- This week on Wisconsin Life:
Meet a woman known as the "Alpaca Whisperer,"
a longtime accordion player,
a man who shares UW-Madison's hidden history,
and an artist who paints with beeswax.
It's all ahead on Wisconsin Life!
*
- Funding for Wisconsin Life
is provided in part
by Alliant Energy,
Lowell and Mary Peterson,
and Friends of Wisconsin Public Television.
- Hello, and welcome to Wisconsin Life.
I'm your host, Angela Fitzgerald.
Cold months in Wisconsin are a perfect time of the year
to observe night sky.
That's why I'm exploring
the Milwaukee Astronomical Society's Observatory
in New Berlin.
This three-acre property is home
to a group of amateur astronomers
who maintain nine observatory buildings
and the telescopes located here.
One of the most impressive things I've found
is the photography taken through these telescopes.
This group's gallery is out of this world.
From galaxies to planets and even images of the sun.
We'll get a chance to see more of that photography in a bit.
But before we explore more here,
we head to Wisconsin Rapids
to meet a woman known as the "Alpaca Whisperer."
[gate chain jingles]
- C'mon, let's go! [chuckling]
- Ask Audrey Hackbarth about her alpacas...
- That's "Terra cotta."
And she had "Saturn-Lee,"
and then Saturn-Lee had "Jupiter,"
and then, she also had "Corn Dog."
- ...and you'll get quite an answer.
- This is her sister, "Cinnamon Toast-Lee."
Chiquita's first daughter
is "Chi-Lee."
- If you didn't guess it already,
alpacas are Audrey's thing.
- They keep calling me the "Alpaca Whisperer"
and people know me as "Alpaca Audrey."
You feed one. I'll feed the other.
- Smaller than a llama,
alpacas are specifically bred for their fleece.
- There you go.
Good girl.
Check out this fiber.
[ripping Velcro]
That's why you jacket them.
That's a maroon.
Unbelievable!
- Audrey found her passion
for these four-legged, furry friends
by an unfortunate turn of events in 2010
and an unusual gift from her husband.
- I was in a car accident,
so Mark went and bought me a baby alpaca
to stay with me in the house
while I was, you know, down and out.
And he bought me "Chiquita" as a tiny little baby.
I just fell in love with her.
She was so tiny, and so cute.
They have huge eyes; their eyes really talk to you.
Who knew this was going to happen?
I'd never even heard of an alpaca.
- This is Chiquita today.
- Chiquita. [Audrey makes kissy noises]
Come to Mom.
Come.
- Full grown and still one of Audrey's favorites.
- No, no, no. Let Chiquita have some.
You're momma's good girl, huh?
That's how I got my first one.
And I was hooked... 50 later.
[chuckles]
- Hooked would be an understatement.
- I shear 'em.
I wash it. I card it.
I spin it. I dye it.
I weave it. I felt it.
We make rugs.
We make the slippers.
You name it, we make it here.
[clippers whirring]
Isn't that awesome? Look at that.
And you can feel the heat coming right off of there.
Oh, you are so nice.
[clippers whirring]
See the famous ring around his neck?
[clippers whirring]
All right, he's ready to go out on the town.
[chuckles] That's it.
That's it!
- And when Audrey says "go out on the town,"
that's exactly what she means.
[door clunks shut]
- There you go.
We're going bye-bye.
- Audrey and her alpacas are a familiar sight
around Wisconsin Rapids.
- I will go down the road, and stop in front of any business.
I sit on the sidewalk and I'll stand there and shear 'em.
I'm mobbed with people,
and they just watch me give 'em a haircut.
- And the reaction from other drivers is like, "Whoa!"
- Oh, my gosh, they get whiplash. [laughs]
They get whiplash.
- The hobby that quite literally got started by accident
is now a full-time endeavor.
And Audrey is completely self-taught.
- I'm not really into the reading part of
it, and learning.
It looked like there were so many steps.
It can't be much different than an Easter egg.
So, that's how I ended up doing it: like an Easter egg.
People always ask me,
"What day will you be doing things?"
I say, "Every single day."
"What time does it start?"
I said, "I start at 4:00 a.m. Are you coming?"
Gee, I don't know what we're going to get here.
So, I call this poofing.
[chuckles]
I made it up.
Isn't that wild?
[spritz, spritz]
This looks kind of cool to me.
Oh, I like that.
Hot, hot, hot.
You know how much energy it would take,
if I had to plan out what I was going to do?
That takes too much work.
I like easy peasy.
C'mon.
You want to go?
C'mon.
Let's go in the house.
- These days Audrey makes it look easy with her new sidekick.
- It tickles.
"Coconut-Lee," she's my little sweetheart.
Is that your bottle? [Coconut-Lee quietly hums "hmm"]
*
There you go.
All done. Wipe your mouth.
There you go.
*
- The shearing, dying, spinning...
- No, you cannot have that.
- ...and "Coconut-Lee" keep Audrey really busy.
- Stop eating fiber.
- Despite all the work,
Alpaca Audrey says it's all worth it.
- They say, "Why do you do this?"
You can go out on your worst day,
and they can make you feel really good.
Yes, you're such a good boy.
There.
You can't just have one potato chip.
You have to have more.
That's kind of what happened here.
You don't want to get wet.
Come here. [making kissy noises]
Come on.
[alpaca honking softly]
- Now we travel to Green County
where a longtime accordion player
shares her skills with another member in her family.
- Some things you never forget.
- Let's do the "Alpine Polka."
- For Ruth Marty, it's the first time
she picked up her dad's accordion
as a little girl.
*
[soft accordion music]
- Ruth: He was the one that had a little schwyzeörgeli,
which is a little button accordion.
And he wanted me to play that.
He had one
and I played my first song I ever learned on that.
- The song was so simple, it didn't even have a name.
But Ruth remembers the melody.
[accordion polka music]
- Actually my very first song.
[chuckles softly]
- Soon, young Ruth caught the squeezebox bug.
At the time, her family lived in Barron County.
Her dad bought her a more advanced instrument
and scheduled lessons with a woman named Iva Rindlisbacher.
- Ruth: She started giving me lessons in Rice Lake.
That was about 22 miles from our house.
My mother didn't drive.
So I got a lesson maybe once a month.
- When her family moved to southern Wisconsin,
she sought lessons
from legendary accordion teacher Rudy Burkhalter.
- Ruth: I really felt I had some more things I should learn.
And Rudy had me play and then he said, "Well," he said.
"I think you don't need any more lessons.
You can be a teacher for me."
- Soon, Ruth fell in love, married, and had children.
Although she still gave lessons to her children,
and later, grandchildren,
she didn't play as much.
That changed on a trip to Switzerland
in the early '70s.
[soft accordion music]
When she met a group of musicians
from the Swiss enclave of Highland, Illinois.
- Ruth: And they had been coming up to Puempel's Tavern
in New Glarus
and playing,
always over Labor Day.
The one lady played the stumpf fiddle,
and her husband said,
"We need an accordion player."
- Ruth's been playing with the group ever since.
While other members have passed on or called it quits,
Ruth continues.
- Sarah: Okay, whenever you're ready.
- Oh, we're ready? Okay. - Yup
* [festive polka music]
- In recent years, she's found another band mate.
Someone with whom she shares more than a love of accordion:
her granddaughter, Sarah Marty.
* [fast polka music]
- I think I was probably five or six years old.
It was the first instrument
that I started to take lessons with grandma.
So, as a little kid, I think I was attracted to the fact
that there were buttons on this side
and keys over here
and you had to move things back and forth
just to get it to do anything at all.
- As she grew up,
Sarah played with Ruth on special occasions.
In the past two years,
they've played together even more.
Often playing songs Ruth knows by heart.
As they played, Sarah got an idea.
- So, the thought was,
would there be a way
that we could work with a professional recording artist
and capture both some of our favorite songs
and also some of her favorite songs?
- So Ruth and Sarah hit the recording studio.
But rather than produce a simple recording,
Sarah spent months
turning those songs into a produced album,
complete with cover art and a launch party.
- I put together a Facebook event
and put a call out by email
for the Swissconsin CD release party,
which happened to be our normal Labor Day gig
at Puemple's in New Glarus.
Didn't let her know.
- And providing the music,
Ruth and Sarah on accordion.
The event was a hit,
with a packed house
and plenty of dancing.
- Ruth: That's when it's the most fun
because you like to see people enjoy themselves.
And especially if you play a song
that they maybe can sing.
And we like to see them get out and dance.
- The party may be over and the CDs may be sold,
but Ruth and Sarah say
they now have a fresh set of memories.
Some things you never forget.
[polka music]
- I'm exploring the Milwaukee Astronomical Society's
Observatory.
There's a lot to discover here.
And I spoke with Observatory Director, Paul Borchardt,
about how this group got its start.
- The society started in 1932
with a small group of amateur astronomers
that wanted to pool their resources
because it was the Depression and times were hard
so they formed the club
and they were meeting in a backyard in West Allis,
which pretty much was the end of the city in those days.
But they wanted farther out in the country.
- That's how the Milwaukee Astronomical Society
ended up here,
right off Observatory Drive in New Berlin.
- About every 30 years, we put up a new dome.
To date now, we have nine instruments,
including the roll-off roofs
that are permanently mounted with telescopes.
- Members use these telescopes
to capture stunning astronomical photographs.
- That's a lot of what we do out here nowadays
is photography.
It's a lot of fun.
It's nice to look at the stars, but it's, I think,
even more exciting to photograph them because you can see
deeper into space and the colors come out.
We do galaxies, nebulas, which are clouds of gas in space.
The planets are real popular.
Even the sun and moon get their chance to be photographed.
- Anyone who is not a member also has the chance
to try their hand at space exploration
by attending an open house night.
It's a rare opportunity to become an amateur astronomer
while learning about Wisconsin's night skies.
Next up, we meet a Madison man
who offers up a tour and history lesson
of a well-known campus.
- The University of Wisconsin-Madison
has a rich cultural tradition
and a history that's not so well known.
- All right, I need some gifts for our students.
UW-Madison is extraordinarily special.
- Aaron Bird Bear is the Assistant Dean
for Student Diversity Programs
in the School of Education.
[speaking in Ho-Chunk] - Hanicara hapi. (I am happy to be here.)
Aaron Bird Bear ga hinigaire. (Aaron Bird Bear is my name.)
I'm a guest here today of the Ho-Chunk Nation
as we're all guests of the Ho-Chunk Nation
in their home of Dejope.
We call ourselves the most archaeologically-rich campus
of any in the United States.
The snow kinda melts differentially around it.
We can kinda see the double-tailed water spirit
peeking through the snow.
There has never been another one discovered like it.
- Walk with Aaron on his campus tour
and the landscape comes to life.
- We have an established archaeological record
of human occupation and human activity
going back 12,000 years on our lake shore.
This culture kinda grew and evolved,
and they started making these representational figures
on the earth: deer, bear,
canines, birds,
water spirits,
snakes.
*
- Along the lakeshore,
the signs of human activity can still be seen.
Their origins date back thousands of years.
- These effigy mounds
are only built in the western Great Lakes.
You won't find them anywhere else on planet Earth.
That's what makes UW-Madison such a special place,
is that we're in the very epicenter.
- On this day,
students also discover the monuments
to those that tried to vanquish that culture,
that language
and that way of life.
- All we see are these monuments to ethnic cleansers,
or Indian fighters, or all sorts of people.
In 1851, a little earlier,
the reservation period hasn't really begun yet.
- Aaron's goal is to educate people with his tour
and break through that colonial veneer.
- And if you can crack it,
you can suddenly see this incredible depth of humanity
and celebrate the full 12,000 years of humanity.
And not just the 1.5% of humanity
that's represented by 1848.
[speaks with gusto] "Forward!"
Right?
- Starting with one of the most iconic landmarks on Bascom Hill.
- There's a rubbing I did at Camp Randall,
which speaks back to this period.
On the 18th of December 1862, who's president again?
- Tour group member: Abe.
- Aaron Bird Bear: Abe!
On the 18th of December 1862,
the 25th Regiment came into Camp Randall
from a campaign against Indians in Minnesota.
He's president during that.
He's committed to the ethnic cleansing of the Ho-Chunk.
He's enacting our federal policy.
So he's a leader who's trying to rid the Native American presence
from Wisconsin as a president.
So the Ho-Chunk view him as, you know, a monster, right?
Somebody committed to their destruction.
- The tour provides insights into a society that thrived
long before Europeans entered the picture.
- And there's almost no acknowledgment
of the 12,000 years of human story
that exist before the arrival of colonizers.
This is a map of the ancestral lands
of the First Nations of the Western Great Lakes.
- Inside the Memorial Union
near the main entrance,
these murals depict how Native Americans were glamorized
in 1925.
- But unfortunately, these are all stereotypes.
They're not accurate or authentic
to any one Indian culture or nation.
It'd be the equivalent if I took a plane to France.
So, I got my toga, I got my fur hat,
I got my lederhosen.
Like, "Look, baby, I'm a European!
I got it all! I got it all!"
And that's what this is like.
It's a mish-mash of cultures and ideas we see above us.
It's not accurate.
In 1925, when the Union was being built,
what kind of education are Native Americans receiving?
There were 11 boarding schools in Wisconsin.
One for each of the Native Nations.
And the whole idea of boarding schools
was to eradicate native languages
and destroy Native American culture.
- Aaron also sees the challenges
when faced with the myths and stereotypes
engrained in the building blocks of the university.
- Because it was designed almost exclusively for white men
in its origin.
If you applied to UW-Madison in 1848,
you could only be a white man and be here.
Women weren't allowed.
People of color weren't allowed.
And so we, as an institution, have been striving
to become a more inclusive community.
- Let's walk over to this one real quick.
- The tour takes a positive turn in a place called Dejope,
a Ho-Chunk word meaning "four lakes."
- It refers to this region that we're in today.
- Dejope Residence Hall is where the University of Wisconsin
looks to showcase Native American history.
- When they designed it, they asked the Ho-Chunk,
"What kind of image should we do?"
And so they built it in the form of a bird.
Here's a drawing,
from a hundred years ago
of the goose effigy.
So, this goose effigy is represented here on the floor.
It's right behind us out these doors.
- In this place of higher learning,
Aaron recognizes the university is making progress.
- So, I'm seeing concrete stuff happening around us
that show us that there's tremendous value
in the teaching and learning about the full 12,000 years
of this place.
And I think we can leverage the landscape
and the incredible human story of this place
to advance those goals.
Our students witnessed the Indian Wars as students
and they wanted us to remember something about them.
And so, I'm committed to giving these tours
because they do advance our understanding of one another.
This tour is really a story of hope
and a story of incredible promise
of what the relationships can become
between First Nations and our university community.
So, thank you so much
and welcome to the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
*
- Our last story takes us to Stevens Point,
where an artist uses an ancient method of painting
to create colorful artworks.
- Encaustic art is beeswax paintings.
[laughs]
I always hear,
"Beeswax paintings?"
They just can't believe it.
It's considered one of the first forms of easel painting.
It's ancient, 2,000 years ago.
It's incredible.
My name is Jessie Fritsch.
I am an encaustic artist
and I have been painting with beeswax
for 14 years.
I live in Stevens Point, Wisconsin.
*
Encaustic is one of the most durable forms of painting.
Beeswax is a natural preservative.
It's a natural adhesive,
resistant to moisture,
resistant to insects.
So, these paintings will last
for thousands and thousands of years.
I found that truly fascinating.
I was fascinated by the ancient history.
And then once I actually used the medium
and saw how vibrant the colors were,
I was completely hooked.
The thing is with encaustic,
you don't have time to really ponder
and think about where the wax is going to go
once it leaves the heat source.
So a lot of times
I like to have somewhat of a detailed drawing in place,
so I know exactly where the wax is going to go.
So I don't have to think about it.
Then, I can start the fun part of applying the wax.
Beeswax just needs something rigid and porous to adhere to.
So, I primarily paint on wood.
[tap, tap]
Beeswax paint is simply beeswax,
powdered pigments,
the same powder pigment that are in oils or watercolor,
and then damar resin, which is a tree sap.
With encaustic, there is no drying time.
You have about five to eight seconds to put the paint down
before it just begins to clump up
and won't flow off your brush anymore,
and you have to reheat it.
So, I'm constantly reheating my brush and my paint,
applying the paint,
then immediately going back, reheating my brush and my paint,
applying it again.
The big issue with encaustic is the fumes,
is the ventilation.
So, beeswax is actually toxic if you heat it over 250 degrees.
I heat it at around 180° to 200.
And after 250°,
it starts smoking
and creates formaldehyde
and another carcinogenic.
No respirator will save you
from those fumes,
so you can see in my art studio
I have a very strong ventilation system.
[soft scraping sound]
Wax is very forgiving in the sense that
if you put it down and you didn't like it,
you can just scrape it off and start over.
It's not like watercolor, like, you can't make a mistake.
However,
the part that it's not forgiving in is the fusing part,
which is absolutely essential to encaustic.
All right, I'm ready to fuse.
The word "encaustic" comes from the Greek work enkaustikos,
which means to burn in.
So each layer of beeswax must be fused or burned in
to the layer of wax beneath it.
The overall goal
with fusing
is you're trying to make one cohesive sheet of wax.
I basically need to heat the paint up to 180 degrees
on my surface.
So, it will adhere to the layer beneath.
The minute the wax cools,
it is finished and you can paint another layer of wax.
I'm not a patient person in life.
But somehow with encaustic, I'm able to be patient
because as you can see,
there's all these different steps to this process.
A piece will take me, like, a week or two weeks,
depending on how big it is.
To really finally, like, sit back and look at it,
you just see it differently, you know?
You invest all this time in something.
It's really just satisfying.
You know, when you talk to so many kids, right?
"What do you want to be when you grow up?"
Probably like a handful will be like,
"Oh, I want to be an artist!" you know?
Of course, I always said that
'cause I always was passionate about it;
I always liked art.
And I was just, I was good at it.
But did I think
that that would really end up being my career?
Well, it can, if you work at it.
And it is thrilling to just sit
and watch people be like,
"Oh, my God, that's beeswax?
Are you serious? Like, what?"
And you just tell them the ancient history.
Then they're, like, completely blown away.
I just really enjoy teaching people
about something that is a lost art.
- I had no idea that we had such
a group of dedicated amateur astronomers
right here in our state.
The work they do is truly inspiring.
If you'd like to learn more
about the Milwaukee Astronomical Society
or any of the stories you've seen here,
visit WisconsinLife.org.
Send us your story ideas
or must-see locations for me to explore.
Email us at WisconsinLife@wpt.org.
- It'll be getting dark soon
so it's almost time for me to fire up this telescope.
I'm your host, Angela Fitzgerald,
and this is our Wisconsin Life.
Stay curious!
[speaking with maximum drama] The Astro Physics 900 Gee-Tee-Oh!
[laughter in background]
That is what it's called! [chuckling in background]
- Funding for Wisconsin Life
is provided in part
by Alliant Energy,
Lowell and Mary Peterson,
and Friends of Wisconsin Public Television.