Arts & Life

Old-fashioned books are holding their own in a world of e-readers, according to a new online survey. 

The Pew Research Center reports that in 2013, a bigger percentage of American adults read e-books.  But there also appears to be more people reading more print books.   That could indicate people aren’t necessarily giving up one for the other. 

Rhinelander Library Director Ed Hughes says the findings are surprising.

It’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  A representative from the Wisconsin Chapter of the ACLU is here in the Northwoods.  Youth and Program Director Emilio De Torre is speaking tonight at the Woodruff Community Center.  WXPR’s Natalie Jablonski spoke to him about how the voting rights struggle of the 1960s plays out today. 

This weekend is the snowmobile World Championship, expected to draw tens of thousands.  But last weekend was the World Championship for vintage racing.  

Vintage cars, vintage records…but vintage snowmobiles?  That I had not heard of before moving to the Northwoods. I was curious about what draws people to the sport, so I headed to the offices of the Eagle River derby track for the weekend of the vintage racing championship. 

A gallery exhibition at Nicolet College closes Friday. It features paper and book arts made by people involved with the Mill, an arts nonprofit based in Rhinelander. 

Executive Director Daniel Goscha says the show is a kind of retrospective of the nonprofit’s first year. 

“It is a very diverse show.  There’s examples of book arts, of printmaking, of letterpress and cyanotype.  So it really is a broad show in terms of featuring paper making and book arts and all of the many facets that can take.” 

A group of art students traveled to the Northwoods last week...for a dose of science.  Students at the Milwaukee Institute for Art and Design spent a week at the Kemp Station Natural Resources Station near Woodruff. 

It may surprise some people to find art students also interested in science, but to Maddy Dall, it’s totally natural.

“I’ve always really been interested in paleontology especially – so like dinosaurs.  I always told myself if I could draw dinosaurs I’d be a happy person – so scientific illustration really appealed to me.”

More than 11,000 items were donated during the Department of Tourism's recent "Big Bundle Up" campaign. including items from the Rhinelander, Tomahawk, Minocqua and St. Germain Chambers of Commerce.

Tourism spokesperson Danielle Johnson says the campaign came about after a Wisconsin Tourism promotion made the state look like a mitten. Michigan's Tourism Department was annoyed, saying Michigan looks more like a mitten than Wisconsin. Both states agreed to resolve the dispute by gathering warm clothes for the needy.

Johnson says this year's effort was a success...

Artists from all over Wisconsin will gather in March to remind legislators that Wisconsin has a thriving arts community.

Arts Day 2014 is set for March 12 at the new central library in Madison.

Anne Katz is Executive Director of Arts Wisconsin. She says it's the only big arts conference in Wisconsin.....

"....we have people coming from around the state to meet with their legislators. That's the main part of the day. The point is for the people to come to the capitol and tell their stories...

Vintage snowmobile racers compete this weekend in Eagle River in the world championship.  

The world championship may be a week away…but spectators at the vintage race are all about the here and now.  The qualifying rounds for the vintage championship are filled with sleds from the 70s and 80s…or older.  They’re smaller and more antique looking than today’s ultrafast monsters.  And though next weekend’s races will draw a bigger crowd, more people enter the vintage categories.  Elmer Jensen is a longtime volunteer at the derby. 

Love the music you hear on WXPR? Classical, jazz, blues, adult alternative, polka, bluegrass, folk, country – it’s all here.

And you can become an integral part of it. Volunteer on-air hosts are essential in creating and delivering 70 hours of vibrant and unique musical programming each week.

Actualize your sonic passions. Give us a call at 715-362-6000 or email and we’ll show you how.

The frigid weather may have kept skiers indoors for a few days…but otherwise this season’s conditions have been prime for cross country skiing. 

Tim Collins, Director of Minocqua Winter Park says the park had its biggest day ever the Saturday after Christmas. 

“We had over a thousand people out at Winter Park, on Saturday December 28.  And the numbers before and after were very close.  So all of our trails, 100 kilometers of ski and snowshoe trails have been groomed to perfection this season.”