This week on the pod, we welcome Wendell Willis, Executive Director of the Milwaukee Public Schools Foundation – and, to Mac’s delight, fellow Northwestern alum. The crew talks about Wendell’s own artistic upbringing, his varied career in business and nonprofit work, and his vision for how the arts should be integrated into education and civic infrastructure. 

Mac, David, and Lindsay kick it off with a reflection on democratizing art through listening to a 1996 clip of Charlie Rose with Bowie (#rip) and Schnabel talking about the art of Basquiat (1:20), then visiting Jane Fonda’s Golden Globes acceptance speech (15:15). 

Wendell’s interview starts at 23:27: moving to Milwaukee, growing up with artistic family members, and graduating from Rufus King (24:15); going to Northwestern and studying arts and business (26:52); exploring careers in the business and nonprofit worlds (34:10); art as a tool to look at business problems differently (36:25); scaling up Ways to Work and building great teams (38:42); the role of arts and culture in public education (44:10); arts integration across subjects (49:40); changing the narrative of why the arts are important to our communities (54:40); civic pride in Milwaukee (59:00); Czar of Arts and Culture turn (1:02). 

And finally, we ask Wendell for some dish on Esteban – a Public Ally currently with Imagine MKE and formerly with MPS Foundation!

Follow Milwaukee Public Schools Foundation on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. 

Music Transitions: “Tennessee,” Capitol Drive 

E216 Ephemera 

David Bowie & Julian Schnabel on Charlie Rose 

Jane Fonda at the Golden Globes 

Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and Crypto Art 

Kings of Leon NFT Album  

NBA Top Shot