Piggly Wiggly and John Michael Kohler Arts Center Team Up to Provide An Arts Festival That Covers Multiple Mediums

SHEBOYGAN, WI (July 16, 2002) - The 2002 John Michael Kohler Arts Center (JMKAC) Outdoor Arts Festival, Saturday, July 20 and Sunday, July 21, is a weekend of sensory delights from visual to performing artists, and culinary treasures as well.

This year the Festival will be jamming with local and national musical performers. Sponsored by Fresh Brands/Piggly Wiggly supermarkets, the Arts Festival is featuring national acts Kasim Sulton and Pat McCurdy and international jazz performer Johan Stengård.

"We've been involved with the Arts Festival for eight years," said Michael Houser, Fresh Brands, Inc., vice chairman and executive vice president/chief marketing officer. "This year we have worked with the Arts Center to expand the musical offerings, providing a free event the whole family will enjoy." And new to the entertainment lineup this year are performances by area "garage" bands. Famous rock musicians began with a drum set, guitar and yard-sale amplifier in a garage -- an image which Frank Zappa painted in his song, "Joe's Garage." This year, at JMKAC's Outdoor Arts Festival, the best high school garage bands in Sheboygan County are featured. Admission is free; snacks and soda are available for purchase. In case of rain, performances will be moved indoors to the Matrix. The garage bands will be performing Saturday, July 20 and Sunday, July 21 from 10-11:30 a.m.

On Saturday, at 12 p.m., will be an acoustic performance by singer-songwriter Kasim Sulton. Sulton is stepping into the spotlight with a new CD, Quid Pro Quo, and solo tour of select U.S. cities beginning in September. A highly coveted sideman, Sulton is recognized and respected the world over for his work with other artists, including Todd Rundgren and Utopia, Meat Loaf, Joan Jett, Hall & Oates, Patti Smith, Patty Smyth, Mick Jagger and Celine Dion to name just a few. His level of involvement has ranged from playing bass, keyboards and guitar, to adding vocal harmonies, singing lead, and contributing as a songwriter, to producing entire albums, as he did with the Meat Loaf VH-1 Storytellers CD, released in 2000. There isn't much he hasn't done.

Sulton has performed with such groups as the progressive rock band, Utopia, which produced more than nine releases between 1977 and 1986. On the 1980 pop release "Aventures in Utopia," he wrote and sang the band's only top 30 hit. "Set me Free." As one of the most in-demand players in the business, Sulton will still answer the call when asked to perform with other artists; so don't be surprised to see him onstage from time to time with Meat Loaf, Tommy James & the Shondells, or any other artist lucky enough to enlist his talents to enrich their performances. But after years of playing with others, Kasim Sulton is finally giving his own music the center stage it truly deserves.

Following Sulton, at 2:45 p.m., is area favorite Pat McCurdy. With his acoustic guitar and offbeat sense of humor, McCurdy is a fixture on the Milwaukee music scene and is a favorite in Sheboygan. The singer-songwriter blends jokes and melodies, encouraging his fans to sing along. McCurdy plays across the region from Chicago to Minneapolis, and is a staple at Summerfest. A musician sine 1978, McCurdy has played with his bands Yipes!, Pat McCurdy and the Men About Town, and The Confidential. He has been performing his comic-troubadour routine since 1988.

Following the garage bands with two performances on Sunday (12 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.) will be a jazz performance by Johan Stengård, who is making Sheboygan one of the stops on his 11th U.S. tour. Born in Stockholm, Sweden, Stengård is regarded as one of the premiere saxophonists of Sweden, but swings like an American when playing jazz standards and popular music. He has produced 10 solo albums and performed on more then 400 recordings with noted artists such as Michael Bolton, Diana Ross, ABBA, Sammy Davis Jr., and Lena Horne. He has earned a world-class reputation for turning "Somewhere over the Rainbow" into a smoldering salute to the yellow brick road and leaving his audiences breathless after he plays "Amazing Grace."

Stengård began playing at the age of eight and studied to become a symphony player until he was 22. Since that time he has appeared on hundreds of television shows as an orchestra musician as well as a solo artist. He is the only saxophonist in Scandinavia to be sponsored by the world-famous Original Selmer saxophone manufacturing company. His performances entail a mix of pop favorites, jazz standard sand original compositions played using both the tenor and alto saxophones. A factor that sets Stengård apart from other musicians is the manner in which he integrates stories about his history and world travels between songs. This makes Johan a warm and charming, yet riveting, performer.

Performance Lineup
Saturday, July 20
10:00 a.m. Mojo
10:30 a.m. Sidewall
11:00 a.m. Waterlounge
12 p.m. Kasim Sulton
2:45 p.m. Pat McCurdy

Sunday, July 21
10:00 a.m. Amalgam
10:30 a.m. The Hotlunch Monkeys
11:00 a.m. Bowser
12 p.m. Johan Stengård
2 p.m. Johan Stengård

John Michael Kohler Arts Center: A 35-year-old, nationally acclaimed visual and performing arts complex in downtown Sheboygan, JMKAC is devoted to innovative explorations in contemporary American art. Its exhibitions focus on a wide range of art forms, with particular emphasis on sculpture, photography, crafts, new genres, installation art, ongoing folk traditions, and the work of self-taught artists. The performing arts emphasize dance, music, and theatre performances from around the world. Programming also includes a renowned Arts/Industry residency program, classes, special events, etc. With the completion of its expansion, the new 100,000-square-foot Arts Center comprises ten galleries, an intimate theatre, a flexible interdisciplinary performance space, studio-classrooms, meeting spaces, Flying Colors shop, and Carriage House Café. The Arts Center also has two adjunct sites: Artspace, an exhibition space and shop in the Shops at Woodlake in Kohler Village, and Artspace II, a shop at the new Eisner Museum of Advertising and Design on the corner of North Water and Chicago Streets in the Historic Third Ward district of Milwaukee. Call 920-458-6144 for additional information, or visit the Arts Center's Website, www.jmkac.org.

CONTACT:
Kristine Kath
John Michael Kohler Arts Festival
Kkath@jmkac.org
920-458-6144