Mary Louise Schumacher

Milwaukee Film Names New CEO, Reports Attendance Growth

And reveals new fall doc festival and 2025 festival dates.

The 2024 Milwaukee Film Festival Wraps Up with Exciting News and Numbers: Unveiling Festival Award Winners and a Significant Leadership Update

Anne Reed to become full-time CEO of Milwaukee Film; $35,000 in awards to be delivered to filmmakers near and far

Check Out These Milwaukee-Made Films At The Film Festival

Cream City Cinema series has everything from documentaries to music videos.

Milwaukee and the Stolen Picasso

Tale from 1969 puts a city with few Picasso paintings at center of an international mystery.

New Ruth Foundation a National Player

Late Ruth Kohler's newly born, Milwaukee-based, $440 million Ruth Foundation for Arts the biggest of its kind in U.S.

VISIT Milwaukee launches virtual tour of Milwaukee in advance of DNC

30 videos narrated by community members allow visitors to explore the city from home

Murals Are a Community’s Voice

They have a raw power that doesn’t need the approval of art critics, curators or anyone else.

Too Many White Male Critics?

Former JS critic gets cited in controversy. And MOWA buys a Uttech painting.

The Lost Legacy of Harry Weese

Why the Marcus Center and Kiley grove are not historic.

Kiley’s Chestnut Grove Provokes Hot Debate

Should it be saved? Or past its prime? At stake is the past and future of a changing city.

Marcus Center at a Crossroads

Are upgrades to the Marcus Center and changes to the Kiley grove necessary?

Death Watch at the Journal Sentinel

Yet more layoffs, Gannett cuts nationally, facing buyout bid.

A Revamped Marcus Center

Ambitious plan unveiled to reshape performing arts center.

Glass art depicts timeless portraits of humanity

Exclusive exhibit makes only Midwest stop in Milwaukee

No, the Domes Aren’t Great Architecture

Beloved perhaps. But let’s be honest about their kitschy design.

Bucks Arena Design Is Anti-Urban

Its generic, well-mannered and probably won’t improve with “tweaks.”

It’s Official, Sculpture Wasn’t Anti-Semitic

Jewish Federation’s annual audit of anti-semitism absolves the Shorewood sculpture.

Infill Building Planned for Third Ward

The five-story office and retail building in Third Ward will be -- gasp -- of modern design.

Domes Are An International Star

They are a tourist and architectural attraction. Yet there’s talk of tearing them down.

The Man Who Cried Anti-Semitism

How the media amplified dumb attack on public sculpture and why Shorewood took it down.

Still Controversy Over Art Museum Addition

Journal Sentinel offers inaccurate account of how new addition got built. Here's the real story.

Are There Really Anti-Semitic Messages Hidden in a Shorewood Sculpture?

Bucks Create a Media Orgy!

Their press conference releasing the plan for new arena and development generated at least 20 stories. Mission accomplished.

229 New Apartments in Brewers’ Hill

But one of the two new buildings being developed generated grr-ipes from Matt Wild and Mary Louise Schumacher. Dare we disagree?

Swing Park Nominated for MANDI Award

And its story -- and controversies- keep getting retold.

Ambulance Chasing Lawyer Chases Abele

Plus: Bud Selig’s birthday bash and where will new Journal CEO live?

“Controversy” Over Swing Park?

Architect blasts city for altering her design. Are her complaints valid?

JS Critic Likes New Art Museum Addition

Schumacher gives it thumbs up but big issues remain.

Newspaper Critic Says Don’t Build Art Museum Addition

Schumacher, Journal Sentinel critic, calls Milwaukee Art Museum’s design a “dose of dullness.”

Why the Milwaukee Art Museum Changed Its Design

Museum staff wanted more gallery space, even if it meant ruining Jim Shields design for the new addition.

Top Architect Quit Project for Museum Addition

Architect Jim Shields had falling out with Milwaukee Art Museum; new addition was designed by committee, not Shields.

We Hate This Boston Store Subsidy!

Common Council members all complain about the TIF for Boston Store, then pass it 11-3.

John McGivern’s $1 Million Apartments

Comedy pays, it turns out. The entertainer owns 11 apartments totaling 7,572 square feet.

Marina Will Battle Geenan for Assembly Seat

Dimitrijevic and Geenan are already competing for labor support.

More Northwestern Mutual Skyscraper Renderings

Northwestern Mutual's new office tower isn't just a skyscraper.

Sarah Gail Luther

A modern Flower Child uses her artistry to rediscover the lost culture in abandoned city lots.

The Media’s $10 Million Error

The art museum’s plan to repair the War Memorial will cost $25 million, not $15 million. And that’s not all the errors.

Free Bus Rides, Moneyball and Renderings, Crime on Buses Way Down, and More

Welcome to the fourth installment of Eyes on Milwaukee. This week we take a look at free bus rides for St. Patrick's Day, the idea of applying Moneyball principles to project renderings, how Police Chief Flynn has apparently managed to cut in half the service calls originated from MCTS buses, the notion of a new union for UWM, and more.

Sales Tax, Bradley Center Transportation, The Moderne, and More

Welcome to the third installment of Eyes on Milwaukee. This week we take a look at Milwaukee's sales tax rate compared to other major cities, the Bradley Center's new transportation option, UWM's continued insistence on growing parking subsidies, and a whole lot of development news.

Public Works Committee Holds Alley Vacation

Resolution 071564 proposed the vacation of two “paper” alleys to support the Palomar development project within the Park East. Apparently Alderman Bob Bauman read Mary Louise Schumacher‘s article in the Journal Sentinel, History lost in Park East bait-and-switch, because he stated that “I see this as a bait and switch” referring to the dramatic change in design that the Palomar project has undergone since it was originally proposed before Milwaukee County. The original design included the utilization and preservation of both the Sydney Hih and the Gipfel Brewerys whereas the latest design would demolish the Sydney Hih structure and move the Gipfel Brewery to another site. The committee voted to hold this file in attempt to exert some influence over this development. Normally the City of Milwaukee would have influence over development projects that involve land sales and zoning changes but as the new design required neither this is an unusual course of action. Resolution 080211 was a communication from the Public Policy Forum regarding their report on the Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS). The report indicates that in coming years MCTS will have completely spent all of a $44 million reserve of funds and will be projecting deficit spending. It goes on to show how MCTS has spent capital funds to support operational budgets and by doing so has deferred the purchase of 150 new buses. These deferments have pushed maintenance costs higher and will help create a $18 to $20 million dollar hole in upcoming budgets.

It’s Official, Fonz Funding Complete

Milwaukee is the talk of the internet today, as the major news outlets announce the Fonz statue to the world.  Visit Milwaukee has officially raised the $85,000 needed to build the statue. I’ve been in support of the statue since I first learned of it because it encourages visitors (who come to Milwaukee for completely unrelated reasons) to stay downtown, walk downtown, and spend their money downtown. One more thing for Milwaukee visitors to do. Mary Louise Schumacher is still opposed to the statue because it’s too trivial. The Associated Press has an article that sums up what is happening, and even mentions Brenner leaving town. The best part of the entire thing is that Henry Winkler and company held a press conference to announce the completed funding in front of the Culver’s at the Shops of Grand Avenue. Couldn’t they find a slightly better location?

Word on the Street (12.17.2007)

Links from the Milwaukee-informationsphere Mary Louise Schumacher is yet another art person doesn’t think it’s a good idea to build a recognizable landmark that will increase pedestrian traffic in downtown Milwaukee. Hofbrauhaus Milwaukee, a proposed German beer hall and restaurant, is likely coming next The Brewery development at the old Pabst brewery in Blue Ribbon Hall after the settlement of a lawsuit involving Brew City Redevelopment LLC with the complex’s former owners, WisPark LLC. The article makes no mention of the existing Old German Beer Hall and how urban Milwaukee is delightfully reinventing itself more in the fashion of a city like Munich, Germany. Robert Kern, of Generac fame and fortune, is powering a change in the way the state handles engineering education through his foundation (Kern Family Foundation). Two urban Milwaukee schools are at the center of this in MSOE and Marquette, through the recruitment of Project Lead the Way students form high schools and their participation in KEEN (Kern Entrepreneurship Education Network). Urban Milwaukee would like to applaud the efforts of Robert Kern for his visionary leadership in truly investing in the future of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the entire Fresh Coast economy and education system. The Journal Sentinel takes a look at how you can reduce your power consumption and what effects it will have. Absolutely worth your time to read. Dave Reid takes a look at the Kane Commons development and gives us a construction update of the Breakwater Condos and The Residences on Water.