Create Wisconsin

09/03/2026

Congratulations to Rubina Marie Martini of Nelsonville and Jennifer Morales of Viroqua on receiving Rural Regenerator Fellowships from Springboard for the Arts. What an honor for these Wisconsin artists!

Meet the artists of the 2026-27 Rural Regenerator Fellowship Cohort: Reyna Hernandez, Rubina Martini, Sharon Mansur, Rebeka Ndosi, Jennifer Morales, and Ray Janis!

09/02/2026

Dan Petry was one of the good guys in Wisconsin's musical world. RIP.

𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥 𝐄𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐲
(𝟏𝟗𝟓𝟓 - 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔)

We are eternally grateful to our treasured friend and colleague Dan Petry. Not only was he instrumental in establishing Present Music with founder Kevin Stalheim— over the years he helped so many Milwaukee institutions in significant ways.

His gift was an authentic passion for people, and also for music, and he had a magical touch in bringing the two together. That tireless idealism rubbed off on many of us, and his spirit will live on in our work.

Please click on the link in comments for Urban Milwaukee's extensive article on Dan's life and work.

09/02/2026

The November 3rd election is coming up sooner than we can imagine. We’ve got consequential races in Wisconsin: all eight House of Representative seats, Governor, Lt. Governor, and Attorney General, half of the State Senate (odd numbered seats) and all 99 State Assembly people are on the ballot.

Stay connected, speak out, and show up in 2026. Create Wisconsin, the state’s community cultural development organization, is hosting monthly Creative Conversations about advocacy and action for the critically important gubernatorial and legislative candidate season, the state budget process, regional conferences, and the importance of being involved in civic issues from the ground up.

Please register for the September 2026 session: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/pr1c9e-6SY-qa81GVf0fHQ #/registration

09/02/2026

- September 13-19 - National Arts in Education Week is coming right up. This is our moment to show Congress that arts education is essential and deserves federal investment, for every student, in every community.

Three Ways to Get Ready This Week

-Schedule your posts — use the toolkit’s social templates to queue up content for September 13–19.
- Contact your representatives — critical votes are coming this month — take action now.
- Loop in a partner — share the toolkit with a colleague or organization and invite them to advocate alongside you.

The toolkit contains everything you need to get ready in one place:
- Social media templates and graphics aligned with "Every Student, Every Community"
- Newsletter and website content you can use as-is.
- A partner email template with pre-drafted subject lines and copy.
- Legislative priorities, key messaging, and one-pagers.

Americans for the Arts' Toolkit has all the resources you need to make the most of . https://www.americansforthearts.org/events/national-arts-in-education-week

09/01/2026

News from Create Wisconsin } September 1, 2026
https://conta.cc/4gD211u

Email from Create Wisconsin an occasional newsletter about the arts, culture, and creativity throughout Wisconsin Volume #4, Issue #3 | Tuesday, September 1, 2026 September 1, 2026 Dear Friend, Sen. R

09/01/2026

To start this month, we want to remind everyone about this incredible FREE resource!

Create Wisconsin has several resources on our website, one being a job board that allows individuals to view and/or submit jobs.

Interested? Click here: https://createwisconsin.org/job-board/

08/30/2026

Wisconsin is a state filled with great creativity and imagination, and the first cohort of Create Wisconsin's Statewide Artist Grant Program is a true example of this.

We were able to meet with one of the recipients, Cassandra Xiong, to learn more about them and discuss the impact this grant has had on their project.

Thank you to Ruth Foundation For The Arts () for your generous support of this program, and thank you, Cassandra, for your time and for your dedication as a Wisconsin creative!

More info about Cassandra Xiong at https://www.instagram.com/cassandrafication/ or https://www.facebook.com/cassandra23x

More info about the arts and creativity in Wisconsin and Create Wisconsin at www.createwisconsin.org.

08/29/2026

Wisconsin is a state filled with great creativity and imagination, and the first cohort of Create Wisconsin's Statewide Artist Grant Program is a true example of this.

We were able to meet with one of the recipients, Nate Sheppard Media, to learn more about them and discuss the impact this grant has had on their project.

Thank you to Ruth Foundation For The Arts () for your generous support of this program, and thank you, Nate, for your time and for your dedication as a Wisconsin creative!

More info about Nate Sheppard at https://natesheppard.com/

More info about the arts and creativity in Wisconsin and Create Wisconsin at www.createwisconsin.org.

08/26/2026

Create Wisconsin's Statewide Artist Grant Program first cohort of 16 recipients is truly remarkable.

Meet one of the recipients: Nate Sheppard Media ()

Brief project description -
“A series of fully immersive performing arts experiences that incorporates cinematic film, live music, poetry and storytelling, dynamic lighting, surround sound, and projection mapping.”

This three-year program, which supports a new cohort of award recipients each year, is made possible by generous support from the Ruth Foundation For The Arts (). This year, each recipient will receive an award of $7,500 for individual artistic enrichment or to conduct a community-based project.