My passion for “the arts” has taken on many forms over different periods of my life and no more so than the past couple of years after stepping into the role of Executive Director of East Town Association.
My first official cassette tape purchase as a child, Green Day’s Dookie album, was followed a few years later by a number of “Twelve CDs for a Penny” mail orders (sorry Mom), that introduced me to entire new worlds. Worlds created by Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana and Outkast, which quickly fueled what is still an ongoing discovery of the various genres, entertainment, cultures and messaging that music consists of.
As a (troubled) teenager, I found refuge early on in live music, having attended my first concert at the age of 14. I remember it being a packed house at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, WI, filled with fans of the then-popular band Limp Bizkit, hip hop legends Method Man & Redman, and the yet to be known System of a Down. The energy in the room that evening was contagious and started a lifelong journey of finding communities, outlets for stress and spiritual discovery, and giving way too much money to Ticketmaster/Live Nation each year (their fees are really starting to get out of control).
There’s been no better way to experience my love for film than by attending the annual Milwaukee Film Festival, especially at one of my favorite Milwaukee destinations, the Oriental Theater. As a former committee member and volunteer of the Lakefront Festival of Art, I got to experience an incredibly diverse mix of art from the many artists who traveled to Milwaukee each year for what they always described as “one of the most competitive and sought after art festivals in the country”.
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East Town Association, a non-profit that found itself severely distressed by the pandemic as many similar organizations were, is an incredibly important organization that has brought different communities together, as well as hundreds of local entertainers and vendors, in the heart of downtown for over four decades.
Bastille Days, one of Milwaukee’s longest-running cultural and street festivals, is celebrating its 40th season in 2023. Milwaukeeans have been Storming the Bastille since 1985 as part of one of the country’s only downtown evening runs, which also acts as one of the largest fundraisers for the festival itself.
Jazz in the Park, one of Milwaukee’s original date nights and longest-running outdoor music series has packed Cathedral Square Park with thousands of people on Thursdays for over thirty years. The newly rebooted Cathedral Square Market creates a relaxing atmosphere on Sunday mornings with free yoga and live music. And coming this Fall, Oktoberfest, which we hope will continue to support the current resurgence of not just East Town Association, but also the reimagining of the East Town area which continues to see more and more new residential towers, restaurants, and businesses.
Visit: easttown.com
Photo Credit: Erol Reyal
