I was born in Chicago. My family moved back up to the Bad River Reservation where my father is from when I was four months old. After a few years, we moved into the border town of Ashland, which is just to the west of the reservation. Photos by Stanley Schrock I went to the
“Basketry teaches me to be flexible.” Read More »
I grew up in southern Wisconsin the first 18 years of my life. I was always drawn to the mountains, so I moved out to Colorado where I was married to a man and the mountains for 20 years. Photos by Jeremy Oswald I’d been an elementary and special education teacher in Steamboat Springs. And
“I was always drawn to the mountains.” Read More »
I grew up in Port Washington. I feel like I lucked out because we were right near Lake Michigan, it was part of our family routine to take our dogs to the beach. The lake has always been this place for me to have fun, but also reflect and kind of meditate. There is something
Asking a Beautiful Question Read More »
My life is never dull. I’m the co-director of the Wild Rumpus Circus in Mazomanie, Wisconsin. The name ‘wild rumpus’ was inspired by Maurice Sendak’s great book, Where The Wild Things Are. Photos by Hedi Lamarr Rudd In the book, Max says, ‘Let the wild rumpus start,’ and we thought rumpus was such a fun
“Let the Wild Rumpus Start!” Read More »
I grew up on the far east side of Madison and went to a little grade school called Sunnyside, and then to Madison East High School. At the time, a farm was right across the street. Photos by Hedi Lamarr Rudd We had six kids in the family, and my three brothers and I shared
From Firefighter to Writer Read More »
I was born in Chicago Heights, a Chicago suburb. When I was six years old, my family and I moved to Middleton, Wisconsin because my dad had a new job. Photos by Hedi Lamarr Rudd This was a huge culture shock and a tough experience for me. In Chicago Heights, I was around a lot
I am called Paul DeMain, but my name is Skabewis in the Ojibwe language. I take the title ‘The Messenger.’ I speak for things that don’t have a voice. I speak for the water, and for our natural world that is impacted by water. Photos by Julian Emerson I grew up in Wausau and have
“I speak for things that don’t have a voice.” Read More »
I am a water girl, and absolutely love being on, in, or near the water. Just yesterday my husband, 16-year-old son and I spent a few hours in our boat fishing for smallmouth bass near Ashland on Lake Superior. This is one of my favorite places because the Big lake has a special beauty that
“I love living in this amazing place.” Read More »
The neighborhood I grew up on had a lot of green spaces. We were in the middle of Milwaukee but all around me, people were growing things. Photo by Jade Iseri-Ramos My great-grandmother had a garden four houses away from ours. Every spring, she would take her hoses out of the basement and attach them
“We can’t do anything without clean water.” Read More »
People assume just because I live here on the reservation that I’ve been here all my life. But I have to tell them no, I was born in Chicago, and I’m a product of the Indian Relocation Act. Photos by Megan Monday “The Indian Relocation Act was an initiative that displaced Native Americans from the
“I am descended from people who embraced the breath of life.” Read More »
UW-Whitewater started its adaptive sports program in 1973, invested in building a wheelchair basketball program, and has been dominant in the sport ever since. At the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics, five of the athletes on the U.S. gold medal-winning men’s wheelchair basketball team were UW-Whitewater alumni. The assistant coach for the Paralympic team is the coach
“I’ve always wanted to give back to this sport.” Read More »
I was born and raised here in Wisconsin, a Dodge County native—actually Beaver Dam. My parents had three girls: me, my sister, Nicolle, who’s nine years older than me, and my sister Natalie, who’s five years older than me. Photos by Kara Counard Content warning: This story contains references to substance abuse and suicidal thoughts.
“I was going to do whatever it took to stay sober.” Read More »
