Max Garland, former Wisconsin poet laureate and University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire professor emeritus of English, and Bruce Taylor, former Eau Claire poet laureate and UWEC professor emeritus of English, read their original poetry influenced by the human condition during the past year.
Nick Meyer, publisher of Eau Claire’s Volume One arts newspaper, returns to the show to provide his assessment of the local arts community.
Anne Katz, director of Arts Wisconsin, an arts advocacy organization in Madison. She talks with Ross about the state of the creative economy throughout Wisconsin.
Musicians Sue Orfield, Pat Donohue, Jerry Way and Randy Sabien also contribute to the show this week. Eau Claire saxophone and band leader Orfield shares her experiences as a non-working member of the creative economy this past year and about her recent recovery from COVID-19. Twin Cities-based Donohue plays a song he recently wrote, a parody of Paul Simon’s “Homeward Bound.” Way, a Chippewa Falls institution, shares a song from one of his shows fitting to the current situation, and Hayward jazz violinist and songwriter Sabien’s version of “What Are You Doin’ New Year’s Eve?” concludes the show.