2WLI0703HD Collaborative Spirit Transcript

- Angela Fitzgerald: Coming up on Wisconsin Life: 
meet a Milwaukee deejay mixing it up,
[mixing beats]

A pair bringing goats to pasture. 
[goats bleating]

a teen who's hitting the target. 
[thud, thud]

and a talented puppet maker. It's all ahead on Wisconsin Life! 

§ §

- Wisconsin Life is funded in part by Alliant Energy, Lowell and Mary Peterson, American Transmission Company, the Focus Fund for Wisconsin Programming, and Friends of Wisconsin Public Television.

- Hi, I'm Angela Fitzgerald and this is Wisconsin Life. I'm getting theatrical as I join the Black Arts MKE Youth Performing Arts Summer Camp. The camp is held at the Black Arts MKE home-base at the Marcus Performing Arts Center, in the heart of downtown Milwaukee. Black Arts MKE is a non-profit organization that works to increase the availability of African American arts in the community. They've teamed up with Bronzeville Arts Ensemble producing artistic director Sheri Williams Panel and other performing arts professionals to create a full immersion experience into the theatrical world.

Over a one-month course, young adults get hands-on experience with almost every aspect of producing musical theatre. Camp-goers can try their hand at set design, costume design, as well as performing on stage, including music and dance. 
[slide whistle]
[thud]
- All: Ka-boom! 

- All their hard work pays off in the end of the month with live performances, showcasing their dedication and talents. It's a summer camp helping to shape and encourage a future generation of creators.

Now, we meet another creator in Milwaukee, a local deejay, sharing her craft with her community.

[hip-hop instrumental music]

- I feel like I'm a eclectic ball of awesome and exciting things. 
§ §

My name is Nelly Vigil and I'm a professional deejay in Milwaukee.

My deejay name is DJ Loop. L, double-O, P. In high school, I was going through a rough time, and hip-hop was the only type of music at that time that really fit what I was going through. I'm not from this country, so growing up has been different for me. What I'm going to do with my life, the plan isn't the same as everyone else.

And so that's how I got into hip-hop music. I just wanted to have my own spot in it. So, I chose deejaying. 
§ §

There's so many layers and parts to it. It's not just going up there and pressing a button and letting one side, one record, or one song play, and then you press play on the other one, right? No, like, you gotta blend it.

Every song has, you know, a heartbeat. Its own beat per minute: how fast, how slow. Does it fit the vibe of where you are? 
[crowds cheers]
 
So, connecting with the crowd when it comes to deejaying, you just really got to know what the crowd wants. And it can start from you playing one song. If you see that they're really into it, they're really feeling it, you're going to play a song that's similar to it, right? You want to keep that vibe going. You're not going to play something that's completely different. You know, you want the energy to keep rising.

My background is heavily influenced by hip-hop, but I also know so much music, especially being on the radio. 
§ §

What up, what up, Milwaukee? This is DJ Loop, and you're listening to Fresh and Direct. 

I'm a deejay and host on 91.7 FM, WMSE. It's community-powered, so it is a college radio music station.

But I am a deejay so I curate my music. I have all my playlists ready to go. So, tell me, why did you start rapping? And I'm also a host so that means getting interviews, getting content for my show because I don't want it to be me just playing music for three hours. It's from 9 p.m. to midnight on Tuesday nights. 

If there's something you want to tell the people of Milwaukee that are listening to you right now... I always thought, "Hey, if I'm ever going to be in a position where I have a platform to uplift my community, that's what I'm going to do." 

Here at WMSE, we are 100% community-powered. So, that's what I do on my show: interviews and, of course, I play a lot of hip-hop, independent and old school hip-hop. So Nas, Wu-Tang Clan, Gang Starr, all the, you know, OGs of hip-hop, as well as, like, JID, Denzel Curry, Travis Scott, but I try to make sure that I don't really sound like other radio stations that could have that content. "90210" Travis Scott, coming up on Fresh and Direct. Peace. 
[scratching record "zwicka, zwicka"]

- Eep, eep, eep, [chicky-chip-chaw] eep.

- So, that motion is good. Both of your motions are good. It's just the timing. The Scratch Sessions started in 2017, in about September or October. 
[scribble, scribble]

They're basically at a place where we'll have women, men who just want to come in and, you know, learn how to deejay. Maybe it's their first time touching a controller or turntable. Or maybe it's their first time even thinking that it's a possibility for them. 
[juggling the beat]

It's just a space where people can come in, and feel comfortable, and see if they want to deejay.

Yeah, close it. Bring it back. For the most part, girls catch on faster than the boys, which I think is very interesting. It's always like that. And I feel good when I see girls, you know, getting it and just being, like, super quick about it [bzzzt, bzzzt] because that's part of the mission that I'm here to serve. Not only have them doing it, right, but to make women and girls feel like they can do it, which is the biggest takeaway because even if they don't deejay, they'll go do something else that's male-dominated, and be like, "I can do this. You know, I already did it." 
§ §

I feel like The Scratch Sessions is me trying to give back to my community and trying to give back to someone that is in my situation or somehow feels like they just want to deejay, man. You know, like, I just wanna be a deejay. 
[smooth dance music]

Ultimately, I just really want to be someone that the women in my community can look up to and be like, "Hey, you know, I can do what she did, just in my own different way."

I just want to be someone that people can look up to, just, like, a source of inspiration. 
§ §

- Next up, we head to Westby where a pair has teamed up to ditch mowers for a much livelier way of landscaping.

[crickets chirping]

- Vernon County sits in the heart of Wisconsin's Driftless Area. 
[water current burbling]
It's full of peaceful places to get away and enjoy nature.

It's also home to the latest in low-tech vegetation management. 
[whimsical music]
 
[baa-aah]

These goats and sheep belong to Ben Robel.

- I didn't want to get a real job after college so I bought two goats, and two goats has led to 300.

- Robel runs Vegetation Solutions. 
[maa, maa-ah]

- Beep, beep, beep, beep. 
[baa-ah]

- A company that rents out herds of animals to use for vegetation control. 
[baa-ah-ah-ah-ah]

- We have over 300 animals. Ah, there's 65-ish here. The herds are spread out all over the place, and this is just one location that we have them at right now.

- Today, the herd is working a two-to-three-acre area at Esofea/Rentz Park.

- We're cleaning up on a trout stream to give better access to trout fishermen so they can have more public access in this park. 
[chewing sounds]

- Vernon County Conservationist Ben Wojahn says these goats are crucial to control invasive plant species.

- We're really at an epidemic level of our oak, hickory, and walnut forests just not regenerating and largely because of invasive species.

- While Robel often works with private landowners, this project is a partnership with Vernon County Land and Water.

- The county board definitely looked at me funny a couple of years ago, [beh-eh-eh-eh] but now I think they're much more supportive, and they were willing to take a chance on Ben and Ben and the "crazy goat project." 
[baaa-ah, meh-eh-eh, bah]

- Robel says the advantage to using sheep and goats is they can chew vegetation in hard to reach places, and it's environmentally friendly.

- Robel: It's just an alternative to mowing, chainsaws, chemicals, fire. It's just one more tool in the toolbox to use for vegetation management. 
[grazing sounds]

- Wojahn is now using Robel's herds throughout the Vernon County Park System. 
[water current gurgling]

- Wojahn: We're a very flood-prone region. So, there's a number of issues, including invasives moving in but also large amounts of debris along our stream corridor. So, often, we cannot mow those areas. 
[crickets chirping and goats munching] 

They get in there and they clean it up.

- We put them in a small, small paddock, a small area to eat that area for about a week, 10 days, and then, they get moved on to another area. I think around here they've probably gone through about 10 acres so far, and then, in a week or so, they're going to be moved to another area to start the process all over again.

- Come on, guys!

- It's an organic method, but it's not easy. It takes people to monitor and move the herd.

- Livestock are 24/7. It's not like a lawnmower where you can just shut the turn the key off, and they're done. So, at any given point, something can happen.

- Even so, Ben and Ben aren't sheepish about the success of their partnership.

- They do a great job managing the animals. I come and check on them as needed and there haven't been any issues. So, everything's-- it's been a win-win for both of us.

- I do maybe get a little feedback from my staff that they don't really feel like moving goats all of the time. One of my crazy ideas, but they're starting to think it's not so crazy because we really are seeing a lot of benefits, just a lot of control that it would not be occurring if we didn't have this partnership. 
§ §

I'm celebrating local theatre in Milwaukee with a group of teens as they prepare to bring their production to life.

- So, whatever you do, do the best of your ability. And remember as you're doing it to have a beautiful...?

- Teens: Smile.

- Teacher: Because I know you enjoy what you do.

- Black arts MKE is a nonprofit organization that brings art and original performances by African American artists to the local community.

- Grady Crosby: Black Arts MKE kind of started as a facilitator and a collaborator of different and disparate black arts programs around the city. There are multiple programs, even organizations, that have been folded into Black Arts Milwaukee that provide a number of different programs: everything from children's programming to adults performing arts. 

Just about anything in the arts space you can find at Black Art Milwaukee. I think that's our legacy and making sure that arts not only just arts are well and alive in Milwaukee, but the specific genre of black arts can-- remains vibrant and just really well and thriving right here in the city of Milwaukee. 
[teacher asks a question]

- Artists at the youth summer performing arts camp work to script, construct sets, and bring an original production to life. 
[cheering excitedly]

- Niya Winston: Everybody sit down, you know, give ideas. You know, see what they're best at, and make sure they are comfortable with it.

- And that includes making the costumes?

- Niya Winston: Yes, yes, everybody is included in everything. So, as you saw today, we we're making-- Everybody's making their own costume, sewing everything. Theys making the backdrop. It was just everything was done by everybody. It was not no person left out so that's the good part about it. That's pretty cool what you are able to see like, an entire production from start to finish, and they will touch every part.

- Mm-hmm.

- Are there any components of the camp that surprised you, like, when you started doing them, or when you joined?

- The surprising part was the learning about different cultures. That was what was surprising because most camps don't do that. You just, you know, we're doing this play. We doing that play. We're gonna do this; Here are your lines. We really learn different songs from different languages, a part of the production that we're doing. So, yes, I really-- that was the surprising part, like, wow, we really learned about these things. So, yeah, that was really—

- So, you leave the camp with not only a immersion experience in theater production but also a cultural experience, as well.

- Yes, a cultural experience.

- Thank you so much, Niya!

- You're welcome! 
[shouting, groans, slide whistle]
 A learning experience that all pays off with a public performance. 
[hitting the floor, laughter]

- Ka-boom!

- Ka-boom!

- Ha-ha, ha-ha!

- The experience offers campers an opportunity to discover new skills in an engaging and creative space. There are so many talented teens around our state, including in Cadott, where we met a teen keeping his eye on the target.

§ §

- Coach: Get in your spot. 
[whistle]
 
[snap, thud]
There you go. Good job.

- It's 7:00 a.m. and physical education teacher Scott Christenson has these archers up early.

- Make sure you're steadied on it. 
[snap]
 Don't worry about where your arrow's going. It'll get there.

- As the arrows fly, Scott's encouragement is right on target.

- Make sure you're steadied on it. 
[thud]

There. When I actually got hired here, I decided to bring it into Cadott High School with the National Archery in the Schools Program and the rest is kind of history. 
[thud]
 
[blows whistle twice]
Last round and you guys gotta get to class.

- A block away, there's another young archer practicing in his basement. 
[snap, thud]

- I just kind of fell in love with archery and bows. Usually, the first thing I do is set my stance. And then, I'll adjust my glove to where I want it. Then, from there, it's just routine. Pull back and shoot. 
[snap, thud]

- Kaden is homeschooled along with his sister, and the family dog is always close by.

- Mom: So, for these problems, you can do the FOIL method.

- His mom is teacher, cook, and homework helper.

- Because we have a negative 20 here, so we have to have a negative 20.

- Gives you a lot of freedom. More chances to do a little bit more in archery, I guess.

- Anyone can do the math when looking at the archery honors that hang on Kaden's bedroom wall. His best score is a 298 in competition. He's aiming for perfection.

- My goal is to try to get a 300 in tournament. And to hopefully win state and to place at nationals again would be cool. 
§ §

- In this small town, big accomplishments spread quickly. And just down the street, enter the high school, and you are greeted by banners signaling years of archery success.

- We've had some pretty darn good archers come through this program. So, he's probably grown up his whole life seeing me coach archery, and it probably rubbed off on him.

- Scott, the archery coach, is Kaden's dad.

- He's taught me everything I know about archery.

- Coaching him is easy. Nice and relaxed. Down and away with the elbow. 
[snap, thud]

Good job. Much better release.

- Kaden: He'll see if I'm torking the string or dropping my bow a little bit.

- There's really a mental edge in archery.

You have to be focused on every shot and committed on every shot.

- That's just the drive it takes and the practice it takes and the dedication. Being at practice every day.

- He's really fussy. 
[thud]
 He's a perfectionist. 
[thud]
He's persistent. 
[thud]
He's not happy and he's not satisfied until he gets that perfect round.

- Mom: That's good.

- Because Kaden is homeschooled, he can practice with the high school team but competes as an individual. 
[snap, thud]
Kaden's archery career almost ended before it even started with a freak accident in the basement.

- Kaden: The 2014 season, first year I was ever in the National Archery in the Schools Program, my bow got wet because it was snowing out. So, I hung it up downstairs by the fire on a nail. And a couple days later, I went to grab it. And it got caught. Then the nail came out and actually shot me. So, it shot me right in the chest.

- X-rays reveal the extent of his injury.

- Then, I couldn't do archery for two or three weeks, because I couldn't pull back the bow. Definitely gave me motivation. 
[thud]

- In 2018, Kaden rode that motivation all the way to the National Shoot- Off round. On the line, thousands of dollars in scholarships and just one chance to shoot the arrow.

- I just tell myself to just trust my aim and trust my form.

- I was kind of a wreck, but it was fun to watch.

- Kaden: There's nothing to get worried about. Just pull back and let her go.

If there's more nerves in shooting for $10,000 or turkey at ten yards full strut coming in, it gets pretty nerve-racking there.

- I was very nervous for him. I was actually running the home video camera, so I was trying to hold it as steady as I could.

- On this day, Kaden would have to find the nerve, step back 15 meters, and let fate fly at a tiny bullseye.

- It's about that big. About the size of an orange. 
[snap, thud]
 
[whistle]

- He shot well enough to take home a $10,000 scholarship.

- Under pressure, he can handle it. I think that's what separates him from the other kids is that he just deals with that pressure in his own way. If history repeats itself, he's only second in the Wisconsin state and third in the nation, and third in the world. It's unbelievable. It's beyond my wildest dreams. Yeah, he's pretty good.

- Having one of his student archers achieve elite success was something Scott only dreamed of when he first started the archery program.

- It was my goal to have some kid someday place at the national tournament and hopefully get into that scholarship shoot-off and win a scholarship. It's cool because it's my own kid. I can't take anything away from the kids that we've had here in the past. They've been extremely good at archery and have had some really good accomplishments throughout the years.

- As for Kaden, he's focused on the future.

- My dream would be an Olympic archer. I would love to do that. 
[snap, thud]

And I've always looked up to them guys. It'd be cool to shoot with them one day. 
[snap, thud]

- For our last story, we travel to Madison, where one artist is pulling all the strings.

§ §

- Ken Vogel: When people ask me how many puppets I've made in my life and I, for a long time, I've said 10,000 or so. My name is Ken Vogel. I'm a puppet maker. I've always thought there are two elements of the puppets that I sell that are appealing to people, that catch peoples' eye. One is the design of the face, the look of the face. And then, it's the costume basically. Mainly, those are the two obvious things. It's been close to 50 years now that I've been working on puppets. What's changed is my level of skill. You know, I think I can get more subtle effects than I used to. I've done so many heads that I sort of know what mistakes to avoid and where to steer myself. 

I get up in the morning and make coffee and sit down at my desk and try to do two to three hours of work. I make a mold out of modeling clay about that big, that big, and cover that with papier mâché. Let it dry each time. And then, eventually, put the front half of the head back together with the back half. While the papier mâché has been drying over the course of the last few days, I've been working on the costumes. Cutting out the fabric and sewing it on my machine. 
[whirr]

It's like six or seven little steps that I'm taking and sometimes more. You know, I get the greatest pleasure out of all of these because I get the fun of making them and see them evolve, and I've sort of absorbed all of the pleasure I can get from making them and looking at them when they're finished. I think if I were just making art with no customer in mind, that would be not quite as fulfilling.

§ §
 
I was doing some puppet sales at the Wisconsin Historical Society.

Somebody who worked at Ella's saw the puppets and brought the attention of Ken Balkin, the owner of Ella's. Some of the people at Ella's told me there's a man in here who's been buying a lot of puppets: Jim Kirchstein. He was a customer there and a big fan of the puppets. One time I was there, for one reason or another, and they pointed over to him and said, "That's the guy who's buying all of them." So, they suggested I do a puppet of him.

When I stopped selling puppets directly to Ella's, he tracked me down and started coming here or calling me on the phone and asking for puppets to add to his collection.

- Jim Kirchstein: Marcel Marceau. He was the first puppet I had made. And then, from then on, we get ideas, we'd call Ken. We got into biblical characters. We got into mythology. We got into musicians. We got into a lot of political people, including governors. And also, a lot of artists and authors. So, by the time we got around to present day, our puppet population was a little over 400.

- Once in a while, he'll bring me pictures, but I'll often have to do some research on the characters. Some of the puppets that he has are puppets of his family members, his children and grandchildren.

- Kirchstein: The beauty of all this is the pleasure they bring.

It's fun for me to surprise people. I love to bring them down here, and they come. They're completely overwhelmed when they see all this.

I think what Ken's done is miraculous and I love talent. Very nice person. He is very appreciative of people that like his work.

- You did a great job on the likeness. Yeah.

- Good, I'm glad you like it.

- Yeah.

- Jim has this wonderful collection. And I've been conscious of that being the, kind of, premier collection of my work and the fact that that will be there even after he and I are both gone. That is a real wonderful thought that it will... it will exist beyond me. All of those hours, if you put them together, that's why I did this because it was pleasurable to do it. And even if the puppets would all be destroyed, I would have had that pleasure in my life of being a creative person and being able to have done this all these years. 
§ §

- That's a wrap! As the camp ends another day of bringing theater to life right here in Milwaukee. If you'd like to learn more about Black Arts MKE or any of the people or places you've seen today, visit us at WisconsinLife.org. And if you have a story to share, email us at WisconsinLife@wpt.org. 

Join us next week on Wisconsin Life:
- Sometimes fabric just speaks to me.
- A woman preserving memories with every stitch, a team stepping up to the plate with snowshoes, 
[thwack] a woman cooking up a family tradition, and a love story brought to you by LEGO.
- He had been into LEGOo for about two years before I met him. That's next time on Wisconsin Life.
I'm Angela Fitzgerald and this is our Wisconsin Life. Places! 
[rhythm and chanting]
[cheering]

- Wisconsin Life is funded in part by Alliant Energy, Lowell and Mary Peterson, American Transmission Company, the Focus Fund for Wisconsin Programming, and Friends of Wisconsin Public Television.