June

Center Street, May 12, 6:10 PM – by Peter DiAntoni

June is busting out, so go go to Luckystar’s June 5 benefit for the Hotboards, www.thehotboards.org, a Riverwest based non-profit to help at-risk youth learn the life skills skateboarding provides. 6 p.m. 207 E. Buffalo — the place to silently bid on decks painted by the likes of Von Munz, a Stonehouse named Tony, Adam & Laine from Adam Bomb Tattoo, Jenny Bohr and more. DJ Rock ‘n Roll Evan entertains, and eats are a treat from Riverwest’s Foundation. South a bit, at KMArt, RW artists Mark Lawson and Mike Fredrickson wax nostalgic until June 19 in Lil’ Buddies: Memories We Always Wanted. Awe (think:AHHHH!) Trucks wheel into Gordon and Tienfenthaler parks for one week, beginning June 28. Free art experiences, Monday thru Friday, for children ages 3-14. Around since 1998, and operated by Artists Working in Education (with the cooperation of the Milwaukee County Parks Department), their mission brings fun to those short on cash for summertime activities. Gordon and Tienfenthaler are only two of the many Awe park visits in various neighborhoods thru August 6. Free is the key at 922-3877. Storytelling & S’more comes to the Milwaukee Art Museum on July 29, with “magic of a night in the North Woods.” Or almost. MAM’s Cudahy Gardens is the actual site. Free (with general admission), bring a blanket and s’more stuff. Also free with general admission is Saturday Story Time in the Galleries, but kids under age 5 need an adult caregiver. Don’t give up if you or someone you love is strapped for $$$ and can’t afford a “general admission” tab. S’mores and a sing-a-long for all ages June 25 at Riverside Park’s Urban Ecology Center. Walker’s Point Center for the Arts has a 2004 free summer art camp, nine weeks of Tuesdays-Fridays for ages 5-12. 905 W. National Ave is the totally cool, and as far as we know, mosquito-free place to be, unless you’re making art in their swell garden. Eriks Johnson will provide a sculpture experience, Jenny Plevin a multi-media installation session, or you can make wearable art, book art, or learn the art of puppetry. The sessions wrap August 22 with a whammo party. www.wpca-milwaukee.org. Who does summertime better than the MPS recreation division, though with impending budget cuts, 2005 may be less fun. Stop! On-site registration is as late as June 9. www.MilwaukeeRecreation.net has facts on where and when. Gaenslen, Riverside, Riverside Park, North Division, Brown Street, and Palmer are a few in the general Riverwest area. Does your family meet criteria for free or reduced price school lunch? If so, your child’s fee is reduced by one-half. Free playgrounds for ages 5-17 are open up to seven hours daily, five days per week for six weeks, plus you can go to the cool spots if you’re in that same age range and yearn to chill under sprinklers when the temp rises to 85 degrees. Dial 211 to seek the sites where children receive free meals this summer. Special needs kids & adults will find Milwaukee Recreation ready to accomodate with a Therapeutic Recreation staff person. Pencil in PrideFest, June 4-6. which locks wheels with UPAF’s June 6 Miller Lite Ride For the Arts. 18th-20th marks MAM’s Lakefront Festival of the Arts, but try to sandwich-in Juneteenth on the 19th (with a pause for the Brady St. Sidewalk Sale) and, then, whew! work in a Walk Against Family Violence. Don’t forget the freebie River Rhythms concerts on Wednesdays (begins June 2) at Pere Marquette Park. Early July deserves a look, if only for the bad news that The Great Circus Parade is July 3, not here, but in Baraboo. Most Milwaukeeans will stay in town to view the July 3 Veterans Park Fireworks. Arrive early for a safe & sound blast. Save some energy for RW’s July 5 Independence Day blast. Free flags & ice cream, a genuine parade to Gordon Park. Old-fashioned? Yes. We approve of this message. Should dance be your passion, City Ballet Theatre’s Summer Arts Youth Camp (June 21-July 30) info at 933-9746, or stop & go to Danceworks’ June 14-August 27 sessions melding dance, visual arts, music and theatre. Technotrance Bellydance for beginners and advanced movers and shakers,will take you on with a call to 744-0036. Hot too, is the BurningSnow Center’s workshops (562-3740) in alternative/experimental arts. In the things-to-do department, Fido gets into the act on 27th Street where not only Amiable Dog Training classes are held, but believe it or not, you can also view a gallery with pet-inspired works by Wisconsin artists. The shearing continues at the Shepherd Express. A&E writer R.R. Jorge, is the latest to go baa-baa, and where o’ where has writer John Shivers gone bleating? Doris & Boris — will they too join the herd of long-goners? Ancient SE writers McNally, Hissom, Berkman, and Luhrssen, soldier on, no doubt grinding their teeth over publisher Fortis’ mantra that ever younger writers will gladly follow the lead-sheep that wears the bell. For Whom the Bell Tolls is anyone’s guess. Ask Michael Horne, who’s been through more jobs than a roofer in a hail storm. The editor of milwaukeeworld.com recently resurfaced as a contributor to a Milwaukee Magazine feature detailing the Michael H. Lord Gallery. Meanwhile, Riverwest’s Mac’s Red Eye won the Shep’s People’s Choice Music Venue WAMI Award for 2004. June ends (don’t miss Locust Street Days & Vieux et Nouveau’s booth on the 13th!) and July begins with a duo of Monty Python films at the Times Cinema, June 25-July 1. “The Holy Grail” and “The Meaning of Life” are said to be spoofs. Beneath the gloss, however, they are more than timely in light of the outrageous tortures at Abu Ghraib prison. While you’re eating Eric’s popcorn, you might want to consider how Bush fits into the general scheme of things.

Center Street, May 12, 6:10 PM – by Peter DiAntoni