📺 WKOW wrestles with technical problems

📺 Here’s Why You Don’t Recognize the Channel 27 Anchors

• Madison-based WKOW (Channel 27) has been unable to broadcast the news from its Madison studio recently because of an equipment failure preventing video from being sent out over the airwaves.
• While engineers work to fix the problem, Madison viewers have been seeing broadcasts from WKOW’s sister station, WAOW in Waukesha. While viewers may see WAOW reporters and anchors on air, the station says all the Madison news stories are still being produced locally.
• Dig deeper: Both stations are part of Allen Media Group, which said in January that it would outsource local weather coverage via The Weather Channel, which it also owns. The company abandoned that plan after a backlash from viewers. [WKOW, 🎧 City Cast Madison]

🌯 Miko Poke To Become Baja-Inspired HWY 1

• Food Fight Restaurant Group will turn Miko Poke on Monroe Street into HWY 1, a fast-casual counter-service restaurant that will offer Baja bowls, salads, and burritos.
• HWY 1 (pronounced “Highway one”) is scheduled to open in early June, and is inspired by “the colorful roadside eateries and beachside burrito stands that line the Baja Peninsula.” The menu will include a seared ahi tuna bowl in a nod to the space’s previous incarnation as Miko Poke, which has been open since 2016. [Cap Times]

💸 Madison Forward Fund Moves Ahead with ‘2.0’

• Madison Forward Fund, a partnership between the city and several other local groups and funded by private donations, was Wisconsin’s first guaranteed income fund. Participants received $500 per month for a year with no strings attached, and the program was widely seen as a success for supporting maternal and early childhood health and economic development.
• Building on the original program’s success, the Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness has launched the Madison Forward Fund 2.0, aimed at specifically helping Black women and mothers. The program will support 42 Dane County families with $500 a month.
• On the City Cast Madison podcast today, host Bianca Martin talks to FFBWW Chief Programs and Partnerships Officer Dr. Michelle Robinson about her organization’s vision for the new iteration of the program. [Madison365, Cap Times, 🎧 City Cast Madison]

Once every three years, something special comes to the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. The Wisconsin Triennial is a showcase of new work by artists in the state, on display at 227 State St. all summer long.

Here’s what to know about the Triennial and some of the Madison-based artists who are part of it for 2025.

What is the Wisconsin Triennial?

The Triennial began as a biennial event in 1978, and soon switched to every three years in 1984. Any Wisconsin visual artist, including painters, sculptors, and photographers, can submit their work to be part of the exhibition. This year, over 300 artists applied for the 24 available slots in the Triennial.

The open call is a return to the traditional format after the 2022 Triennial, in which Black women artists were invited to participate. That Triennial became the subject of heated controversy after one artist’s work was vandalized by a patron, and artists ended up pulling out of the exhibition, feeling the museum didn’t adequately support them. Artists applying for the 2025 Triennial were not asked about their demographics.

What Madison Artists Are Part of the Exhibition?

John Hitchcock is an enrolled member of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma and Comanche and Northern European descent. He is the Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor at UW-Madison where he teaches screenprinting, relief cut, and installation art.

Hitchcock’s giant ribbon installations in the entryway to the museum are inspired by the pow-wow chairs used at Native American dances and celebrations.

Angelica Contreras was awarded the Forward Art Prize in 2020, which celebrates the work of female artists in Dane County. She was born in Whittier, California and grew up in Mexico, attending the University of Guadalajara.

Her mixed-media work incorporates oil, acrylic, and collage, creating a variety of colors and textures. It celebrates the resilience and pride of Latino communities, including a dose of magical realism.

⬆️ Last Week’s Photo

It’s located at Hot Lunch, the E. Johnson St. restaurant known for retro toys and decor!

🎉 Congratulations to Jennifer H., Michelle K., and Sara C. for being the first three to guess correctly!

⬇️ This Week’s Photo

Do you know where this artwork is located? A few clues:

• They’re on the south end of town
• They were created in 2015 as part of a major road construction project as a partnership between artists and community members
• The best way to see them is by getting out of your car and walking (perhaps with two gentlemen?)