Online, Outdoors, On the Way Out

Catch the TEDx Milwaukee event online, an exhibition of outdoor paintings, and a number of shows before they close this weekend.

TEDxHarambee Viewing Party   
Bucketworks
706 S. 5th Street
11:30-4pm
Free, and feel free to bring food and beverages.

Post TEDx Networking Event
Turner Hall
1034 N. 4th Street
4:30-6:30 p.m.

STEM courses — those within the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and math — have gotten a lot of press as areas crucial to future innovation and economic growth. TED is another powerful acronym, standing for the eponymous nonprofit’s focus on technology, entertainment, and design in the form of “ideas worth spreading.” TED has become synonymous with thoughtful, provocative lectures, and has engendered local events across the country known as TEDx.

Milwaukee gets into the act with a TEDx event from noon to 4 p.m. focused on STEAM, a brilliant remix of the traditional STEM to embrace Art and Music along with Science, Technology and Engineering. Tickets for the live event are sold out, but in the spirit of technology and accessibility the afternoon’s speakers will be streamed online. A post-conference event with many of the presenters will be held at Turner Hall. The roster of speakers features groups and individuals who will touch on an impressive array of topics including social activism, the arts, urban farming, creativity as a vehicle for progress, and more.

FRIDAY, MAY 10

We Came, We Saw, We Painted: Acts of Plein Air 
Art*Bar
722 E. Burleigh Street
Opening reception 8 p.m.
Exhibition continues through June 13

Shana McCaw and Brent Budsberg: The Vanishing Point closes Saturday. Image courtesy Portrait Society Gallery.

No beating around the bush with this exhibition, unless it’s done with a paintbrush. This exhibition features work from the Wisconsin Plein Air Painters Association. Fifty pieces will be shown, bringing outdoor views to the comfy indoor environs. The opening will be accompanied with live music by Chris Head & the Honchos.

SATURDAY, MAY 11

Shana McCaw and Brent Budsberg: The Vanishing Point
Portrait Society Gallery
207 E. Buffalo Street, 5th Floor
Exhibition closing, artists in gallery 5 to 7:30 p.m.

This exhibition of photographs, video, and installation work is nearing its own vanishing point with a closing reception featuring the artists for informal gallery talks. The  meditative images pit these contemporary artists against a rugged, empty terrain, wrapped in the guise of nineteenth-century pioneers.

MIAD 2013 Senior Exhibition

Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design
273 E. Erie Street
Exhibition closing, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

This exhibition represents a culmination of training and a glimpse into the future practices of emerging artists. Disciplines such as painting, drawing, and sculpture are represented, as are bold works incorporating performance, multimedia, and a multitude of approaches to the arts of visual communication and design.

Michael Kutzer: Etchings and Woodcuts closes Sunday. Image courtesy Charles Allis Art Museum.

SUNDAY, MAY 12

Michael Kutzer: Etchings and Woodcuts
Charles Allis Art Museum
1801 N. Prospect Avenue
Exhibition closing, 1-5 p.m.

German-born, Milwaukee-based Michael Kutzer’s retrospective exhibition presents a range of subjects from multiple series. Influences from his European childhood are reflected in Punch Theater, while the local landscape informs works such as those from Views of the Lakeshore. 

The Avant Garde Coffeehouse Project  
Inova
2155 N. Prospect Avenue
Exhibition closing, 12-5 p.m.

This is the last day to catch the survey of photographs, ephemera, and other documentation related to Milwaukee’s 1960s epicenter of folk and blues music, progressive art, and bohemia known as the Avant Garde Coffeehouse. See Jessica Sattell’s review on TCD.