The Great Milwaukee Summer is HERE! Your guide to what you'll be doing, where you'll be drinking, who you'll be hearing and how you'll be getting a sweet tan this summer is on OnMilwaukee. The Great Milwaukee Summer guide is brought to you by Geis Garage Doors and Peoples State Bank!
Don’t panic when you see the enormous tentacles along the lakeshore this summer. It’s not a giant fluorescent lake squid here to wreak havoc. It’s just visible proof that Joy Engine’s “ArtBlaze on the Beach” series has arrived.
On four Wednesdays in July and August, kicking off on July 10, Bradford Beach and South Shore Beach will each host two events with live music, food vendors, Arts@Large art experiences, tie-dying with Spun.Out Dyes, yoga sessions, dance lessons, s’mores-making stations and, of course, huge, hulking, luminescent tentacles.
The first and last events – July 10 and Aug. 21 – are at Bradford Beach. The middle two – July 31 and Aug. 7 – will be at South Shore.
The events begin at 3:30 p.m. with family friendly fun but morph into a dance party as darkness falls. A full schedule of events is below.
“In the city of festivals, our public beaches have been historically underutilized as a site for celebration,” said Steph Salvia, executive director of Joy Engine, which has created other immersive art experiences, too, like Under One Moon, Out of the Box, and Nitelight.
“Yet when searching for a site that naturally brings people from all walks of life, including residents of the deep lake, our public beaches seem like an obvious choice.”
And the tentacles?
The hand-made fluorescent tentacles will measure more than 30 feet and are currently being created by FuzzPop Workshop, the Milwaukee-based multimedia production studio that created the immersive Deep Lake Future experience in Walker’s Point and has another one coming to Summerfest.
Here are the lineups for the four events:
Wednesday, July 10
3:30-10 p.m. at Bradford Beach
- Trapper Schoepp, 3:30-4:30 p.m.
- Roxie Beane, 5-6:15 p.m.
- Hip-hop by Your Move MKE, 6:30-7 p.m.
- Wave Chapelle, 7:15-8 p.m.
- Live DJ sets by DJ D-On, DJ Shortstyle, and DJ E Rich with a complimentary “choose your DJ” silent disco for up to 200 people, 8-9:30 p.m.
Wednesday, July 31
3:30-10 p.m. at South Shore Beach
- Lil Rev, 3:30-5 p.m.
- An open session with MKE Yoga Social, 4:45-5:45 p.m.
- Tigera Band, 6:15-7:45 p.m.
- Karlies Kelly “How to Salsa,” 7:45-8:15 p.m.
- De La Buena, 8:45-9:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Aug. 7
3:30-10 p.m. at South Shore Beach
- The Kid Boogie Down with DJ Lukewarm, 3:30-4:30 p.m.
- Hale o Malo, 5-6 p.m.
- Undercover Organism, 6:30-7:45 p.m.
- Urban Empress, 8:15-9:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Aug. 21
3:30-10 p.m. at Bradford Beach
- For the ultimate sandcastle experience, visitors may join internationally acclaimed sand sculptor Ted Siebert in constructing a giant sea creature.
- Girls Rock Showcase, 3:30-4:30 p.m.
- An open session with MKE Yoga Social, 4:45-5:45 p.m.
- DJ Kenny Perez, 6-6:30 p.m.
- Gego y Nony, 6:30-7:30 p.m.
- The Sparkle and Burn Fire Show, 7:45-8:15 p.m.
- • DJ Shawna 8:30-9:30 p.m.
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.
