Photo via City of Milwaukee
Wednesdays
Non-Pop!
RWB Milwaukee (9 p.m.)
Non-Pop! is a weekly event at RWB Milwaukee (1044 N. Old World 3rd St.) featuring live artwork creation and DJs playing music outside of the Top 40. Curated by DJs Moses and Tista, artists Lisza Battikha and vjBrye and more, Non-Pop! is expanding Milwaukee’s cultural horizons when it comes to dance music. Events are free to attend, and also streamed live on the Non-Pop Twitch channel as well. Get June’s event information at Facebook.com/YoNonPop
June 5
Ride with Pride 2021
House of Harley-Davidson
All motorcycle riders are invited to the world’s largest LGBTQ motorcycle run. Meet at 10 a.m. at the Greenfield House of Harley-Davidson, 6221 W. Layton Ave., and ride out at 11 a.m. past Milwaukee landmarks that have been missed over the last year.
June 10
Lyndsey Ellis
Boswell Books
Lyndsey Ellis’s debut novel, Bone Broth, is an intergenerational family saga rooted in the American Midwest but universal in its message of struggle and survival. At a time when more people are looking for compelling narratives that deepen the understanding of the Black experience, and as stories of police violence swirl around a growing number of Midwestern cities, Bone Broth traces one family’s history in the aftermath of Michael Brown’s 2014 killing in Ferguson, Missouri through the linked perspectives of an aging social activist and her adult children. Boswell Books will welcome Ellis for a virtual event in conversation with Wisconsin Poet Laureate Dasha Kelly Hamilton.
June 11-October 3
Americans in Spain: Painting and Travel, 1820-1920
Milwaukee Art Museum
In White Anglo-Saxon Protestant America, Spain was an exotic place. Interest only grew with the success of storywriter Washington Irving’s Tales of the Alhambra (1832) with its intriguing description of the elaborate Moorish palace in Granada. “Americans in Spain” displays the work of 19th century U.S. artists who studied emersed themselves in the culture when they weren’t studying the masterworks in the Prado. The exhibition includes work by William Merritt Chase and Robert Henri along with John Singer Sargent’s Carmencita and a newly discovered Mary Cassatt painting found in a private Madrid collection.
June 12
Margarita Fest
Bottle House 42
Margaritas have become one of America’s favorite beverages to accompany Mexican food, but dining out or not, the combo of lime juice and tequila is a refreshing drink during the long hot nights of Milwaukee’s short summer. Back after a one-year absence (that pandemic!), Margarita Fest brings together a variety of margaritas from an array of local vendors for you to sample. It’s amazing—what creative bartenders with a familiar favorite. For more information, visit here.
June 18
Mid Coast (Facebook Live)
The Cooperage
Mid Coast is a monthly online music showcase held at The Cooperage, featuring a diverse lineup of artists and a charity element to every event. The events not only serve as a fundraiser, but a platform for local artists and awareness of local organizations. Each Mid Coast event looks to bring together a group of performers from each neighborhood within Milwaukee, as well as benefit a different organization with each event. While this event is currently online-only, it will eventually grow into an in-person performance. View the June lineup and charity of choice at Facebook.com/MidCoastMKE.
June 19
Movies in the Glen – Mama Mia!
Richard E Maslowski Community Park, 2200 W. Bender Road
Come out with the family and bring the picnic blankets to sit on the lawn of the Johnson Controls Outdoor Amphitheatre for a free movie, the popular ABBA-powered musical Mama Mia! Popcorn and other treats will be available for purchase at the Sprecher Outdoor Oasis. If there is a rain delay, the movie will be played the next night. Showtime is 8 p.m.
June 26
Milwaukee Comic Con
Wisconsin State Fair Park Products Pavilion
Boasting over 200 tables of “geeky goodness,” Milwaukee Comic Con is back at State Fair Park for 2021 in a 10 a.m.-4 p.m. event. Presented by a local group, Mighty Con, Milwaukee Comic Con has everything nerd culture has to offer from toys, comics, card games and more. Admission for children is free.
Through July 17
“Shane McAdams: Yes, and…”
OS Projects, 601 Sixth Street, Racine
Shepherd Express art critic Shane McAdams received the Visual Arts Achievement in Arts Writing award from the Wisconsin Academy of Arts and Letters. He’s also a painter with a solo show. “The pandemic offered an unexpected opportunity to disengage from the needling distractions of a lot of day-to-day obligations,” McAdams said. “As the reality of our situation set in, I retreated further into the studio. This creative escapism was initially a psychological defense mechanism that led organically into a fruitful period of alternative production. This new body of work, all of which took shape over the past year, was shaped by a hyperactive period of creativity, in the shadow of a global calamity—a bittersweet set of influences.”
Through August 1
“Mandela: The Official Exhibition”
Milwaukee Public Museum
Presented in collaboration with the Black Holocaust Museum, the Milwaukee Public Museum is the site for the U.S. debut of this traveling exhibit. “Mandela” is a visual chronicle of one of the last century’s most remarkable and ethical figure in struggle for human dignity. The exhibit includes rare photos and footage along with 150 historical artifacts associated with Mandela’s life and work.
