hope with some of the changes in funding that have happened at the state level to allow the city and the county to do more financially for its citizens, then maybe some of that will go back into the arts as well. Because, you know, arts, we know arts education actually fosters a creative workforce, creative people and, and, and adds to learning in general. So I think there needs to be some additional funding on the government level.
Angela Damiani:
I'm pretty excited about what Create Wisconsin is doing in that vein. Really like trying to expand beyond the idea of like supporting artists into this idea of the creative economy and what does it mean to have that intersectionality of like creativity and the actual economy. I think, you know, the more we can kind of like un help people understand that that's investing in the arts is actually also economic development. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative> that I think really changes the game. Yeah. It adds and compounds to what you're saying about it being really workforce development too. Mm-Hmm.
Kevin Giglinto:
<Affirmative>. Absolutely.
Peggy Williams-Smith:
I agree. I mean, it is economic development and I love the things that create Wisconsin is doing, and I think that people are tar starting to understand how important that we can't continue to fund the arts through philanthropy. It's just not sustainable. It's not sustainable here. It's not sustainable anywhere. So, you know, I'm, I'm hoping that in five years from now, we'll be back here talking about how the arts were funded differently than they are right now. Mm-Hmm.
Angela Damiani:
<Affirmative>. Yeah.
Joe Poeschl:
In thinking about community building, I'm always impressed and inspired by those that invest in one another support the work that someone else is doing, collaborate together, purchase that thing that you created, you purchased the thing that I created. And finding that type of mutual benefit within the Milwaukee community, I think is, is incredibly strong here.
Peggy Williams-Smith:
You know, and I, I love that point because that's what we do. Mm-Hmm. Right. We use local filmmakers. We use the local creative economy when creating things to sell our city. And I think that that shows the investment. And if there were other ways to take advantage of maybe some tax incentives, if, if we were doing that, that might also be helpful as well.
Elisabeth Gasparka:
In this next portion of the discussion, you'll hear from Adam Braatz, Executive director at Imagine MKE, Lafayette Crump, the city of Milwaukee, commissioner of City Development, Daniel Murray, founder and creative director of Fuzz Pop Workshop, and Angela Damiani, CEO of Newaukee.
Adam Braatz:
My name's Adam Braatz with Imagine MKE.
Daniel Murray:
My name's Daniel Murray, founder and creative director of Fuzz Pop Workshop.
Lafayette Crump:
Lafayette Crump Fuzz Pop Workshop enthusiast and Commissioner of City Development for the city of Milwaukee.
Angela Damiani:
Angela Damiani. I'm the CEO of Newaukee. So pick a prompt from the bowl. All right.
Daniel Murray:
In what ways is Milwaukee a creative community on the rise?
Lafayette Crump:
I think people have a sense that whatever they think they can get done, whatever it is they want to achieve, that they can do it in Milwaukee. That this is a place where you don't have some of the barriers you might experience in other communities. And there's not a you know, a thought that, well, you have to pay your dues. That that idea isn't gonna float until you've been doing it for 10 years or until you go through certain gatekeepers. So that is a, a sense that I think exists in a lot of fields in Milwaukee, and particularly I think in the art space where you already have folks who are being creative and thinking about you know, how to be creative, not just in their work, but also in to solve problems and make their work accessible to people.
Angela Damiani:
I'm a part of a group called the Milwaukee Founders Community, and there's a subsect of the group that's just female lifestyle entrepreneurs. Mm. Right. So not folks going after the traditional VC front. Most of them have started their businesses in the last three years as a reaction to the pandemic. They decided enough, with my corporate job, it's too hard to manage. I mean, we all watch the national narratives around the, what do they call it? The she session, like the female recession and the corporate workplaces. And there's this enclave of female founders here in Milwaukee who are like, you know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna make candles, or I'm going to open a photo studio, or I'm going to do graphic design, not for my corporate job, but for myself as my own little agency. And so that like, you know, trend that we're seeing, I think is where I feel the most energy on the rise. Like it's individuals and it isn't just female founders. You see that across constituency, but deciding, like you're saying Lafayette to just start Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative> start something new. And even if it's more business-minded, I think there's something really generative and creative about that. And I think there's something about Milwaukee that makes it accessible. You know what I mean? To decide that's, that's how I'm gonna like, pursue my life moving forward.
Daniel Murray:
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we're sitting here in the Washington Park Media Center, you know, brand new operation. And there are, you know, a bunch of really exciting new projects. Mitchell Street Arts, all things, you know, that have grown up in the last year or so. Big projects that are supporting the arts community, the creative community that are collaborative in big ways too. And I'll say I'm one of those people, you know, it's starting to, you know, COVID got a lot of wheels turning, what do I wanna be doing? And, you know, I'm one of those people left California, came back to Milwaukee started a new creative venture. And it's been amazing. I mean, there's been so much support and it's been possible to do something like that in Milwaukee, living in California, in the Bay Area out there. No way I could have really pursued that. Um you know, it's just logistically expensive, all of this kind of thing. But in Milwaukee, there's a community of support. It's feasible, you know, and it's been a wild ride. It's great.
Adam Braatz:
It's like the feeling of possibility that you alluded to. And the lack of, of some barriers. We, we still have challenges as, as many cities of, of our size, but the, the lack of barriers to creatives just being boundlessly creative, I was speaking with, with a photographer this morning, runs a, it's a for-profit creative business that he started during Covid and he has built an insanely successful business. Just the week before, I was talking to somebody who makes custom knives and has built an insanely successful business out in Milwaukee. All of 'em, all of these people who have achieved success through, through hard work and through their skills and talents and their business acumen, they'll, they'll all tell you like, this is a place where it can be done. And there weren't a lot of people telling 'em that, that it couldn't Yeah. Or that they shouldn't.
Angela Damiani:
Right. Alright, you pick another one.
Lafayette Crump:
Alright. In five years, Milwaukee's arts and culture scene will be,
Angela Damiani:
I dunno, but I'm excited to see it. 'cause I think about how much has changed in the last 5, 10, 15 years since I've been here. It's a completely different place. I mean, think about how much has been even like, oh, I don't know, MSO having its new home, you know, like the Milwaukee film, having the, their own theater, you know what I mean? And Hub at the Oriental. Like, so much has changed. I feel like we're on a great trajectory. I have to believe it's just gonna be compounding in the next five years.
Lafayette Crump:
I, I think it's gonna be, it's gonna be more vibrant. It's gonna be even more democratized, and it's going to have even more public support. That has to happen. We are a, a city and a state who woefully underfund the arts. And there are movements to change that. And I think there's a recognition at least within city government that we have to play a bigger role because of things like you know, contentment, happiness, but also because of the the impact on our, on our economy. And it's, it's like a boundless field the arts and culture. And so we really need to support those, those entrepreneurs those folks who came under the SHE session, did I get that? But also others you know, whether it be social entrepreneurs you know, arts based entrepreneurs. And, you know, I so appreciate folks who start to understand that the arts is a business and that we need to support these folks who are you know, perhaps amazing at the work that they do, but don't necessarily know what are the ins and outs that they have to have in terms of the business field to get the work done. We need people to support them. And I see more of that happening. And in five years I would just expect even more of it. Mm-Hmm.
Daniel Murray:
I mean, it, you know, again, from my personal experience, grew up in Milwaukee, went to live in California for 20 years, you know, I think like a lot of people been thinking for a while about getting out of the coast and to, you know, coming back home or coming to a different kind of scene and community to the fresh coast. Exactly. You know, and I think Milwaukee really is like poised for a lot of, you know, environmental reasons. We've got a lot of fresh water. It's affordable. It's a great place to raise a family. It's a great place to experiment and be creative. I think Milwaukee is really poised you know, in the next five years to really be a welcoming home for a lot of people trying to think about, you know, where else could I be? Where could I build this, you know, future and be part of a community. It's really excited for that. Yeah.
Adam Braatz:
I'm speaking it into existence right now. In five years, the arts and culture sector in Milwaukee will be robustly supported, not just through public funding at the city, at the county, at the state level, but also through programs that support artists that support creatives of all disciplines in the for-profit and the non-profit world the same. I mean, if, if we have anything anything to say about it, that's, that's gonna be our future.
Daniel Murray:
Manifest it.
Lafayette Crump:
There are so many programs that are either specifically for, for-profit businesses or specifically for nonprofits. Without recognizing that, you know, sometimes there's a, there's a fine line between the two. And we do need to support both people choose structures for varying reasons. But all of it can have an impact on our community. And, and of course, just because a business is a nonprofit, it is still a non, I mean, still a business and still impacting our community in, in a multitude of ways.
Angela Damiani:
I got a weird one. That says Milwaukee Vortex. Discuss
Adam Braatz:
Milwaukee Vortex. Is that the name of the soccer team? That <laugh>? Is that Milwaukee should vote for that right now? No. Is that when people leave and they come back, is that, well, I suppose where's more of a boomerang?
Lafayette Crump:
But maybe the VOR is a vortex, but you get sucked in, right? Yeah. Maybe that's, maybe that's part
Angela Damiani:
Alright. If we're defining it as getting sucked in. Yeah. I mean, that happened to me. I'm not from here. I grew up in the Bay Area. I came here 15 years ago, met my business partner at a party. Mm-Hmm. He had a crazy idea. And then, I don't know, I kept thinking, well, I'll give this like six months and then I'll probably bounce. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>. And I had a decade and a half later, you know what I mean? Married two kids, couple of businesses, real estate. Like, it just happened. I don't know, it it, like, I sucked me in in a way that now I can't imagine not living here. And my husband's not from here either. Actually, funnily, it took us like a couple years into having children before I realized like, oh my God, our kids are gonna be from Milwaukee. <Laugh>. Like, it, like hadn't dawned on me that like, they're gonna say, they're gonna tell other people like, I'm from Milwaukee. You know what I mean?
Daniel Murray:
It moving back here, it was very weird when like the first time my kids said Waukesha. I was like, I never thought I would hear that work, that kind work come out of your mouth, but now you're funny. You're like a local. It's like, whoa. It was, it was pretty mind blowing. But yeah, same. I mean, my wife's from Orange County, you know, days like today when it's very cold out, it's, you know questions come up. But we love raising our family here. Everything's convenient and close. I mean, it's a, you know, a rat race and grueling living out in the Bay Area, that's where we were too affordable. Exactly. Yeah. You know, and that, and that just opens up so many possibilities for a career, for a family, for, you know, all kinds of things that you can get involved in in the community. So yeah, I think that's a big draw.
Lafayette Crump:
If you, if you haven't visited in a while, you ask how do we get 'em back? You know, think about we, we've all probably brought visitors to Milwaukee and there's been not a person that I've had visit in Milwaukee for, for years who hasn't just been excited about what they've seen here. And some of that is what we've always had, but some of that's what we've built over the last several years. So boomerangs, I gotta come back and, and take a look. Come spend some time here. And I think they'll be pleasantly suppressed.
Adam Braatz:
And I think that's it. That's, that's really the key. And it's, it's incumbent upon us to make that, to make that pitch. 'cause The narrative about Milwaukee nationally, for people who haven't been here, there's an idea about what Milwaukee is and what Milwaukee is. And then people get here and they're like, this is not what I expected. They're pleasantly surprised. It punches above its weight. Whatever colloquialism you want to use.
Daniel Murray:
I'd say it to the boomerangs, you know as a boomerang, I couldn't wait to get outta Milwaukee, go somewhere cooler, you know, go to LA living in San Francisco, Oakland. But as I got older, started realizing, I, you know, I'm living in these cities, but am I really even taking advantage of what's there? You know, that's so far away. It's so expensive. Like all of these other complications in life made it like I'm paying to be in a city where that's there, but I can't even really take advantage of that. And in a city like Milwaukee, you remember my wife and I moved here, went to a concert that at the Cactus Club, you know, you're like, right, you're like shaking hands with the singer right there. It's like, and 15 bucks, you know, you're not paying through the nose to do anything and you can be part of the scene. And, and I think especially if you wanna build something, you know, if you're a creative who wants to come back and build something, you can actually do that. I mean, to a person, everyone I've talked to says yes. Like, let's do this. Let's collaborate. You've gotta meet this other person who would be really interested in this idea you're talking about. People are excited to get things going here. They don't tone their, turn their nose up at ideas, you know, they want that energy and excitement and they share that and want to collaborate on that. It's been amazing.
Elisabeth Gasparka:
Elisabeth chiming in here. Thanks for listening to our Arts Leader Conversations. To Wind down this special episode, please enjoy a montage of our guests responding to the prompt. Describe Milwaukee's arts, culture and creative industries. In one word or phrase,
Various Speakers:
Collaborative, boundless, Rising, Inspiring, Vibrant. It is Exciting. It's really exciting. <Laugh>. There you go, <laugh>.
Elisabeth Gasparka:
Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend, like subscribe or leave a reading and review. Follow Imagine MKE on socials to hear and see more Milwaukee arts stories, learn about arts events and opportunities, and to receive arts, advocacy, news and alerts. To get involved or learn more about the work of Imagine MKE, visit us on the web. Creative MKE is produced and edited by me, Elizabeth Gaspar, with support from Adam Braatz. The season's episodes were recorded in downtown Milwaukee and in Washington Heights with support from the good folks at PodCamp Media and the Washington Park Media Center. Our show's music is by Bobby Drake. Additional audio support provided by ThinkTank and Silver City Studios. Thank you to WUWM for the opportunity to broadcast Creative MKE on the radio. And thanks to the Shepherd Express for their ongoing partnership. For more than 40 years, Shepherd Express has proudly advocated for arts and culture in the Milwaukee area. You can hear more podcasts like this one at shepherdexpress.com.
