1. Check Out 2026’s First Washington Park Wednesday
CHRIS DROSNER, EXECUTIVE EDITOR
This week brings this year’s first installment of the best showcase of the West Side neighborhood and its centerpiece. The concert series has a theme each week, and the debut Washington Park Wednesday leans into Venus Rising, which it described as “a femme-forward celebration of women in music and the arts.” The 13-piece, all-female swing band Ladies Must Swing is the headliner, with soulful singer Ellie Jackson opening the music at 6 p.m. Of course, there’s food trucks, beverages and more. 5:30-8:30 p.m. every Wednesday through Aug. 26 at the Washington Park bandshell.
2. Shop at a Farmers Market
ANN CHRISTENSON, DINING EDITOR
Farmers market season is going strong. Typically, I hit a market closer to where I live, because fresh produce on a hot, humid day is a fast-moving wilt factory. You’re probably thinking… why is she not bringing a cooler? But that requires a level of preparedness that is not always realistic. However, this year, it’s New Prepared Ann (cooler purchase coming soon). All the area markets bring local agriculture to you in ways large or small. Where I’ll go this week remains to be seen, but I’m thinking West Allis or Fondy. Both are open three days a week.
Experience an unforgettable evening celebrating great design!
3. Watch the World Cup at Red Lion Pub
ARCHER PARQUETTE, MANAGING EDITOR
I will admit that I care very little about sports – and I have never followed anything soccer-related in my life. Yet it’s hard not to catch a bit of World Cup fever in the midst of the U.S.-hosted international event: the Scottish taking over Boston; that awesome Japanese fan who said he, “cannot speak English but I’m EXCITED!”; and of course the United States’ recent wins. I was at Red Lion Pub a couple weeks back for the U.S. game against Turkey, and despite the loss, the English pub on the East Side was a great place to enjoy the game, especially for an ignoramus like me who needs the cheers and groans of a crowd to tell him whether what’s happening is good. If you’re reading this on Monday afternoon, consider stopping by Red Lion for tonight’s U.S. game against Belgium. Or swing by for another game this week.
4. Catch Death Cab for Cutie at the Miller High Life Theatre
AMRITA THAKKAR, DIGITAL EDITOR
I was lucky enough to catch Death Cab for Cutie at Summerfest a couple years ago, and despite the fact that I knew perhaps three songs (all from the 2010s, obviously) I found myself drawn in by their performance. For a band that’s been around a while (it’s been nearly 30 years!) they still put on a great show, and Ben Gibbard’s voice is made for singing heartfelt lyrics. If you haven’t bought a ticket yet, they are still available – and I highly recommend grabbing one.
4. See “Currents 40: Widline Cadet” at the Milwaukee Art Museum
EVAN MUSIL, ARTS AND CULTURE EDITOR
In her first solo museum show, Los Angeles-based Haitian artist Widline Cadet is not a documentarian in a strict sense. She doesn’t trap memories in amber, but she represents them as the fuzzy, affecting, living and breathing things that they are. Some photographs convey a clear narrative, like two separate portraits of a daughter (Cadet) and her mother on the same couch. Others are more ambiguous but no less captivating, such as a photo of two people – or more perhaps, given the digitally altered bundle of arms and legs – stretching in front of a patterned sheet with visible rigging in a dark field. What’s evident in everything is the power of family, when you are with them and when you are not. Cadet grew up in Haiti before moving to the United States with her mother at the age of 10. Much of her work deals with bridging these homes, trying to inhabit both places at once. Cadet recreates a living room overlooked by a portrait of her father on the wall, and there’s an immediate intimacy that’s refreshing and a touch uncanny in a museum setting. One of my favorites is a 12-minute video stitching together iPhone footage of family in Haiti and the U.S. It should resonate for anyone who’s lived apart from their relatives.
