Learning about the state we serve
Rosy-Lane Holsteins, a 900-cow dairy farm in Watertown, is owned by UW alumni Lloyd and Daphne Holterman and their partners Tim Strobel and Jordan Matthews. They have hosted the Wisconsin Idea Seminar twice since 1993, most recently in 2019. On April 22, the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, established under the leadership of dairy farmers, announced …
Alice’s Garden, an urban oasis in Milwaukee that the Wisconsin Idea Seminar visited in 2019, opened a few weeks early so that it could provide a “living labyrinth” for people to walk an intentional path and reflect inwardly. Venice Williams, executive director of Alice’s Garden, is leading some of the pre-scheduled walks through the healing …
Dispatches from Our Own Wisconsin: Greg Wright of CREATE Portage County Greg Wright, executive director, and Chris Klesmith, project activator, make up the team at CREATE Portage County, which operates an innovation center in Stevens Point known as the IDEA Center. They run a community and economic development organization that accelerates creativity, connection, and collaboration to …
Dispatches from Our Own Wisconsin: Dani Lind of Rooted Spoon Dani Lind, owner and head chef of Rooted Spoon, leverages her local agricultural connections to bring quality ingredients to the small town of Viroqua, Wisconsin. She has spent the last 20 years or so cooking, gardening, preserving, exploring, and developing relationships with local food and farmers. …
Dispatches from Our Own Wisconsin: Hillary Bark of De Soto Area School District Hillary Bark is an agriculture teacher and FFA (Future Farmers of America) advisor at De Soto Area School District, a rural school district in western Wisconsin. She graduated from UW-Platteville with her B.S. in Animal Science and went on to get her …
Marianne Fairbanks, textile artist and assistant professor of Design Studies at UW–Madison’s School of Human Ecology, has been sharing her book weaving tutorial videos with not only her students but with the general public. What started as a training video for the two courses she is teaching this spring is now available to everyone. Fairbanks …
Dispatches from Our Own Wisconsin: Brey Cycle Farms Lauren Brey, along with her husband Jacob, his brother Tony, and sister-in-law Moriah, own and manage a 600-cow farm in Sturgeon Bay. All four graduated from UW–Madison: Lauren in Food Science & Life Sciences Communication, Jacob and Tony in Dairy Science, and Moriah in Agricultural Journalism. They are …
CREATE Portage County has converted its IDEA Center in Stevens Point, which the Wisconsin Idea Seminar visited in 2019, into a 3D printing facility in order to create high-need medical equipment for local healthcare organizations, such as facemasks. The IDEA Center was founded as a hub of creativity that offers shared spaces and resources for …
Dispatches from Our Own Wisconsin: Caitlin Cullen of Tandem Restaurant Caitlin Cullen is the chef and owner of the Tandem restaurant in Milwaukee’s Lindsay Heights. Since 2016, she has been using her restaurant to train young people on Milwaukee’s north side for careers in the service industry. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, her restaurant was …
Four Wisconsin Idea Seminar participants have received Distinguished Teaching Awards this year, an honor that recognizes their teaching and celebrates their hard work. William Brockliss, WIS’13, is an associate professor of classical and ancient near eastern studies. Kathleen Culver, WIS’12, is an associate professor of journalism and mass communication. Erica Halverson, WIS’07, is a professor …