Celebrate record stores, art — and Mother Earth
It’s the day for discs
Saturday is Record Store Day, the annual celebration of music, independent music stores and old-school music delivery systems (a.k.a. vinyl records). More than a half-dozen Milwaukee-area record stores are taking part this year, including Bullseye Records, 1627 E. Irving Place; The Exclusive Company, 1669 N. Farwell Ave., 5206 S. 74th St., Greenfield, and 144 N. Main St., West Bend; Rush Mor Records, 2635 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.; Acme Records, 2341 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.; Off the Beaten Path, 3201 S. Howell Ave.; and Stardust Records and Collectibles, 106 S. Main St., Thiensville. In addition to racks of deals on limited-edition releases from dozens of artists — each store’s offerings vary, but the roster ranges from Prince and Run the Jewels to Snarky Puppy and Small Faces to Johnny Cash and Parquet Courts — some locations will include live in-store performances. (Check with stores for details.) Info: recordstoreday.com
Picture this: Gallery Night is back
The spring edition (per calendar, if not the weather) of Gallery Night &
Day is Friday and Saturday, with an array of art exhibits and happenings around
Milwaukee, many of them with the artists on hand to talk up and about their work. Among the offerings (for a full list, go to historicthirdward.org):
❚ Pfister Hotel artist-in-residence
Stephanie Schultz has a meet-and-greet in her studio at the historic hotel, 424 E. Wisconsin Ave., from 5 to 9 p.m., with a reception and cash bar following in The Rouge. Info: Gallery Night - Stephanie Schultz Facebook page.
❚ University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee film professor Dick Blau is screening his “The 730 Project” in the Lounge at Mo’s Steakhouse, 720 N. Plankinton Ave., from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday. The project is based on photographs taken by Blau, who lives at 730 N. Plankinton Ave., of the immediate neighborhood over a nine-year period. Info: Facebook page for Gallery Night Screening of Dick Blau’s “The 730 Project” at Mo’s.
❚ “Steven D. Foster: The Space Between,” a show covering 40 years of works by the former Milwaukee-based photographer, is the focus of a show at The Alice Wilds, a contemporary gallery at 900 S. 5th St., Suite 102. There’ll be a reception for Foster from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday. Info: thealicewilds.com/current.
❚ The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin is showing “Photographing the Resistance: Celebrating the Freedom to Assemble,” including works by Joe Brusky, Anna Maria Contreras, C.M. DeSpears, Troy Freund and Jovanny Hernandez, at its office at 207 E. Buffalo St., Suite 325, from 5 to 10 p.m. April 20.
❚ The Milwaukee Art Museum, which is opening a new show “Daring Technique: Goya and the Art of Etching,” also hosts its monthly MAM
After Dark event from 7 to 11 p.m. Friday. This month’s has a Parisian theme. Admission is $14 at the museum, 700 N. Art
Museum Drive. Info: mam.org/afterdark.
Earth has its Day, too
Earth Day is Sunday, but Milwaukee’s celebrating the planet on Saturday, too. Among the goings-on:
❚ The Urban Ecology Center is holding a Earth Day of Service Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon at all three of its branches: in Washington Park, 1859 N. 40th St.; Riverside Park, 1500 E. Park Place; and the Menomonee Valley, 3700 W. Pierce St. Activities include litter pickup, plantings, removal of invasive species and other cleanup efforts. Info: urbanecologycenter.org.
❚ Riveredge Nature Center, 4458 County Highway Y (Hawthorne Drive), Saukville, has an Earth Day Service Fest Saturday, too, but registration is already full. But there’s still room at the nature center’s Earth Day Open Tree Climb, where experienced climbers will help novices learn the ropes (among other equipment) so they can climb, spin or just hang out. It’s from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Registration is $35, $20 for Riveredge members. (Climbers must be 7 or older.) Info: riveredgenaturecenter.org.
❚ Milwaukee Riverkeeper hosts its 23rd annual Milwaukee Riverkeeper Spring Cleanup Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon. Cleanup crews will gather at more than 60 locations in the Milwaukee River Basin; after noon, there’s a party in Estabrook Park. Details and registration information are available at Milwaukee Riverkeeper’s website. Info: milwaukeeriverkeeper.org/restore /spring-cleanup.
❚ Earth Poets and Musicians performs its 31st annual show at 8 p.m. Saturday at The Coffee House, 1905 W. Wisconsin Ave. Admission is a $6 donation; doors open at 7:30 p.m. Info: the-coffee-house.com. Beer, cheese and more at State Fair Park
Stein & Dine, the annual reveling in beer, cheese and other Wisconsin-made consumables, sponsored by the Shepherd Express, returns to the Wisconsin Exposition Center at State Fair Park, 8200 W. Greenfield Ave. More than 50 beer, wine and spirits purveyors will be on hand, plus more than a dozen foods makers (from shawarma to bacon). Tickets are $45, $75 for VIP admission. Info: shepherdexpress.com.
Last call
It’s the last weekend to catch these.
“Until the Flood”: Writer-performer Dael Orlandersmith crafted, and performs, eight composite characters formed from interviews she did in Ferguson, Mo., after the shooting of Michael Brown, an African-American, by a white police officer. The Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s production of “Flood” wraps up Sunday in the Rep’s Stiemke Studio, 108 E. Wells St. Info: milwaukeerep.com.
“Antarctica, WI”: First Stage’s world premiere production of playwright Finegan Kruckemeyer’s Milwaukee-centric fable about unity and division concludes its run Sunday in the Todd Wehr Theater at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, 929 N. Water St. Info: firststage.org. “The Open Road: Photography and the American Road Trip”: The traveling exhibit of 19 photographers, with the road trip as the thematic connective tissue, ends its stay Sunday at the Milwaukee Art Museum, 700 N. Art Museum Drive. Info: mam.org.