2WLI0607HDBA_Broadcast_Transcript
- This week on Wisconsin Life: Meet artists who find empowerment through creation,
the owner of a mobile farmer's market, the director of one of Wisconsin's oldest choirs, and a trail blazer beautifying the shores of Lake Michigan. It's all ahead on Wisconsin Life! 
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- Funding for Wisconsin Life is provided in part by Alliant Energy, Lowell and Mary Peterson, and Friends of Wisconsin Public Television.
- Hello, I'm your host, Angela Fitzgerald, and this is Wisconsin Life. Today, I'm in the southeastern part of the state exploring arts and culture within the walls of the Racine Business Center. This distinctive building is located in the south side of Racine. The owner believes it to be the first business incubator in the nation.
[lightbulb switches on]
An incubator allows small organizations the space and resources to grow into thriving businesses. Which is exactly what happened here for over 100 years.
Today, the Racine Business Center houses several artists' studios, eclectic shops, and even a manufacturing company on the first floor. We'll meet some of the talented artists and residents here later in the show. But first we head to Hayward where a set of artists use their creative talent as a way to connect with the outside world.
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- Hayward artist Shannon Kocka draws inspiration from her daydreams.
They take flight in the form of fantasy and science fiction.
- You get to use your imagination more. You get to explore these little worlds in your head.
- Creating art takes courage to try new things.
That's especially challenging for Shannon. She was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder as a child.
- I was really antisocial. I didn't want to do things different. I sometimes screamed and cried a lot for no reason at all.
- Trying new things and socializing are often more difficult for people on the spectrum.
Giizhik Klawiter was diagnosed with autism at age 5. Ten years later, his mother says his peers still struggle to accept him.
- Pam Miller: My hope is that people one day understand autism and accept autism. They have an ability that we don't have. Giizhik has a photographic memory. And so I think that's what makes him so good with his artistry.
- Giizhik and Shannon are both members of See My Art, or SMART, a non-profit organization created by Drummond artist Sara Balbin. It provides support and guidance for people with disabilities through art.
- Sara Balbin: Oh, I see it. Raccoon, bear. It's a good way to give what I've been given. And I have mentors, and now, I'm mentoring.
- That is awesome. Nice colors.
- The SMART organization offers artists a platform to showcase their work online.
Sara's also formed relationships with several Northwoods businesses to give gallery space to SMART artists.
- Sara Balbin: They've become artists. They've become professional artists. 
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- Giizhik's passion is painting. 
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- Giizhik Klawiter: Painting animals that you would locally see here in the wild, or in the region. This is a type of bear that is locally seen in Wisconsin. You can see that it's full of berries over there.
- He also loves to spread Christmas cheer.
- I really like Christmas. One of my favorite things about Christmas was snowmen with top hats. I really like top hats.
- It led to his biggest brush with notoriety.
- Mom had this idea of turning them into cards. 
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- For the past decade, Giizhik's sold holiday cards across Sawyer County to raise money for autism research. The proceeds go to the Waisman Center at UW-Madison.
- We've raised over $18,000.
- Giizhik Klawiter: And I think it was a pretty neat thing.
- Pam Miller: He has difficulty with the notoriety because people recognize him and he has difficulty with that social interaction. He is very proud that his cards help other people.
- Sara Balbin: He wants to make a difference. And isn't that wonderful? Fifteen years old and wanting to make a difference. You have to love it.
- While Giizhik crafted cards, Shannon scripted her own story. In 2017, she published her first book, titled Wings.
- Shannon Kocka: The main character is Irving. He has no memory of where he came from. He's different from the other dragons because he's got butterfly patterns on his wings like you see on the cover. He's separated from his people so he's got to try and find the courage within himself and try and find them again.
- It sparked Shannon's writing career.
- There were star sprites everywhere migrating in a massive cyclone above him, illuminating the jungle in all colors like thousands of tiny rainbows. A feeling overcame Irving one he could only describe as sheer happiness. There were tears in his eyes, but he couldn't wipe them away. He didn't want to miss this beautiful sight. Well, first I want to make a trilogy out of this first book and I already have a couple ideas for future books. Most of them involve dragons. I'm definitely going to be a fantasy writer.
- She's also working on her social skills. At Sara's encouragement, Shannon was the keynote speaker at the 2018 See My Art Annual Gala event.
- She will open doors for others to realize that it's okay to be like who you were born to be. Becoming an artist, an author takes the term "autism" and "Asperger's" away. Now you are an author. You're a writer. You're a creative person.
- I'm still hesitant to try new things and do things differently but at least I'm still trying and there are still people supporting me for it.
- I am so, so happy for you.
- Thank you.
- Shannon says living with autism has its ups and downs but ask her if she'd change a thing and she'd say...
- I'd say 'no' 'cause it made me who I am. And without it, I'd probably be a very boring person and being boring is not fun.
- Spoken like an artist who's learned to follow her daydreams.
- Sometimes you'll listen to that voice in your head and you'll just sit and do nothing, but other times you get to push through and you accomplish something.
- Speaking of ambitions, we travel to Madison where a farmer works to preserve his ancestry through the seeds he plants and truck he drives.
[soft guitar]
- For Dan Cornelius, food has always been an important influence in his life.
As a member of the Oneida Nation, Dan developed a strong connection with Native American food and culture.
- For me, why I was drawn to food and to agriculture is food is at the core of life, of survival. It touches on all aspects of life.
- It was that interest that led Dan to realize there was an opportunity for Native Americans in Wisconsin to honor their agricultural history and sell their goods.
- You know, the historic economy of Wisconsin was really centered on food and in agriculture and a lot of people today don't even think of Indians, Native Americans, and tribes engaging in agriculture, but you look historically, and we had extensive fields as far as the eye could see of corn with pumpkins and squash and beans and sunflowers and Amaranth all mixed in.
What I saw in the region here is that we were really lacking infrastructure and support for a coordinated transportation and distribution and marketing of our foods.
- Dan partnered with the Intertribal Agriculture Council and the Mobile Farmers Market was born.
The market provides access to Native American-produced goods like beans, corn, and wild rice at farmers markets and food summits across Wisconsin. And as Dan explains, the market does more than just provide a production outlet.
- It addresses our land issues and provides opportunities for sustainable economic development at the same time as improving community health.
- The way in which food is prepared is often just as important to health as the food itself. Dan says that looking back to how food was traditionally prepared is one way in which healthier practices can be re-introduced.
- That's one of the fascinating things with looking at the history of how foods were used. And the knowledge that our ancestors had is really amazing. These are a Haudenosaunee blue sweet corn and they just started coming up in the past two, three days. This is a Haudenosaunee. This is a white and purple calico corn. It's flour corn.
- Response from Native American communities to indigenous foods and the Mobile Farmers Market has been positive and Dan says it helps establish open dialogues and ignite action.
- It's a great opportunity as a conversation starter and getting a pulse on a community, and where folks are coming from. And I think it also helps to inspire people and just to think of what can they be doing. Generally when people see all those foods, they get pretty excited.
- In his own life, Dan experienced the communal connection that came from cooking traditional foods.
- I just remember growing up, my grandma would bring down corn, corn soup at the holidays. And I just loved eating corn soup.
- By making traditional foods more available, Dan hopes to instill that same excitement and love of cooking and food in others.
- Whether indigenous foods or not, just getting families, getting our younger generations into the kitchen, and cooking again and reconnecting those relationships with food and making it at home. That's important from both a health perspective but also just from a community perspective as well.
- I'm at the Racine Business Center, getting to know the community of artists who call this building home. The story is part of a long legacy of entrepreneurs in Racine. An exhibit here on the 2nd floor tells that story. The Racine Arts and Business Center is aptly named, literally bringing the arts to the heart of the city's downtown business district. The center's building was originally constructed in 1865 by the Racine Wagon and Carriage Company for manufacturing. When cars became popular many years later, the owners decided to rent out space to start-ups, many of which became success businesses. The tenants that occupy this building now continue to build on that success with studio galleries, shops, and even a small café.
One of those tenants is Tony Macies, a ceramic artist who found success in the space. He balances the importance of owning a business while still maintaining his creative drive.
- I mainly work in ceramics.
- Can you tell me about the pieces on display on the table?
- This one is very simple. It's called pit firing. So, it's taking the ceramic piece and putting it into a bucket of combustible stuff, lighting the top and just letting it burn down. And that's where these different, cool little marks show up. Then, once the piece is finished, usually it's waxed to give it a little bit of a shine. The darks sort of pop out a little bit more. These three pieces and that piece are raku. The raku process and this process, to me, are very visceral. They're the fastest processes that exist in ceramics. So I always say that it helps feed my short attention span and instant gratification issues because in about an hour and a half, I'll can pull a piece out of the kiln and it's ready.
- Tony's ceramic business may feature the fastest art process at the center, but Erin Manders soap business is certainly the best smelling set-up. So, tell us what you make here at Perennial Soaps?
- I make bar soap, liquid soap, roll-on perfume, body spray, and bath balms.
- Pretty much everything for the body and skin.
- Yup.
- What's your favorite product to make?
- Probably bar soap.
- What's that process like?
- Take about an hour to mix the soap and pour it into the mold. Sits overnight and then has to cure for about four to six weeks.
- Wow, that long? I had no idea. What makes this space so special to you?
- It's good for me because I can choose a small amount of retail hours and then keep the space mainly for manufacturing.
- Sounds perfect for an entrepreneur like yourself?
- Mm-hmm.
- Spend a few hours walking through the Arts and Business Center and you'll see many examples of creative entrepreneurship. Part of a long tradition of business enterprise in Racine that goes all the way back to the 1800s in this historic spot.
 
[upbeat jazz music]
There are a lot of impressive things being crafted here.
Next, we connect with a choir director in Madison who helps to preserve a music tradition dating back more than 150 years.
- Let's do flowers. Can we go on... § Poppy, petunia, poppy, petunia, gladiola § 
[singing in a higher pitch]
- children: § Poppy, petunia, poppy, petunia, gladiola §
- Not too bad. And for your last warm up, can I have-
- Let's do "Danny Boy."
- At Jefferson Middle School in Madison, Garrett Debbink leads the after-school choir.
- Here we go! 
[plays piano accompaniment of "We Found Love"]

- Nice and loud.
- § Yellow diamonds in the light §
- I started it when I got here six years ago. It's called Loud and Clear. We always do the pop stuff, the newer stuff. A cappella has a little bit more of a draw and it's what the kids are into.
- From modern pop...
- § Can you feel that? 
§ §
 We're playing with love tonight §
- ...to more old school. 
[choir singing "Es wird schon gleich dunkel" in German]
 § Es wird schon gleich dunkel es wird ja schon Nacht §
- Lots of energy first tenors. Don't lose that pitch.
- Garrett also directs the Madison Mäennerchor. 
[Choir singing "Ein Prosit" in German]
 § Ein Prosit, ein Prosit der Gemüatlichkeit §
- Being able to be a director for a choir that's been around for 165 years is really something special. 
§ §
 Cool, that'll be good.
- A choir founded in 1852 to be exact by German immigrants, four years after Wisconsin became a state.
- They would go to work and then they would go to the bar. And this was their entertainment. They would have a couple drinks and sing songs. I think it's a really interesting history that we've kind of lost.
- The men's choir originally came to the New World with Old World ways and forged a rich tradition around the state and in Madison.
- Most of it is four-part men's choral music. So it's tenor one, tenor two, baritone, bass.
- When Grover Cleveland visited Wisconsin in 1887, it was the Madison Mäennerchor that serenaded the U.S. president... ...in German.
Today, the songs are still sung in German.
- Announcer: Please welcome Madison Mäennerchor. 
[applause]
§ § [tuning note]
[choir singing jolly song in German]
SOUNDS LIKE: § Ein prosit tey hall it is it 
§ § That's you and you and you 
§ § Libeh, libeh lochen riding out the hills §
- My German is actually very rough. I've been learning, but it's not a prerequisite at all. 
["O Tannenbaum"]
§ En denial bone eh shah bone eh shah § 
So, I'm looking at measure five, second verse.
§ Wie oft hat nicht zur Weihnachtszeit § 
It was extremely intimidating. Some of these guys have been singing these songs longer than I've been alive. And to then show up and be like, "I know how these songs go." Eventually, I did kind of step into the role as someone with music and choral and directing background.
§ [singing a sustained note] § 
Everyone take a seat. We sang this one on Friday and it sounded great. So, same thing. If you weren't-
- If you weren't there on Friday, don't muck it up for us. 
[laughter]
- German choir culture in Wisconsin has withstood the test of time. 
[Choir singing in German]
Sounds like § Ench der malt gutz hi-ya un tra-la § 
§ Drink die bier § 
[applause]
- I think it's one of the more unique things about this choir. It was a tradition back in Germany. As time has gone on, this tradition, a four-part male choir singing, has actually, to my knowledge, mostly disappeared and has really stayed alive with the descendants of German immigrants here in the states. 
[Choir singing in German]
Sounds like § Oh, my Dunca §
- Here in Madison, it could also disappear. This is the oldest German men's choir in the state. Old in two ways.
- Choir: § In a one-horse open sleigh § Most of the guys are old enough to be my grandpa's or at least my dad's age. I'm pretty sure I'm actually the youngest person in the choir. The choir's not getting younger. 
[Choir singing in German]
 § Hallelujah §
- Garrett's goal is to grow the choir and strike a chord in finding that balance between the old and new through singing, socializing, sausage, and Sheepshead.
- I think that's one of my favorite things. No matter who you are, there's a place on Thursdays from 8 to 9:30 that you can show up. It is creating that sense of community where people feel welcome, where people have fun. I get to do that for a living. And I think that's one of the best things. 
[Choir singing] 
§ And you § 
§ And you § 
[applause]
- Our last story takes us to Manitowoc to meet a trail blazer who brings blooms to a path along Lake Michigan. 
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- Mariner's Trail is a recreational trail that runs between Manitowoc and Two Rivers, five-and-a-half miles. It's right along Lake Michigan. 
[waves whoosh]
It's a beautiful place to be.
- It's a place where you will often find Judy Corrado.
- We were disappointed there were some berms that had been planted at one time and were not taken care of. The next thing we said was, "What if we got some gardeners to volunteer?"
- An interesting concept coming from Judy because ask her what she knows about gardening and she'll give you an unexpected answer.
- Zero. Oh, my goodness, no formal training and not very much knowledge. I don't know a lot about plants, but I'm learning.
- Judy's idea for volunteers blossomed into the Mariner's Trail Public Gardens.
- In that first year, we got 18 people interested in gardening and then it just grew and grew. We have 50 gardens along the trail all taken care of by volunteers. I think our oldest volunteer retired last year and he was 92. We've seen little kids working on the gardens.
- Along the trail, Judy is a familiar face tending to her own adopted garden and with little or no experience, she oversees 49 others.
- Oh, it's just so much fun. Why not do it? I'm retired. I have the time.
My garden is a really nice site. It's real close to the wayside. We call it Woodland Drive Wayside. I'm not a gardener by nature or by anything except I love flowers. And I jokingly say my garden theme is if there's an empty spot, put color and I do.
I'm passionate about Mariner's Trail.
- Judy and her husband, Larry, have shown a passion for the trail since it first opened in 2004. And belong to the group Friends of Mariner's Trail.
- It's an important part of my life and the gardens have just made it that much better. It's fun to see people sharing what they love with the community.
Those gardeners have been there for three years. I don't know how they heard about Mariner's Trail. I don't know how they got to be gardeners. But they've put a lot of work into it and it really is, really is nice.
- Judy's enthusiasm has resulted in what some now describe as the "Jewel along the Lake Michigan coast."
- It is absolutely beautiful. People love using Mariner's Trail and the flower beds are just a bonus. They're a freebie. I just feel so fortunate to live on Lake Michigan and have this opportunity. I think a lot of people do identify Judy Corrado and Mariner's Trail flower beds. I think that would be a pretty good legacy, actually. 
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- It's great to meet the entrepreneurs and artists working to build a creative community right here in Racine. If you'd like to learn more about the Racine Arts and Business Center or the stories you've seen today, visit WisconsinLife.org. 
As always, we'd love to hear about your Wisconsin Life. So send us your ideas at WisconsinLife@wpt.org. 
That'll wrap it up. I'm your host, Angela Fitzgerald, and this is our Wisconsin Life. Bye. 
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- Funding for Wisconsin Life is provided in part by Alliant Energy, Lowell and Mary Peterson, and Friends of Wisconsin Public Television.