Our zine-making workshop at the Pfister was a lot of educational fun. Mr. Zach Wiegman, a teacher at St. Marcus School in Milwaukee, has been designing extra-curricular projects in writing and arts with his partner, Stephanie Barenz, the current Pfister artist-in-residence. 

Molly and I were given the opportunity to inaugurate a new project in zine making with seven St. Marcus students, three of whom typically work with Stephanie on visual art interests while the others tend toward writing projects with Zach.

The zine workshop was a good way to bring those interests together.

From a tap-dacning  rooster who doesn't dance (at least until the sequel) and "Destiny," the story of two super heroes who (or course!) are about to save the world to typed poetry and a stick-figure Superman, these kids had great ideas. 

Thanks Zach and Stephanie: we had a great time spreading the word of and love for zines. 

Here's a slideshow of the students at work: 

The second annual Wisconsin Wars Breakdance competition was held Saturday, August 24 in the former Old Navy space in the Grand Avenue Mall, Downtown Milwaukee. 

Four teams squared off in the semi-finals from Wausau, Eau Claire, Madison and Milwaukee. Eau Claire was last year's winner, defeating the Madison team. Eau Claire returned to the finals this year, which were held after a hip-hop dance intermission, where they faced off against the Milwaukee crew. 

After much bravado, posturing, dancing, breaking and fun, Milwaukee finally won the bragging rights for the state. The Red Bull went flying as both teams celebrated some great breaking.

You can view a gallery of 69 photographs, un-cropped and otherwise unedited, on my photography page. 

Bukowski Revival Birthday Reading. Join us Friday, Aug. 16, for cake and readings of original Bukowski-inspired poems, as well as readings of Bukowski's work, by Molly Snyder, Ed Makowski, Dave Mikolajek, Geo Kiesow and Royal Brevväxling. 

8 p.m. for birthday cake. Readings begin at 9 p.m. 
Uptowner, 1032 E. Center St.

News Release:

THE PFISTER® HOTEL’S ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE STEPHANIE BARENZ CREATES MENTORING PROGRAM FOR LOCAL CHILDREN

Milwaukee, Wis., July 30, 2013 – Stephanie Barenz, Artist in Residence at The Pfister® Hotel, which is owned and operated by Marcus Hotels & Resorts, along with her husband Zachary Weigman, has started a mentoring program called “Our Story Arts.” The program seeks to give a group of Milwaukee children a voice through self-expression in the visual arts and creative writing.

Currently participating in the program are seven 5th to 7th graders from St. Marcus Lutheran School in Milwaukee, where Weigmen is a full-time writing teacher. The students visit and attend classes with Barenz and Weigman in the Stephanie Barenz Gallery at The Pfister on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. They are divided into two groups–Junior Artists-in-Residence and Junior Narrators, modeled after The Pfister’s two arts programs. 

“The mission of ‘Our Story Arts’ is to focus on the needs of the individual, to start a junior art community in Milwaukee, and to tell the story of our city’s children through creative self-expression,” said Barenz.

“My husband envisioned the program as another way to encourage his students to express their goals and dreams. Meanwhile, I had already been teaching art a few hours per month at the school, and saw the program as an opportunity to bring a new dynamic and purpose to my residency,” she added.

Over the past couple months, the students have been working on the theme of identity, and are producing work based on this concept. They have begun to develop their voice through creative writing assignments, video interviews, poetry, brush and ink calligraphy, portraiture, and gesture drawing. Some of their artwork is on display in The Pfister’s gallery. In the future, they will be working to develop their own “zines,” collections of their self-published work, with Pfister Narrator, Molly Snyder, and her husband, Royal Bravväxling, who is a writing instructor at MIAD.

For more information on the latest news and updates from Marcus Hotels & Resorts, please visit:http://media.marcushotels.com.