Episode 28

Light the Hoan w/ Ian Abston and Michael Hostad

Published on: 11th August, 2020

This week, the gang welcomes Ian Abston and Michael Hostad, co-founders of Light the Hoan to chat about the history of the efforts to light the Hoan Bridge, their work and recent success to start work on lighting the bridge, and the challenges and opportunities that our city faces in getting big, new, innovative projects off the ground.

Listener mail bag (1:00), Summer of the comeback (2:40), Host story time: Experiences with Public Art (6:42), Audio transition: "Green Eggs and Ham" by Wes Tank (13:58), Guest intros and Ian dares David to "do good banter" (14:10), The origins of the Light the Hoan project (15:59), @ESPN showed an old skyline of Milwaukee last weekend on a nationally televised Bucks game and Milwaukee's underdog mentality (19:58), Over modesty and barriers in Milwaukee; Ian misquotes Roosevelt; David corrects Ian but misattributes the quote to Churchill because apparently, like all good art, the quote is made up, but the sentiment stands and we support the point of #ImaginaryChurchill (26:30), The economic impact of lighting the Hoan bridge (29:17), When will we begin seeing lights? (31:44), How this project connects to Milwaukee and the community at-large (32:28), How people can buy a bulb (37:42), Michael and Ian's reigns as Arts and Culture Czar (40:25), Michael and Ian's reigns as Arts and Culture Czar cause technical difficulties on Mac's mic making him sound like a drunk frat bro (44:17) Plugs (50:01), Following up with Wes Tank (53:42), Post Outro Easter Egg (56:28).

Learn more and buy a bulb: Light the Hoan

Ian Abston: Facebook and LinkedIn

Michael Hostad: LinkedIn and Twitter

Audio Transitions: "Green Eggs and Ham" Wes Tank / Wes Tank Story Raps on Kidoodle.TV

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Creative MKE
Milwaukee is an arts hub. The city's creatives, entrepreneuers, arts and culture organizations, and businesses are part of an interconnected creative economy that is fueling growth and community wellbeing in powerful ways.
Join Elisabeth Gasparka for this conversation show from Imagine MKE, where we hear from creative leaders in Milwaukee and beyond, to highlight all the incredible transformative power of their work in our region. We hope that after listening to the pod you’ll be able to imagine Milwaukee's arts and culture ecosystem—and all the awesome artists, organizations and creative assets within it, in a new way.
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