This Week in Milwaukee: Oct. 7-13, 2021

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This Week in Milwaukee: Oct. 7-13, 2021

This week Indigenous and The Record Company bring the rock. Mother nature brings (hopefully) pleasant weather and fall colors to Pridefest, Urban Ecology and a celebration of Latvian Culture.

Thursday Oct. 7

“Lois Bielefeld: To commit to memory” @ Portrait Society Gallery (through Nov. 13)

Two years in the making, photographer Lois Bielefeld’s ambitious new project, To commit to memory, takes place in the home of her parents and unearths questions about the entwining of lives, domestic chores, familial relationships and religion. Bielefeld grew up in Milwaukee in an Evangelical household. Her mother has severe vision impairment, and her father has begun to experience memory loss. Bielefeld’s parents’ routines require disciplined levels of care that exceed most individuals’ daily practices.

Beyond its sense of documentation, the project asks what it means for a queer and atheist artist to share work about deep faith and devotion. It examines domesticity, power relations, ritual, faith, aging, and memory through photographs and video. In Bielefeld’s parents’ lives, attention to detail and repetitive practice are applied to the simplest of tasks. This level of focus erases divisions between religious tenets and day-to-day chores.  

There will also be an artist talk at Artist Talk at MARN Art & Culture Hub (191 N. Broadway) in conjunction with the Coalition of Photographic Arts (CoPA) on Oct. 12. More info here https://www.portraitsocietygallery.com/lois-bielefeld-to-commit-to-memory

Indigenous @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.

Indigenous’ leader Mato Nanji’s musical restlessness found him playing with Otis Taylor’s Psychedelic Banjo Posse in 2019 at Summerfest https://shepherdexpress.com/music/concert-reviews/otis-taylor-opens-summerfest-with-musical-fireworks/

While Nanji has also toured with the Experience Hendrix tour band, tonight he is back fronting his group Indigenous. The blues rock group, which was originally comprised of Nanji, his brother, sister and cousin. Gained attention with 1998’s album Things We Do. The Nakota Nation members grew up on South Dakota's Yankton Indian Reservation, where Nanji’s father, guitarist Greg Zephier Sr. was a spokesperson for Native American rights.

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Friday, Oct. 8

PridetoberFest 2021 @ Henry Maier Festival Park - Summerfest Grounds, 3 p.m.

Pride is back! Milwaukee Pride is proud to present Pridetoberfest for 2021 on October 8-9 for a two-day celebration of pride! After navigating two summers of COVID-19, it's time to get together for the "big family reunion" Milwaukee's LGBTQ+ community has come to expect every summer, While not in June, this all-new event is sure to please with an all-star line-up of local talent, vendors, food trucks, family fun, and more. DJ Shawana host the closing dance party Saturday evening. Additional info here https://www.pridefest.com/

Saturday, Oct. 9

Autumn Celebration: A Time of Change and Discovery @ Urban Ecology Center, Washington Park, 10 a.m.

The Urban Ecology Center invites members of the community to come on out to celebrate and explore autumn in Washington Park this Saturday. From adventure opportunities, such as canoeing, biking, and hiking, to fall-fun activities, like face painting, pumpkin carving, and arts and crafts, there is something for everyone. Support local businesses, enjoy food, and connect with nature. Registration is not required and walk-ins are welcome. More info here https://calendar.urbanecologycenter.org/event/autumn-celebration-a-time-of-change-and-discovery/

Lost Arts Festival @ Grohmann Museum, 11 a.m.

The Grohmann Museum hosts the 11th annual festival celebrating the activities and ways of work captured in the paintings and bronzes in the museum’s permanent collection.  Blacksmiths, shoe carvers, lacemakers, spinners, bookbinders, beekeepers, coopers, potters, and others all share their expertise and demonstrate their techniques as the museum becomes a laboratory for the creation of Lost Arts. More info here https://www.msoe.edu/grohmann-museum/exhibitions-events/

Folk-Toberfest Milwaukee Latvian Folklore Day @ Milwaukee Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Holy Trinity Church (1853 N. 75th St. Wauwatosa), 2 p.m.

Explore and celebrate Latvian culture with folk dancing, an artisan marketplace, food, kids activities, folklore singing and live music. More info here https://www.facebook.com/WILVCF/

Josie Cotton, Beebe Gallini and Fun Bois @ X-Ray Arcade (5036 S. Packard Ave., Cudahy), 6 p.m.

Released in 1981 on the legendary Bomp Records label, Josie Cotton’s song “Johnny Are You Queer?” found its way onto the soundtrack to the Nicholas Cage movie Valley Girl – Cotton also has a brief appearance. Since then, she has recorded a handful of albums of pop confection. Her Invasion of the B-Girls, a collection of vintage B-movie theme songs  included liner notes by John Waters. Twin Cities’ Beebe Gallini serve up girl group-garage rock. Milwaukee trio Fun Bois list Group of the Altos, Plexi 3, Ramma Lamma on their resume and arrive armed with a record geek’s influences – from Kleenex to The Kinks.

Sunday, Oct. 10

The Record Company w/JJ Wilde @ Turner Hall Ballroom, 7 p.m.

Thomas Wolfe had it wrong. You can go home again. Just ask Chris Vos, leader of the band The Record Company. Vos honed his craft at local venues like the open mic stage at Linnemann’s Riverwest Inn, then the young man headed west to California, where his band has been making a mark on Billboard’s charts.

The rollicking trio begin touring their album Play Loud with a Milwaukee appearance and fittingly, finish in Los Angeles. “I’m in a band that tours all over the place, but in my head I still kind of refer to myself as a local musician,” Vos said. He spoke about the process of making the album here https://shepherdexpress.com/music/music-feature/the-record-company-turns-up-the-volume-and-ambition-on-new-a/