Arts & Entertainment
Downtown Waukesha Unites for Creativity and a Cause
Mother of all Crawls, Riverwalk for Breast Cancer and Make and Take at Beading Hearts Studio all add to Mother's Day weekend events
Downtown Waukesha was full of bustling activity all day Saturday, with much of it paying respect to the women we call "Mom."
The day rounded out with the "Mother of all Crawls" or the Waukesha Art Crawl. Many of the area stores and galleries participated in the event that was sponsored by Mama Mia's.
According to Lynn Gaffey of Almont Gallery, this is the first time that there have been 14-foot banners to showcase participants. The banners were painted by Steve Coughlin of TISC Studios. This helped the free trolley to highlight certain stops.
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The free trolley rides were re-introduced in the last year and help crawl-goers to see more businesses not in the immediate downtown area.
The crawl showcased many possible gifts for mother’s day, including pottery from The Potter’s Shop, paintings and jewelry from many galleries including Almont Gallery and Allison Art House, books from Cuddles & Martha Merrell’s Books or even a tattoo from Waukesha Tattoo Co. for the adventurous mom.
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Saturday's activities didn't start with the art crawl. The morning was jammed packed for a cause that affects many mothers and women as a whole: breast cancer awareness. The eve of a day meant to celebrate mothers also looked toward saving them.
It kicked off with the Riverwalk for Breast Cancer event Saturday morning. The walk took place in and around Frame Park and was a total of two miles. This was their 15th year. According to the Riverwalk event's website, more than $178,000 was raised.
The next event to help women affected by breast cancer took place at Beading Hearts Studio on South Street. Their event combined creativity with fundraising. At noon there was an event called Make and Take with Anna Draeger. Draeger is the associate editor of Bead & Button magazine and the author of Crystal Brilliance.
Draeger taught how to make a crystallized version of the Breast Cancer Awareness ribbon to complete a necklace. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to breast cancer awareness. The participants not only aided in a great cause, but also learned and expanded their creativity to make their own jewelry..
