Elisabeth Gasparka
Creative MKE HostElisabeth Gasparka, a creative producer and storyteller living in Milwaukee, is the host of Creative MKE.
She was born in the U.K. and came to Milwaukee by way of the NYC area in 2010 after graduating from Oberlin, for what was supposed to be a short marketing internship with Present Music. Instead, she jumped into the deep end of Milwaukee’s rich art scene as an arts and culture contributor for the Third Coast Digest and radio DJ on WMSE where she made many connections within the creative sector, including her now husband, at a series of exhibition openings including at Inova Gallery, where he worked.
The moment she realized that she didn’t want to leave Milwaukee was watching the Packers beat the Falcons in the playoffs in the Polish Falcon Bar — a room packed with exuberant Wisconsinites of all ages (including a few babies and a dog), with free brats and chili in a crockpot, and a jukebox playing during commercials. Since then, she’s been riveted by the wins and the challenges of this community, and has continued to embrace the culture of this region from inside it. After working in fundraising for some of the preeminent art museums in the area, Elisabeth was called to work in strategic communications on behalf of the Milwaukee arts community, and she obtained a Master of Science on Communication from Northwestern before beginning at Imagine MKE in 2022. Today, she continues to be inspired by the diverse, world-class talent and ingenuity within Milwaukee’s arts sector, and sees Milwaukee’s creative economy as a catalyst to enhance quality of life and growth in this region.
When she’s not writing and producing content on behalf of IMKE, Elisabeth enjoys working on her own music as a singer songwriter in the band Lyrid, art and writing projects, gardening and immersing herself in this region’s natural beauty through camping, hiking and canoeing.
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In his decade plus living in Milwaukee, Michael Lagerman obtained his MFA at UWM’s Peck School of the Arts, has built a sense of belonging within the film and art communities and has contributed to diverse arts programming.
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Retired advertising executive, Carl Brown, along with his wife had the idea to launch a jazz festival in their home city of Milwaukee with the proceeds going to charity. Now in its fifth season, the Fresh Coast Jazz Festival continues to delight jazz lovers and serve the community.
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Artist, gallerist and curator John Riepenhoff has built an art world enterprise over the last two decades, representing Milwaukee on a global stage.
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Geraud Blanks has always been willing to push boundaries — from his early days at UWM leading the student organization SCOPE to his work as chief innovation officer at Milwaukee Film.
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It all started with deciding to employ a different social media approach: dreaming up engaging content first and finding ways to tell stories about the eclectic offerings of the Milwaukee Public Library system through that content.