Wisconsin Life

Meet a determined University of Wisconsin-Whitewater athlete, a collector who restores classic arcade games, a wooden mask carver, a honey bee breeder who has found sweet success on her farm, and a Two Rivers resident who’s crafted a song about the fading manufacturing era.

Meet a man who leads an after-school boxing program for at-risk youth, an artist who paints extremely realistic landscapes, a volunteer firefighter, a DNR wildlife program associate who leads crane-watching events, and a “The Andy Griffith Show” fan who drives a replica Mayberry squad car.

Meet a world-champion curler who coaches the U.S. Paralympic Curling team, a Rubik’s Cube record holder, an urban-wildlife photographer, a University of Wisconsin-La Crosse historian who leads historic bike tours, and a couple whose glass-art studio is located deep in the North Woods.

Visit a farm animal sanctuary, a renovated concert hall in Comstock, a lavender farm on Washington Island, a retirement home with a passion for ping pong and a Steampunk community in a small Wisconsin town.

Meet a former Ho-Chunk Nation president, a couple who raise Clydesdale horses, a man who landed his dream job at the Packers Hall of Fame, a drummer who’s recording retro music on magnetic tape and a family whose burger stand has been family-owned and operated for three generations.

Meet a Purple Martin breeder, a UW-Madison dance professor, a husband and wife who run their own craft shop, the founders of Guitars for Vets, and a pool hall prodigy from Waukesha.

Meet a Milwaukee street artist, the Wollersheim wine maker, a loving grandpa from Rosendale, and a UW-Stout professor who designed his own video game.

Meet the UW-Barron Rube Goldberg team, a muskie fisherman, a body artist from Madison, and a Shakespeare therapy program for veterans.

Meet a classically trained cellist who’s putting a modern spin on music, a blogger who’s exposing dishonest business practices, a mathematics-inspired furniture maker, a man who holds the key to an incredible collection of artifacts, and a highly skilled Magic: The Gathering competitor.

Meet a high-school pep band whose sound is larger than life, a museum’s artist in residence, the artistic director at a theater company for people with disabilities, a woman who’s giving unwanted stuffed animals a second life, and an esteemed matriarch nicknamed “Big Mama.”