(gentle music) (bright upbeat music) - As Bart Simpson would say, "Ay, caramba!"

On this episode of "The Arts Page," you'll get an in-depth look at a collection of animation cells from the heyday of "The Simpsons," America's longest running animated primetime sitcom.

Celebrate an architectural anniversary at the Museum of Wisconsin Art in the West Bend building they affectionately call their modernist mothership and get a first look at "Rhythm Cafe MKE," our new Milwaukee PBS digital series showcasing talented local musicians.

All this and more coming up now on "The Arts Page."

(bright upbeat music) Welcome to "The Arts Page."

I'm Sandy Maxx and get ready for Wisconsin architecture and music and a multicultural couple creating art together after we get into animation.

The "Simpsons" debuted on TV in 1989 and quickly became a smash hit.

The animated primetime sitcom continues to air and 34 years later, remains a pop culture phenomenon.

Springtime brought the "Simpsons" to the Trout Museum of Art in Appleton for a special exhibit called Bart, B parenthesis Art curated from a private collection over 200 hand drawn and hand painted animation cells from the peak of the beloved series were on display for fans to enjoy.

Let's take a look at the process of cell animation and the artistry that brings America's favorite animated family to life.

(bright upbeat music) - This is a form of art that the everyday person doesn't get to see often.

(bright upbeat music) This show has, it's so relatable to the everyday citizen.

You can watch it and it's just about a normal American family.

Every episode is about a different thing happening in their life and you can relate to it and I think that's held on throughout the last 30 plus years.

They used hand drawn animation for the first 13 seasons before they switched to digital animation.

So in this handmade animation process, they actually have these transparent sheets that they actually painted on.

So there's backgrounds that they painted and those stayed as they were, but then they switched out these transparent sheets where they drew the characters.

So this is an example of an animation cell.

Each cell consists of a background that's static and doesn't change, and then these characters on these transparent sheets are called cells.

So the animators would actually draw all the characters and hand paint them on these transparent sheets so that when you laid it over the background you could change the characters without drawing the background a bunch of times over and over again.

And they drew each one separately so that, for example if Marge wanted to turn her head they wouldn't have to draw all the characters over and over again.

They would just switch out this one cell.

So actually, on the each transparent sheet they'll do the outline, the black outline that you know from cartoons on the front and then the solid colors filling in the faces and the coat flows on the backside.

And then they would switch out as they're filming at 24 frames per second all these slides of these cells to kind of create the motion.

Well these cells are actually collected by an Appleton native, so he has a ton of different collections.

"Simpsons" is one of his biggest collection.

He also owns cells from the "Grinch."

In the '80s, he started collecting these cells and that actually started with the "Simpsons" when it was just kind of shorts.

So he found a couple cells from that and he actually wasn't a fan of the show for a long time but became a fan as he kind of saw it develop over time and animation kind of develop as an art form.

And he's just really passionate about the art form, the artist behind it.

And throughout the exhibit, he owns actually a lot of some of the not so common characters too.

So he's really a fan of all of them.

This wall here shows a lot of our more rare and some kind of more valuable pieces because they show so many characters.

A lot of cells a lot of people want just the family.

But these you can see have a lot of the side characters who people love just as well.

This one actually has Elton John in it, so that makes them a little bit more rare.

I think the one that is most interesting is we actually have a slide from the episode where Bart purchases an animation cell.

This is actually a cell that kind of breaks that barrier between reality and cartoon because Bart actually impulse buys this animation cell and is kind of disappointed because he didn't get a full scene, he just got an arm.

But of course there's cells out there, there's warehouses full of cells from 35 years that are just an arm or just an outfit that are just not super exciting.

So he got a one that wasn't super thrilling for him.

(upbeat music) The great thing about this show in particular is it's spanned generations.

So we see people who they learned about it in their adulthood like Bill did or that they grew up with it as millennials probably did and even some Gen Zs grew up with it.

So we've seen a range of different audiences here.

And there's also the people that just like art in general who can see the art and the artistry behind the cells themselves.

Because this is such a nostalgic show for a lot of generations, we wanted to have an immersive experience where people can kind of come and be reminded of different sayings, different characters and also have opportunities for people to learn about the animation process itself.

Yeah, so we're using these light boxes right now which are really popular with artists and especially with animators 'cause it helps them, you can see there's a light and we have a picture and we're able to put another piece of paper over and actually trace it.

So animators use these, it kind of saves some time to trace the characters quicker and make sure they always look the same.

(upbeat music) When you look at cartoons, you're like, is it art?

But there's people behind it.

If you think about every art form across history in the 19th century, impressionist artists, everything they did, they were at, museums were like, "No, we're not putting that up.

You're never gonna be famous.

It's really ugly."

But they proved them wrong.

And I think that goes along also with animation where people kind of see it as, like they're the rebels.

They're doing this form that isn't widely recognized, but everybody loves it.

(bright upbeat music) - Get to know more about the animation cell collector, Bill Heater in an interview we have posted online as an arts page web extra.

You can watch that conversation on our website, milwaukeepbs.org.

While the Museum of Wisconsin Art has been around for decades, it has been at its current home in downtown West Bend for just 10 years, commonly known as the wedge or the mothership.

MOWA celebrated their 10th anniversary in the stunning building.

Now we meet the architect who shares how he created the impressive design.

(bright upbeat music) (indistinct chattering) - Welcome to the museum.

Welcome to the mothership.

We opened this new facility in West Bend in 2013.

In this 10-year period, our visitors have grown from 2,912, 2,912 visitors to 225,000 last year.

It's just astonishing growth.

- I think that when Director Laurie Winters came on board to become the director, I had a really strong suspicion that it would be as successful as it has become.

And the changing exhibits here that she's been the curator on have been the difference that is really exciting exhibits by artists a lot of people haven't seen before and they're surprised to see they work at a national caliber here out of Wisconsin and she's put 'em in a spotlight and collected their best work.

And so when she came on board, I thought it was gonna be a success and that success is spilled over on me because people say, "Oh, it must be the new building."

Well, (chuckles) the new building is a minor assistant and I think it's the curation and the great art that made it the success it is.

- I would say for us it's really about letting people know that it's okay to care about the art that's around you, or all about providing engagement with young emerging artists, artists who are coming up in the State of Wisconsin.

Wisconsin has long been this kind of interesting center for arts and it's just becoming stronger year after year.

And so that's something that we're proud of and we hope that we're contributing to that in the future.

(bright upbeat music) - Well, in terms of creating this building, I think one of the things that the clients were after is a place where Wisconsin art could be celebrated and the art could be seen for the great works of art that it is.

And so they were willing to do a building that was clean, contemporary, and inside had a kind of neutrality that allowed the artworks to dominate.

- [Narrator] The Museum of Wisconsin Art or MOWA for short honored their 10th anniversary in their visually striking home with a celebration for all ages.

There were arts and crafts, games and live music.

- Six.

(guitar strums) - [Narrator] The main event of the day was a special presentation by Jim Shields, the architect of the museum.

- Please join me in welcoming Jim Shields.

(audience applauding) - We did receive-- - [Narrator] A speaking to a packed house in the West Bend Mutual Insurance Company Atrium, he talked about the years long process of designing and building the museum titled "The Evolution of a Museum," Jim presented the number of different concepts he had created for MOWA before the current design was selected.

- I'd like to start this talk way back in 2004 and way at the top upper left there, there's a young man talking with Tom Lipke, the original director there.

And I was shocked to see that young man is actually me there.

(audience laughing) How did that happen in a mere 19 years?

I don't know.

The city selling this property or agreeing to sell the property to Museum of Wisconsin Art, the board asked us to do three schemes to investigate how to use this property.

And I'll quickly show you these three schemes.

So the first sketch that I did was like a, what's called a Village of Galleries and was like a small town somewhere in Wisconsin.

I got a lot of whole hums on that one, and I did a second scheme, I think called, I called a Long Bent Bar.

And this is a place where the river was bending, Memorial Drive also did a bend to follow the river bend and our property line did a bend.

So, gee, maybe we should work with a slight curvature to this thing.

And interestingly enough, the ideas of this scheme found its way into the final scheme that you're in here which was the third one and last one we did which was Scheme I, which was this triangular solid.

And one of the things I was excited about in this is that this is a building that only fits on one really weird sight, right?

It's a totally unique thing.

(bright upbeat music) (motorcycle engine roaring) - Richie Morales is a painter from Guatemala.

Geraldine Gery Paredes is a poet from Bolivia.

They now live in Madison and together create powerful art using Richie's vision and Jerry's voice.

They spoke about the message behind their artwork on the Milwaukee PBS series, "Adelante."

(indistinct chattering) (bright upbeat music) (soft flute music) (upbeat music) - Finally, especially for music fans, it is time to show you a first look at the new Milwaukee PBS Digital first series called "Rhythm Cafe, MKE."

Each episode will spotlight a local musician.

(car engine roaring) - [Stephen] Milwaukee music itself it takes on a different meaning especially when you get to the live music scene.

- [Malik] This is my favorite type of setting to play in.

- [Jacob] Anodyne is such a cool venue.

But there's just something like really different and cool about playing in such an intimate setting.

- [Ty] This is actually my first experience recording in an intimate setting like this.

- Hi, my name is Malik Johnson.

- My name is Jacob Slade.

- I am Ty Wilder.

- My name is Dandy L. Freling.

- My name is Stephen Hull.

(footsteps stumping) - How we doing?

- Good, how are you?

- I'm still breathing.

(bass tuning) Is he practicing?

He's tuning up in there.

- Alright, look at him, go.

- Well, this space is special to me because I came and saw one of my first concerts here and I've been seeing a bunch of different Milwaukee artists performing here and to bring myself into this space and create something this special, this intimate.

(guitar strums) ♪ If I should take a notion ♪ ♪ I wanna get up ♪ ♪ Down, go down to the ocean ♪ - [Stephen] It makes me feel accomplished almost, you know what I mean?

Like I've gotten something done and that I can present this to everyone with a smile.

- This tune's called "The Storm."

(guitar strums) ♪ Here comes the storm ♪ ♪ I believe that I've been born ♪ ♪ Batten down the hatches ♪ ♪ Look down, it'll be in store ♪ - Oh, I've been playing since I was like 13 but my sound has definitely transformed quite a bit just through traveling and meeting people and them introducing me to their kind of music.

(guitar strumming) ♪ My legs are ragged and my hands are sore ♪ ♪ Got one foot in and out the door ♪ ♪ Oh, what is it for ♪ - Whenever I write a song, it's always about a character.

It's always about somebody else, and I guess I sort of keep it that way so that it's not just me preaching my thoughts and emotions to the choir and it's more relatable in a character sense.

(cello pop music) - The feeling that you get is just so up close and personal.

You can feel all the emotions in the room and the artist can go off that, the audience can go off that and we can just have a great time together, so I absolutely love playing in a place like this.

I want people listening to feel joy.

I want them to feel happiness.

I want them to be relaxed.

(cello pop music) - This right here is my passion, sharing my story.

♪ I've gotten too comfortable ♪ ♪ In this toxic love ♪ ♪ So I'm calling you out, baby ♪ ♪ And I'm gonna bounce, baby ♪ - That's just creating my own music and expressing how I feel and letting people know what my thoughts are and my vulnerability are.

♪ You were sun on a rainy day ♪ ♪ And I need you in me everyday ♪ ♪ You got me feeling good ♪ ♪ I'm feeling good ♪ ♪ 'Cause I wanna feel, feel, feel your love ♪ ♪ 'Cause I wanna feel, feel, feel your love ♪ - It very rich and very loving.

I feel like you can feel the love in my music and in my voice, so that's always what I want people to feel.

♪ I'm feeling good ♪ - I certainly think that there's cool stuff about doing the full band arrangements, but... (electric guitar picking) I love the sort of stripped back sound and hearing how bands do it differently.

(electric guitar picking) I think I hope that like the intimate setting is able to illuminate some of the complexities that I put into it, in the instrumentation as well as in the lyrics.

♪ 'Cause you're holding me inside your hand ♪ ♪ Crawling deep into my head ♪ ♪ I never know what it's like ♪ - I think in Milwaukee it is a really cool scene because everyone is very supportive of each other and I think that musicians see their success, but also the success of others, as success for sort of the collective whole ♪ And express the things I've done ♪ - I think it's just a good opportunity to really hear the good essence of the songs that you write.

(guitar strumming) ♪ If you would like to tune in to Rhythm Cafe ♪ - My name is Stephen Hull and I'd just like to say that you can find me and other artists like me on Milwaukeepbs.org.

(soft blues music) ♪ And on YouTube ♪ (Stephen laughing) - You could watch "Rhythm Cafe MKE" at our website, milwaukeepbs.org or on the Milwaukee PBS YouTube channel.

Thank you for watching "The Arts Page."

I'm Sandy Maxx.

Please join us the first Thursday of every month for half hour full of art on "The Arts Page."

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