The Milwaukee Journal Sentinal’s Mary Louise Schumacher has a great recent piece on Milwaukee’s art scene then and now (mostly now). Then:

Milwaukee was becoming a gathering place for artists with a unique and decidedly generous artistic ethic. Cheerfully unorganized, maverick artists found inspiration and an audience first in each other. A playful amateurism prevailed, as artists embraced their obscurity, understanding both the freedoms and limitations that are part of being set apart from the larger art world.

Now:

Some strain of art scene was birthed here a decade ago, and some of the best, new artists in our community are conscious of this and connected to the artists and ideas that defined that time. Our art scene may be small, but one of the things that makes it muscular is the access and proximity between the old and new guards.

cubiclecafe:

Coffee+MilwaukeeART

npr:

This is cool. — Tanya

inothernews:

WHOA-LGERS   Milwaukee-based photographer Jack Long uses high-speed photography to capture the moment splashes are made in cups of coffee.  He won’t reveal exactly how his technique works, except to say that the technique employs “short-duration flash lighting.”  And perhaps not using decaf.  (Photo: Jack Long / Rex Features via the Telegraph)

So my pals at The Notion Collective and I started a little blog. I wrote an introductory post about the project, which I’m rather excited about (you can also read to find out what this has to do with the Milwaukee Art Museum above):

The hope is that this can be a public space to answer the question we’ve been hearing since we committed to this project: “What will you do?” […] If you’re wondering what will take shape (as we are), this is a good place to start.

You can also find posts from Jon and Candice there, with stuff from the rest of the group coming soon. And, if you’re so inclined, we’ve jumped on the bandwagon with Tom Waits and started something at @notion_nyc.

(photo: Milwaukee Art Museum, by Michael Newman/Flickr)