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ROBERTA’S ART GALLERY PRESENTS “WORLD OF WARHOL” FEATURING ORIGINAL ANDY WARHOL SCREEN-PRINTS AND PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE 1960S TO 1980S 

Roberta’s Art Gallery is thrilled to announce the highly anticipated “World of Warhol” exhibit, an immersive journey into the captivating world of one of the 20th century’s most influential figures, Andy Warhol (1928-1987). This exhibit features an exclusive collection of original artworks that were gifted from the Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts to UW-Whitewater Crossman Gallery’s permanent art collection. “World of Warhol” promises to transport visitors into the mesmerizing universe of the iconic pop artist, and showcases a diverse range of Warhol’s works, including his screen-prints, photographs, and Polaroids from the 1960s to 1980s.  

“World of Warhol” opens its doors on May 31 and will be on display until June 27. Viewers will have the unique opportunity to appreciate the intricacies of Warhol’s screen-printing technique, his masterful use of color, and his ability to infuse personalities with a sense of intrigue.  

Deborah Wilk, Ph.D., an associate professor of art history from UW-Whitewater says, “Amidst the aftermath of World War II, Warhol rejected the painterly and emotional art style of abstract expressionism, which emphasized painting and emotions, and instead used commercial screen-printing techniques to make art about celebrities, popular culture, American history, and mythology. Warhol also used his photographs as preliminary sketches for prints and paintings.” She says, “Instagram-like, Warhol carried the camera with him everywhere to document himself, friends, lovers, the famous, and the less well known.” 

“World of Warhol” features an extensive photograph collection of over 100 Polaroids and photographs taken by Andy Warhol from the 1970’s and 1980’s. Ashley Dimmig, the UW-Whitewater Crossman Gallery director says, “As the new director, I hope to offer more generations of students some opportunities to work closely with the Andy Warhol art collection, which ultimately belongs to them.” 

Roberta’s Art Gallery is located on the first floor of the James R. Connor University Center at UW-Whitewater. The gallery collaborates with campus departments, student organizations, and community artists in coordinating and sponsoring exhibits. During the summer, the gallery is open Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and closed on Saturday and Sunday.  

At Roberta’s Art Gallery, we pride ourselves in providing free and open exhibits to the public, and attending certain events can earn students class credit. If you are interested in being featured in the gallery, please contact us for a proposal request. Reach us at ucart@uww.edu or (262) 472-3193 or visit our website for any questions or inquiries. 

Editor’s note: The above press release was received from Roberta’s Art Gallery. Visitors who need parking on campus may wish to review this information.

The public is invited to a free class about learning how to make your own laundry soap, held at the Irvin L. Young Memorial Library’s Community Room at 431 W. Center Street in Whitewater on Thursday, June 8 at 6:30 p.m.  

Participants will leave with a large sample of the laundry soap to try out, directions, and resources. Save money! Free and open to the public. No registration required. Contact Sarah French with questions at sfrench@whitewater-wi.gov or 262-458-2782.

The Walworth County Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) will offer Welcome to Medicare workshops on Thursdays, June 8, August 17, October 19, and December 7, at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. This popular educational session will provide information about Medicare for individuals turning 65 years of age, those over 65 and planning to retire, or individuals with disabilities that have received Social Security Disability benefits for 24 months or have End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease).

“It is vitally important that individuals eligible to receive Medicare are aware of the different parts of Medicare, including Part A and Part B, as well as the prescription drug coverage,” says Elder Benefit Specialist Julie Juranek. “Being knowledgeable about premiums and penalties for not having creditable prescription drug coverage will help people make sound choices when exploring available plans.”

The Welcome to Medicare workshops will be held at the Walworth County Health and Human Services building, 1910 County Road NN, Elkhorn. RSVPs are highly recommended by calling (262) 741-3366.

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About the Walworth County Aging and Disability Resource Center: The ADRC provides information and assistance to older and disabled adults, their friends, family, caregivers, and the public. We can assist by evaluating your current needs and providing options available to meet the needs of your personal situation.

Editor’s note: The following announcement is posted on www.SteveMeisner.com.

WELL-KNOWN AND LOVED MUSICIAN STEVE MEISNER PASSES AWAY AT 62
June 1, 2023
The news we are forced to share with all of you will be as shocking and difficult for everyone to read as it is to write. It is with great shock and sadness that we must report that the very well-known and well-loved, multi-award-winning musician, Steve Meisner, has passed away following a very brief illness. Steve was 62 years old.

Even though Steve last performed on stage on May 21st, he learned the following week he was being diagnosed with stage IV cancer in multiple locations. Steve, along with his family, were beyond shocked. Before any meaningful treatment could be considered, Steve passed away peacefully in Meriter Hospital, Madison Wisconsin, the afternoon of June 1^st.  Barb, his loving wife of 38 years, was by his side along with his daughters Whitney and Lindsey, and son Austin.

Funeral and other arrangements have not yet been made but will be provided as soon as they become available. Steve was known and loved by so many and we know you will all be in disbelief. For now, the family asks for privacy as they work though this shocking and sudden loss.

One thing everyone feels is certain, is Steve would want the show to go on. The Meisner Band has many performances scheduled throughout the rest of 2023. Core Meisner Band members have committed to working with the many events and venues to fulfill these engagements as requested. While there can be no replacement for someone as talented as Steve, guest artists have already been assembled to fulfill the final performances of Steve’s Band. We are confident this is exactly what Steve would want as he has committed to entertaining audiences as his life’s work since he was a teenager.

As additional information becomes available, it will be provided on Steve’s website, www.SteveMeisner.com, on social media, and in Steve’s newsletter. An epic celebration of Steve’s life, a party he would be proud of, will be held in the near future.

Please keep Steve’s family in your thoughts and prayers as they grieve this loss along with all of you.

And, of course, Thank You Music Lovers!   

Click here for the website.

It’s time once again for #FlashbackFriday with the Whitewater Historical Society. This week’s image is in honor of Whitewater High School graduation this Sunday. It is a picture of the high school band, sometime in the 1950s since S. E. Mear, also in the picture, became the band director in 1954. Congratulations to all high school graduates this Sunday.

Join us next week for more from the Whitewater Historical Society

(5072PC Whitewater Historical Society)

The Milwaukee Handbell Ensemble (MHE) will present its 20th anniversary concert at 3:00 p.m. Saturday, June 3th, 2023, at First United Methodist Church, 145 South Prairie Street, Whitewater, WI. Children (ages 6-12) and their families are invited to a free preconcert talk at 2:15 in the front of church which includes playing handbells and active discussion. This Platinum Celebration includes well-loved classic music, along with festive new works, traditional favorites from the past 20 years.

The world premier of “Platinum Celebration” composed for this event for the Milwaukee Handbell Ensemble is based on many of the pieces the Milwaukee Handbell Ensemble has played and includes many unique handbell techniques such as quickly pressing the bells on a table, using mallets, tipping them sideways and more. Other pieces include “Footloose” (1984 movie), “All You Need is Love” (Beatles), original handbell compositions showcasing the various handbell techniques.

Karen Armstrong currently plays handbells for two churches in Janesville, helps out with the bell choir at Fairhaven Senior Services in Whitewater, and plays for the Milwaukee Handbell Ensemble. She has been playing handbells for more than 30 years. She lived in Kenosha, played in an adult handbell choir, directed Children’s Chime & Handbell Choirs, and played in small ensembles. Then in 2016 she moved to Whitewater Lake, 20 minutes south of Whitewater. She got a job as an Occupational Therapist in the Janesville School District and began playing bells in three Janesville area churches where she met Jim Dahlgran, of Janesville, who also played in multiple church bell choirs. She had never rung duets before but with Jim’s guidance and patience, she learned the techniques involved and they have shared music with various audiences since 2017. They both auditioned for the MHE in August 2021 and they were ecstatic to be invited to join. Most of the MHE concerts in the past few years have been in the Milwaukee area so she is delighted that the First United Methodist Church of Whitewater is hosting a MHE concert on Sat. June 3rd at 3 p.m. It is a great location because she knows that some of the bell ringers from Fairhaven, as well as handbell ringers, friends and family from the surrounding communities will love to attend.

“I love playing handbells,” Karen Armstrong, Whitewater resident says , “because a handbell choir is an ensemble in the truest sense of the word. An entire handbell choir is itself a single instrument, with each musician responsible for their one, two, or more notes in the chromatic scale, like the black and white keys of the piano. Rich melodies are achieved when the members of the ensemble play together. I also love that the handbell repertoire has increased greatly in the last 20 or so years with handbell music coming in a variety of levels of difficulty and in a variety of genres, from religious to secular including many arrangements of popular tunes.”

“I love making music with handbells,” Jim Dahlgran from Janesville says. “I have always loved music and have been active in it since I was 8-10 yrs old. Handbells are a unique instrument in the percussion family that not only ring, but have a now myriad of other playing techniques that provide a very wide spectrum of sound. What other instrument can you beat with a stick or slam into the table? The other reason is friendship and extended family of like minded musicians.”

The Milwaukee Handbell Ensemble is grateful for its season sponsor: UNITY Lutheran Church in Brookfield.

About the Milwaukee Handbell Ensemble
Founded in 2003 the Milwaukee Handbell Ensemble (MHE) has gained wide popularity in our community and beyond. The organization is dedicated to further the art of handbell ringing by educating, inspiring and informing others on the art form by showcasing advanced handbell repertoire while being a musical resource for the Milwaukee metropolitan area and beyond. MHE is an auditioned community handbell ensemble with thirteen ringers who play 73 handbells and 73 hand chimes.

Within these 19 years, MHE has become known for amazing memorized performances, for premiering new arrangements of popular music, as well as being the recording choir for AGEHR Publishing. They have been guest performers with the Midwest Vocal Express, Bel Canto Chorus, Present Music and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. In fact, MHE has performed five times with MSO under conductors: Doc Severinsen, Stuart Chafetz, Jeff Tyzik, and Andreas Delfs.

Over the past seven years, MHE has expanded their reach by taking mini-tours to Minnesota, South Dakota and Michigan performing by invitation at the Area 7 Handbell Festival in Sioux Falls in 2016 and most recently, in the summer of 2018, played the closing concert of the National Seminar for the Handbell Musicians of America in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

About the Musical Director
Conductor, Kaethe Grabenhofer is the Artistic Director of The Milwaukee Handbell Ensemble. Grabenhofer has more than 25 years of handbell ringing experience and is driven to inspire and help others find inspiration in music. She believes in the power of music and brings music to a variety of audiences from senior centers to educational settings.

Grabenhofer has traveled to three continents in order to make music in different environments and with different people, with new experiences each time. This has shown her how people can communicate musically across language barriers. Through all of these experiences, she is eager to share music of other cultures to enable people to better understand the world around them and to engage them in the human musical experience.

Tracey Bowers, president of MHE, said, “She (Kaethe Grabenhofer) has many great ideas on where to take the group both physically and musically. I look forward to reaching out to more audiences with Kaethe leading MHE as we move into the future.”

“This concert has been 20 years in the making. As a former handbell musician, I am excited and inspired by the handbell talent in Milwaukee.,” said Grabenhofer. “I have always admired their innovation and precise ringing.”
Grabenhofer enjoys teaching music and playing the organ at First Immanuel Lutheran School in Cedarburg, Wisconsin. Her educational background includes an MA in Music Education from the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota and a BA in education and music from Concordia University in Wisconsin. She holds a master teacher’s license in Wisconsin, Orff Master’s certificate, Kodaly levels and is a National Board Certified Teacher.

Northern Illinois University announces its spring 2023 Dean’s List students. To earn this distinction, students must meet a minimum semester grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale in the College of Engineering and Engineering Technology or a minimum of 3.75 on a 4.0 scale in the colleges of Business, Education, Health and Human Sciences, Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Visual and Performing Arts.

The student from your area who achieved this honor:

Brianna Tillett, of Whitewater, who is majoring in Rehabilitation & Disability Se. Tillett is a graduate of Kettle Moraine High School.

Northern Illinois University is a student-centered, nationally recognized public research university, with expertise that benefits its region and spans the globe in a wide variety of fields, including the sciences, humanities, arts, business, engineering, education, health and law. Through its main campus in DeKalb, Illinois, and education centers for students and working professionals in Chicago, Hoffman Estates, Naperville, Oregon and Rockford, NIU offers more than 100 courses of study while serving a diverse and international student body of about 19,000. The 17 NIU Huskie athletic teams compete in the Mid-American Conference at the highest NCAA Division I level. For more information, visit www.niu.edu.

Editor’s Note: The following was provided by Whitewater Unites Lives.

Jan Bilgen has been nominated as a WUL Hometown Hero by Sara Kuhl for, “Jan Bilgen has been an active community member for years, serving on the common council, numerous commissions, she is active in her church to name a few of the many contributions she’s made to Whitewater. In recent years, Jan has been the driving force behind the effort to provide meals and snacks to law enforcement officials who help keep the city safe during Spring Splash.”

From the UW-Whitewater website:  The UW-Whitewater Campus Memory Garden is a place to celebrate, honor and remember Warhawks.  The garden contains a Memory Wall that memorializes both current students, staff and faculty members we have lost, as well as Warhawks who have made and are making significant contributions to our campus. Established in 2017 in honor of former Dean of Students Mary Beth Mackin, the garden is a place of reflection and repose. It is also a place of celebration — the tassels that appear on the columns every commencement are a popular backdrop for graduation photos.

WUL (Whitewater Unites Lives) is a locally-focused civil and human rights group that works to connect the people in our community and to create opportunities for all people to learn and support each other in our common humanity.   

Anyone who would like to nominate a local hero of any age should send their nomination, with a short description, to whitewaterunites@gmail.com