Radio Chipstone

Contributor Gianofer Fields’ mission on Lake Effect has been to invite you to take a second look at the things you choose to keep near. That's the basis of "material culture" — its purpose is not to look at the history of objects but rather to look at history through objects.

What if you could actually step back in time and taste a bit of history? Steven Apfelbaum has a way.

Apfelbaum is the founder and chairman of Applied Ecological Services, a 40-year-old ecological consulting and restoration sciences firm headquartered in Broadhead, Wis. The company determines what a piece of land historically looked like — what plants were there, what the topography might have looked like — and then uses that information to create a faithful replica of what was once there.

Just over a year ago the Museum of Wisconsin Art hired Tyler Friedman as an associate curator of c0ntemporary art. His first exhibit — called "Among the Wonders of the Dells: Photography, Place, Tourism" — is now on view.

Artist Iris Haussler will tell you that she grew up in a house free of any objects of curiosity. However, her mother was a pharmacist and her father a veterinarian, so many of the objects in her childhood home were actually quite evocative.

As one of nine people in a busy household, Haussler was often left to her own imagination. She created narratives for imaginary characters to entertain herself. Some were based on experiences from when she joined her father as he was caring for farm animals in the countryside. Sometimes, the two would end up visiting slaughterhouses.  

Milwaukee County's Lynden Sculpture Garden is currently collecting cast iron cast offs. But they’re not going to simply stack them next to a Henry Moore sculpture. The plan is to work with the public/community to transform the donated cast iron into something new in the Garden’s first iron pour on May 25th.

Have you made peace with your stuff or do you have a few things hanging out in your space you could likely do without? Nicole Gruter is a professional organizer and it's her goal to help you get rid of the things your heart may desire but your space is ready to let go.

Between 1955-1976, nearly thirty of the United States’ top clothing designers created garments to fit disabled bodies under the “Functional Fashions” line. It remains the largest collaborative effort to design clothing by, with, and for disabled persons in American history.

Some say Taylor Wright Rushing is a jack of all trades: artist, graduate student, woodworker, teacher and storyteller. He's got the kind of skills a fellow could take on the road, ride the rails, and scratch out a living for himself on the free and open road. Some might say he embodies the skills of the art he says he's obsessed with — tramp art.

Centered primarily around the Great Depression, tramp art is created using found objects, such as cigar boxes, and sculpting them with common tools, according to Rushing.

Editor's note: Part one of this Radio Chipstone series originally aired on March 9, 2019.

Wisconsin has its fair share of monuments. Maybe there's even one in your neighborhood. But do you know who or what it commemorates or why it's there?

Hillary Morgan Leathem is a Doctoral Candidate in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Chicago. She has roots in Madison and like material culture contributor Gianofer Fields, she has often passed by a particular monument located on the grounds of the State Capitol. But neither of them knows who he is or why he's there.

At first glance, Gillian Laub’s “Southern Rites” exhibit at the Chazen Museum Museum of Art could be seen as portraying the pageantry of a prom night in a small southern community. But, that’s just the surface. Look a bit longer and it becomes clear the photographs tell a much more complicated story.

The end of January is a bit late to talk about resolutions, but material culture contributor Gianofer Fields has finally made one she was able to keep. Her resolution: find a bra that fits.

For the approximately 50 percent of the population who don't wear bras, this search might seem like a silly thing. But for those who do wear them, the struggle to find something barely tolerable, let alone comfortable and supportive, is real.

If you ever want to really get to know someone, follow them home (just not in a creepy stalker way). However, if invited accept the invitation and pay attention to the objects they've chosen to live with. Now if you want to know who they wish to be, look at their social media pages.

In 1840, there were less than 400 African-Americans living in Madison, Wis. Some arrived as slaves to fur trappers, others came to work in the mines. In 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act caused many to escape to free states like Wisconsin. But that's not where the story ends.

How many of you are, at this very moment, in a car on your way to buy something? Maybe because it's Black Friday weekend or just because you really need a new whoosie whats it. Either way, you are on your way to purchase something somebody made and sometimes that comes with frustrations leading to oaths of never, ever leaving your house for holiday weekend sales ever again.