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Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz

A podcast about positive things happening in and around Washington County, Wisconsin
Season 1•Episode 0020•December 6, 2021

What’s Happening at The Schauer Arts Center with Julie Johnson

A lively stage performance at the Schauer Arts Center features actors in period costumes. A woman in a bright red dress stands on the left, smiling and gesturing towards a man holding a cake. Other actors, including a man in a flat cap and a woman with a violin, are part of the festive scene, which is set against a backdrop of an old town. The image is framed with a dark blue border and has the text “15 minutes with FUZZ” in large white and blue letters overlaying the bottom portion of the photo.

Since 2001, there has been a shining beacon of love for the arts in Washington County. That beacon…the Schauer Arts Center in Hartford, Wis. Julie Johnson, the organization’s Development Coordinator, joins me on this week’s episode to talk about the great events and performances they have coming up between now and the end of the year.

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  • Transcript
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    [00:00:00] Fuzz Martin: Hello, everybody, I’m Fuzz Martin, and this is Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz, a show where anything can happen,

    including me accidentally hitting the bell with my pinky. Each and every week I meet with someone in or around Washington County to talk about great things that are happening here. Too often, too often. There’s negativity and vitriol and other big words to describe bad things that go on like Facebook and you know, just leaves you kind of feeling icky, right?

    So my goal for this show is that I’m able to point you in the direction of good and positive things. I want the show to be somewhat of a palate cleanser for the soul, not chicken soup, saltine crackers. This week, my guest is Julie Johnson. Julie is the development coordinator at Shower Arts Center in Hartford, Wisconsin.

    The Shower Center’s mission is developing, supporting, and promoting arts. And you know what? What Fuzz? They’re pretty darn good at it. So here’s 15 minutes on the Shower Arts Center with Julie Johnson on 15 Minutes with Fuzz.

    Julie, thanks for joining me. Now, before we get to talk about all the great holiday and Christmas programming that’s coming up at Shower Arts Center, let’s talk a little bit about you and what you do. So what is your role at Shower Arts Center and how long have you been with the organization?

    [00:01:45] Julie Johnson: My name is Julie Johnson and I am the Development Coordinator at the Shower Arts Center.

    I have been with them since 2017, so I’m going on my fourth year.

    [00:01:55] Fuzz Martin: Very good. And, uh, what in the, uh, in the development coordinator world, what does that mean? What kind of things do you do on a day to day basis?

    [00:02:02] Julie Johnson: So I do a lot with donations, either from businesses, corporate, um, even individuals. Okay. We also do fundraisers throughout the year.

    Grant writing, especially with the pandemic, that was a huge part of what I was doing, so.

    [00:02:17] Fuzz Martin: Yeah, and now, so as a 501c3 non profit, there’s a whole lot involved in getting donations from the community and area businesses and partners and community members, right?

    [00:02:30] Julie Johnson: That is a big portion. Um, the ticket sales definitely don’t cover everything that we do.

    And so, um, We do look for, uh, the community, both in individuals and in corporate, to help us with our mission. Sure. Um, which is great.

    [00:02:42] Fuzz Martin: Yeah. And that really kind of plays into it. So, part of the mission of the Schauer Arts Center is fostering that passion for the arts in our, uh, community, both at Hartford and Washington County and the surrounding areas.

    And, uh, but it’s not just all plays and concerts, right? You also have a, um, pretty robust school for the arts?

    [00:03:00] Julie Johnson: We do. Our School of the Arts is a fantastic program actually for all ages. We offer classes in dance, theater, music, and visual arts. For youth and adults. I actually had the chance to take one of the adults, uh, happy hour dance classes and experienced it.

    And I am not a dancer, but had the most fun, um, learning a few dance steps along with having a social drink and meeting a ton of other people. So. It’s a great opportunity to learn, to be social, to expand on any interests that you have in the arts.

    [00:03:33] Fuzz Martin: Great, and you do have kids programs too, right? So if families want to have their kids get involved in the arts, that’s also part of that?

    [00:03:40] Julie Johnson: Absolutely. Um, we have visual arts, which consists of painting, drawing, that kind of thing. Music classes. We have a theater program, which we actually do a, what’s called our Youth Rising Stars program. This year they’re going to be doing Seussical Jr. Oh, cool. Yeah, and those, those are auditioned so that the roles can get divvied out, but it is a lot of fun and there’s a lot of behind the scenes as well.

    So if you don’t want to be on the stage, you can get involved with the tech side of it, learn about lighting and set building and that kind of stuff. So lots of opportunities there. And then of course the dance program. We have offerings in Irish, ballet, contemporary, tap, and jazz. So, kind of, whatever your interest is, we’re here for ya.

    [00:04:22] Fuzz Martin: Yeah, that sounds great. A lot of people listening, I’m sure, will know, be familiar with Shower Arts Center because it’s been around, I think, since 2001?

    [00:04:29] Julie Johnson: We’re going on 21 years. Wow. Yeah.

    [00:04:32] Fuzz Martin: And I remember it had opened, I first started working in the area in 2000 and I remember it was brand new. Uh, that time.

    So it’s been, yeah, and now I’m getting old. So it’s been, it’s been 21 years. And a lot of people know where it is, but where is Shower Arts Center?

    [00:04:47] Julie Johnson: The address is 147 North Rural Street. It’s actually right next to the Automotive Museum and the Hartford Rec Center. So we’re kind of right in between the two.

    Yeah. Great little location. It used to be Libby’s Canning Factory. That’s right. So it’s got a lot of history. Like

    [00:05:03] Fuzz Martin: the 1800s or something, right? Absolutely. Yeah. We’re officially past Thanksgiving, and we’re on to the holiday season, and I know your calendar’s packed with events. What do you have coming up at the Shower Arts Center?

    [00:05:15] Julie Johnson: We’ve got four fantastic shows coming up still in December as part of our season. The first one of those is on Thursday, December 9th. We have a 2 o’clock and 7. 30 show of Christmas in Killarney. It’s an Irish American Christmas celebration, so it will be chock full of Irish music and Irish dancing, and it’ll just be a great celebration of Christmas.

    [00:05:36] Fuzz Martin: Oh, awesome. Well, we’re big fans of Irish music and dancing, actually, Epic Creative, where we’re recording this, we do Irish Fest, so I’m certain there’s a lot of people here that will be interested in going and seeing that. So, you said that’s on the 9th.

    [00:05:51] Julie Johnson: Saturday, December 11th at 2 o’clock, we have Old Bafana, which is part of our family series.

    So we encourage families of all sizes and ages to come and join us for that. It’s an Italian Christmas story. So it’s a musical based on the ancient holiday story. Before the show, we will also have Free children’s activities, just to kind of incorporate that sense of family and doing things together. So from 12.

    30 to 1. 30, there will be activities available prior to the show, starting at two o’clock.

    [00:06:21] Fuzz Martin: For these, and I know you’ve got a couple others come out too, but if somebody wants to get tickets, where’s the right place to go for that?

    [00:06:26] Julie Johnson: They can either call the box office at 262 670 0560. They can stop by the box office Monday through Friday from 12 to 5, or they can go online at ShowerCenter.

    org.

    [00:06:38] Fuzz Martin: Perfect. So, uh, the, uh, the last one is called? It’s called Old Bafana. Old Bafana. And then what are the other events that you have coming up? There’s

    [00:06:46] Julie Johnson: two left. One is on Friday, December 17th at 8 o’clock. It’s called I Got Yule Babe. And it’s part of our cabaret series. So this is held up in Pikes Peak.

    Okay. There’s little cabaret tables. It’s a much more social. low key atmosphere, but he sings the funniest Christmas music ever. I don’t know if you know the music of Weird Al, but he’s been compared to like, taking Christmas and turning it into that style of music. of singing and songs. Sure,

    [00:07:16] Fuzz Martin: right up my alley.

    [00:07:16] Julie Johnson: Absolutely. A lot of fun. Um, in coordination with that night, we are having Ugly Sweater Night. Cool. So we encourage everybody to wear their ugliest sweater to that performance.

    [00:07:25] Fuzz Martin: Are you all set to go for that? Oh,

    [00:07:26] Julie Johnson: absolutely. We’re closing out our season on Saturday, December 18th. We have a 3 o’clock and 7.

    30 performance of A Rocky Mountain Christmas. Which is the music of John Denver and Holiday Favorites.

    [00:07:40] Fuzz Martin: In addition to those four performances, you guys also have resident tenants at Shower Center, right?

    [00:07:46] Julie Johnson: We do. We have four resident tenants, which really is a home to the community. The Hartford City Band, the Hartford Community Chorus, the Hartford Players, and the Kettle Moraine Fine Arts Guild.

    Two of them actually have things going on this month that you might be interested in. The Kettle Moraine Fine Arts Guild has their annual holiday show up in the art gallery going on right now through January 30th. So if you come to a show, feel free to stop up at that art gallery and take a peek at what our local artists are doing.

    have to provide, and if you, if something sparks you, you can purchase pieces up there as well. So, um, it’s a neat opportunity. And then also the Hartford Community Chorus has their concert coming up on December 12th. It’s not a ticketed event, so you can just show up, but all of that information is also available either on their website or on ours.

    [00:08:35] Fuzz Martin: Okay, and that’s, uh, showerscenter. org, S H A U C Again, as a nonprofit, I’m sure that the Shower Center has a lot of needs, both financially, as we kind of spoke about before, and from a volunteer standpoint. What, what do you guys need as a 501c3? What, what kind of support do you need?

    [00:08:56] Julie Johnson: You know, attending performances is, like I said before, a great big portion of what happens there, but that does not support the bottom line completely.

    So we definitely are always looking for donors who help support our mission. as well as volunteers. Um, we can’t do a performance without the help of our volunteers. Each performance houses ushers that help run a house, finding seats. And so forth. So if anybody’s interested in volunteering, they can email us at info at ShowerCenter.

    org and we’ll connect you with the right people to get you started. But it’s a great way to even come see a show for free because as an usher you you sit in on the show and It’s it’s a fabulous opportunity. So if you love attending shows, it’s a great way to you know, get some friends together Um, we do have a small training that goes into that, but, um,

    [00:09:46] Fuzz Martin: It’s worth it.

    It is so worth

    [00:09:48] Julie Johnson: it.

    [00:09:48] Fuzz Martin: We have an employee here who relayed to me that when she was younger, she used to volunteer at all of the, you know, like the symphony and the different places so that she could see the shows while she was in college. And didn’t have a lot of money.

    [00:10:01] Julie Johnson: Absolutely. And that

    [00:10:02] Fuzz Martin: was her way of getting in and taking in the arts without, uh, you know, she was giving back by, by helping and they needed the help and she got to see all the shows she wanted.

    [00:10:10] Julie Johnson: Absolutely. And it’s just a great way to give back to the community as well.

    [00:10:13] Fuzz Martin: Sure. And you guys also at the Shower Center from time to time, I know recently you had Lori Morgan come in, but you guys have some big names that come in, into the Shower Center each year.

    [00:10:21] Julie Johnson: Yeah. Lori Morgan was on December 2nd.

    Yeah. Um.

    [00:10:24] Fuzz Martin: Lori Morgan.

    [00:10:25] Julie Johnson: Great, great, great country performer. Yep.

    [00:10:28] Fuzz Martin: Um, that’s, uh, it’s cool that we have that in our area and that people can come and take these in and not even have to leave Washington County or, you know, like right across the border for Dodge County.

    [00:10:37] Julie Johnson: And some of the best things are free parking.

    But you know, the parking lot is right there. You don’t have to pay for it. There’s plenty of opportunities for restaurants, so

    [00:10:48] Fuzz Martin: Make a night of it. Absolutely. Spend the night in town in Hartford and get a meal, it’d be great. Again, Julie, the website is showercenter. org. Thank you for coming in, we hope you have a great rest of the holiday season, and you have a great holiday as well.

    [00:11:02] Julie Johnson: Thank you so much. That’ll wrap

    [00:11:07] Fuzz Martin: up the 20th episode of Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz. I hope you’re enjoying the show. If you like the show, and you want to give me a really nice Christmas present, the only thing I have on my list is super cheap. All you have to do is open Spotify or Apple Podcasts, search for Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz, you might have to spell out fifteen, click the subscribe button.

    That’s it. No bow, no card. If you want to be extra special in Apple Podcasts, please consider giving me a five star review. Again, if you’re feeling nice. New episodes come out every Monday at midnight. Social channels are all at Fifteen With Fuzz. That’s spelled out. Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook all at Fifteen With Fuzz.

    Thank you again for listening, and we’ll talk to you next Monday, right here on Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz.

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