1. Set Your Heart on Fire at MAM After Dark
ARCHER PARQUETTE, MANAGING EDITOR
I’ve never been big on dancing – or, you know, fun in general. My first sixth grade dance, I ran away to a dark hallway and just did pushups all night. Frankly, I haven’t changed much since then (I mean that literally – I’m just about the same height.)
But despite my natural inclinations toward misanthropy, I must say, I really enjoyed my first experience of MAM After Dark last year. The annual event series turns the Art Museum’s beautiful atrium into a gathering place, bar, concert hall, and yes, dance floor. It’s lively and entertaining and a very different museum experience from normal visiting hours. The first of this year’s After Dark series (“Hearts on Fire”) is Friday night – if you see a little guy doing pushups in the Ancient Mediterranean Gallery, please just leave me be.
2. Get a Box of Paczki at Wiolettas Polish Market
ANN CHRISTENSON, DINING EDITOR
If you haven’t heard, Tuesday, Feb. 17, is the day to live it up – eat all the fat you want because Ash Wednesday begins the Lenten season of fasting. Christians would traditionally make doughnuts for that final celebratory feast to use up all the fat and sugar in the house.
In Poland, these doughnuts are paczki, rich with a jam or custard filling. If you’re looking for the motherlode of paczki, check out Wioletta’s Polish Market on Fat Tuesday. They open at 7 a.m. and the earlier you get there, the better the selection. On Fat Thursday, the last week before the start of Lent, Wioletta’s had paczki in prune, Bavarian cream, apricot, strawberry, raspberry and rose. I expect Tuesday’s offerings will eclipse those flavors.
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
3. Grab Some Ice Cream at Purple Door
AMRITA THAKKAR, DIGITAL EDITOR
Ice cream? In February? I understand your outrage, but the sun is out, the birds are a-twittering, and I spotted at least two people in shorts yesterday – so obviously, Fool’s Spring is here. While I may be past the point where I can be fooled by this weirdly warm spell, I’m still taking advantage of it by indulging in summertime fare, namely, Purple Door’s delicious ice cream.
Purple Door doesn’t always have their weirdest flavors on hand (I’m still determined to try their Mango Chutney and Smoked Chocolate Mezcal someday), but their case is still a delight. Grab a cone or cup of Malted Chocolate Chocolate Chunk and soak up some sun before we all sink back into hibernation come Thursday.
4. Take One Last Run Through MPM
CHRIS DROSNER, EXECUTIVE EDITOR
You may have heard: Milwaukee Public Museum is in its last year. You may have also heard that the Nature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin that’s replacing it is going to be quite different – a “re-envisioning of the experience,” officials have called it. There has been vocal opposition seeking to preserve Streets of Old Milwaukee and the European Village.
It had been several years since I’d actually been to MPM before a visit last weekend with my nieces, and I can’t recommend enough (at least) one more visit this yearbefore it closes. Some of the waves of good feels that washed over me in its exhibit halls came from nostalgia – the T. rex and the vanquished triceratops, the bison hunt and its snake button, the candy shop in Streets – but it bears reminding that this is a great museum, period. The displays, particularly those dioramas in the Milwaukee style, transport you to other places and times and provide interesting and enlightening lessons on human history and the natural world. I really enjoyed that just how intensely analog the experience is – something that is sure to change in the museum’s new iteration. If you haven’t been in a while, there’s still a lot of time to spend a day at MPM before it closes at the end of the year. One unique way to do so: the final Food and Froth event this Saturday. 800 W. Wells St.
5. Paint Pottery at La Terraza
EVAN MUSIL, ARTS AND CULTURE EDITOR
I’m not going to lie. The first time I drove past the unassuming La Terraza on Bluemound Road, I thought it was a restaurant, or possibly a patio furniture store. What it actually is a pottery-painting studio, one that’s unpretentious and simply enjoyable, as my girlfriend and I found out during a Valentine’s Day date. The process is straightforward: You pick a clay piece that calls to you, and then you paint it with glaze or acrylic. My girlfriend chose an adorable caterpillar, and I landed on a charming rubber ducky.
Look, I may love the arts and write about them for a living, but I am no artist. Still, I felt no pressure to create a masterpiece. The welcoming environment eased me into a blissful state of pure focus as I brought my little duck to life. With spring on my mind, I painted him a pale green. From there, I contemplated whether to make him radioactive before transforming him into a peace-loving alien. My girlfriend turned her caterpillar companion into a cheerful rainbow, with much more delicate brushwork than me. Together, we ended up with two creations that reflected their creators – and a lot of fun.
