To the untrained eye, the topographical drama of southwestern Wisconsin can feel out of step with the rest of the Midwest. Steep ridges, bucolic hills and rivers that twist around limestone bluffs.
This is the Driftless: a 7,000-square-mile patch left untouched by the last Ice Age. While glaciers flattened much of the region, this particular corner has held its shape. The result is a rolling landscape that looks more like Appalachia than American heartland.
The second leg of WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times’ summer art road trip series (find our first trip to Milwaukee here) follows the land the ice forgot, where lakefront crowds give way to creative corners shaped by the terrain.
Madison: A capital city where art and history converge
Tucked between lakes and low-slung hills, Madison blends university energy with a steady rhythm of visual and performing arts. Downtown, the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art hosts the Wisconsin Triennial through Sept. 14, a survey of 24 artists from across the state…