Art
Mary L. Nohl Fund Fellowship Exhibit
June 8-Sept. 17 ➞ Haggerty Museum of Art
The Nohl Fund Fellows are always some of Milwaukee’s most exciting and innovative visual artists. This year, Jessie McLean, Joseph Mougel, Rose Curley, Robin Jebavy and Brooke Thiele are displaying work in a variety of media.
Sculpture Milwaukee
June 1-Oct. 22 ➞ Wisconsin Ave., from 6th Street to O’Donnell Park
The work of internationally known artists, including Sol LeWitt, Santiago Calatrava and Joel Shapiro, and local sculptors including Jason S. Yi and Michelle Grabner will be on display along Wisconsin Avenue Downtown. An annual event, it’s hoped.
Hail We Now Sing Joy
June 23-Sept. 17 ➞ Milwaukee Art Museum
As restless as it is provocative, the work of Rashid Johnson doesn’t fit into easy categories. In this expansive exhibit, organized by Kansas City’s Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, the work crosses borders between installation, photography, video, painting and sculpture. Composed of tile, mirrors and oak flooring, pieces in the series “Falling Men” suggest superheroes in flight or crime-scene chalk outlines. “Antoine’s Organ,” Johnson’s most dramatic work to date, is a massive three-dimensional structure containing plants, sculptures and video monitors. Johnson has a lot to say about American identity and the black experience.
Classical Music
Summer Evenings of Music
Sundays, June 4-25 ➞ UWM Zelazo Center
The acclaimed Fine Arts Quartet will end its 55-year relationship as UW-Milwaukee’s resident quartet in 2018. This final series of four summer concert ranges from Schubert to Schoenberg and features an impressive roster of guest artists.
Theatre
Much Ado About Nothing
July 6-22 ➞ Peck Pavilion
The folks of Optimist Theatre, Milwaukee’s only outdoor theater offering, have moved around in recent years: from Alverno College to Kadish Park, and now to the Marcus Center’s Peck Pavilion. To compete with Kilbourn Avenue traffic, expect plenty of verbal and emotional jousting in Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare’s great comedy. Kelley Faulkner and Todd Denning play merry warriors Beatrice and Benedict. James Pickering plays Constable Dogberry; the rest of the excellent cast includes Jonathan Wainwright, Michael Stebbins, David Flores, DiMonte Henning and Candace Thomas.
Dance
Handel’s Bestiary
June 16-17 ➞ Lynden Sculpture Garden
Milwaukee Opera Theatre and Danceworks return to the garden, combining forces in this Summer Solstice celebration of animals described int he operas of George Friedrich Handel.
Mirror, Mirror
June 1-4 ➞ Marcus Center for the Performing Arts
The Milwaukee Ballet’s Michael Pink is known for cleverly crafted and emotionally rich ballet treatments of age-old tales. The company now offers his version of Snow White, which premiered in 2014. ◆
