This weekend, I took the family to the Kohl's Art Generation studio at Milwaukee Art Museum for the first time.
We'd been up to the old, smaller space a few times, but this was our debut at the swanky new studio on the first floor, and it was a blast.
There were a few families working hard and having fun with construction paper, creating autumn projects to take home and to share on the murals in the studio.
One of my kids made an awesome, three-dimensional autumn scene with grass, a pumpkin and more. The rest of us worked more two-D, cutting and pasting to make variegated corn- and squash-themed decorations and other fun stuff.
We really had a great time and doing projects in the Art Generation studio is a treat for parents. All the supplies are at hand, the staff is friendly and we don't have to worry about making a mess of the dining room table. And it's all free (though you have to pay to get into the museum, of course).
This Sunday, Dec. 2, from 1o until 4, the Art Museum will team with Kohl's for Kohl's Art Generation Family Sundays: "Home for the Holidays."
At the free (again, with museum admission) event, kids of all ages can make unique holiday gifts in the art studio, watch Irish dancers, hear holiday music and more, all inspired by the current "Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Gainsborough: The Treasures of Kenwood House, London" show on view at the art museum through early January.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
