Art Parties: As part of the six-day Milwaukee Latino Carnival, ART Milwaukee hosted another adventurous ART Bus expedition on Gallery Night. Two full busloads of partiers pre-partied at INdustri Café and then descended upon four galleries before returning to the restaurant to dance the night away at an after-party. ART Milwaukee president Jeremy Fojut orchestrated the event, backed by Peruvian native and Milwaukee Latino Carnival organizer Juan Carlos Ruiz of JCS Consulting. Bus performers included Esh The Singer, an “American Idol” season 10 finalist, and guitarist Daniel Nathan, who also performs with Well Informed Citizens. The band is soon to release its Leaders of the Revolution album. Esh met up with friends Liza Davis and her daughter, Jazmin. Kohls’ Katie Barnes, Taste of Home editor Ellie Martin Cliffe and NML’s Daniel La Nuez and his wife, Samantha, from Johnson Controls, were among the revelers.
There was a Tremper High School mini-reunion with pals Betsy Koster catching up with John Riccio, back in Milwaukee from San Diego after a Navy hitch and now selling Berkey Water Filters, and classmate Matt Loverine with his girlfriend, Jen Posluszny.
B&D then bustled over to CitySide Plaza to view the beautiful nature-inspired portraits by Nova Czarnecki. Her family on hand included her husband, Mark, who helped bartend; son, Roy, and his husband, Tommy Ibrado; and daughter, filmmaker Lilly Coyle, with noted actor Dave Pulliam, who stars in her upcoming film, Belly of the Beast.
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Circulating were Kim and Creighton Petkovich and their son, Connor, Justin and Jessica Czarnecki and model Abby Nowakowski, featured in many of Czarnecki’s works. B&D also popped over to Splash Studio, where Kelly Main was painting outdoors while owners Marla Hahn and Dave Poytinger were orchestrating the horde of painters inside.
Spotted heading to a Marshall Building blowout were veteran flute player Brett Lipshutz and Early Music Now’s Dan Petry. Lipshutz’s was among more than 120 pop-up performances over the weekend to promote Art$upport. This series was the inaugural fundraiser for small and mid-sized nonprofit arts organizations in Milwaukee.
Diverse Friends: A record crowd of more than 200 enjoyed a beautiful night at the North Point Lighthouse for the annual My Best Friend Is Straight, a fundraiser for Cream City Foundation. CCF President Paul Fairchild held court and welcomed everyone. Caterer Kathy Papineau from Localicious created delicious nibbles, Rick Akey (aka DJ A) provided background music and curious guests lined up for tarot card readings by Marcus Maichle.
The impressive guest list included Marquette University’s Paul Milakovich; UW-Milwaukee’s Peck School Dean Scott Emmons; ACLU’s Chris Ahmuty and Kristin Hansen; and Marcus Center for the Performing Arts President and CEO Paul Mathews and Beverly Beenen, the center’s webmaster. Joseph Pabst, back from Florida, was there with Marsha Huff. Others there were Skylight Music Theatre’s artistic director, Viswa Subbaraman; Will Radler; photographer Thomas Hellstrom; and Mary Lou Young, United Way of Greater Milwaukee’s president and CEO. Also spotted were Salone’s Elizabeth D’Acquisto, Lakshmi Hall, Northshore Milwaukee Funeral Home’s Jody Michael Armata with William Grey and Polly Partain, while artist Patrick Farrell conversed with Dennis Lang, Rich Vetter and UWM’s Anne Craig.
Street Party: Brady Street teemed with partiers at its annual street fest with volunteer Dennis Kois manning the 88Nine RadioMilwaukee booth, where Doris won a pair of cool orange sunglasses. Ted Bobrow and designer/artist Scott Jackson checked out the scene, as did wine distributor Tony Jansen, who supplied German Fest with more than 4,000 bottles, and Patricia Monroe, recently back from a trip to Tibet, China and Bhutan. Greg Ryan, who recently launched a small appliance repair/home visit business, stopped in at Dragonfly to visit owner Annette French. Management Cornerstone’s Pat Wyzbinski and Scott Gelzer managed the Brady Street info booth. The couple recently created Milwaukee’s Little Free Libraries to memorialize their son, Brandon.
Enjoying a Bloody Mary were Eric Scherer, Edward Riggenbach and Sean Buyeske. B&D also ran into joke-cracking Richard Yahr and artist/tree trimmer John Waite.
Designer Mary Inderrieden and Ariel Tucker-Jones, creators of YouphoriClothing, peddled original and recycled clothes, as well as custom hula hoops. Nearby, MIAD’s Krister Larson showed off his amazing hooping skills to fellow student Audrey Jerabek.
Summer Fun: Nate Kraucunas, now an invasive species specialist for the DNR on the Hank Aaron State Trail, hosted his 39th summer party, the 19th at his Ivanhoe address. More than 70 guests showed up, including landscape designer Cindy Schultz; co-worker Paul Kaminsky; Kathy and Brian Pray; MMSD’s Dave Fowler; Rolf Johnson, director of Green Bay’s Neville Public Museum; Martha Moore, Marquette alum officer; Linda and Bill Koenig; Maureen Mulvey; Barb Smith; Joe Spasiano and Rebecca Saliture; plus Chris Zapf and Jeff Bentoff.
Dancing Delight: The mission statement of NomadicLIMBS dance collective is “to provide dynamic, daring dance to the community” in the midst of Milwaukee's vibrant summer entertainment season. The troupe did just that at its “DefYning Perceptions” performance at Next Act Theatre. The selections were innovative, provocative and even amusing. Director/choreographer Thom Dancy thanked the amazing ensemble, which included Nicole Teague, Braeden Barnes, Connor Frain, Caitlin Sullivan, Kayla Schroepfer, Tara Gragg, Tyler Schnese, Garrett Glassman, Alec Roth and Justin Leaf from Minnesota, plus kudos to poster artist Steve Sabo and the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center.
Taking it all in were Alyson Chavez, director of Milwaukee Ballet’s community outreach; Maxine Wishner; Simone Ferro, UWM Dance Department chair; dancer Matt Frain, who came to see his brother Connor; and Milwaukee Gay Arts Center’s Paul Masterson with Lucien Jung and friends.
If you have any tips for Boris and Doris, contact them at borisanddorisott@aol.com. Their next column will appear in the Aug. 22 issue of the Shepherd.
