Madison, Wisconsin

Madison is the capital of Wisconsin, a state in the United States of America. As of the 2000 census, it has a population of 208,054, making it the second largest city in Wisconsin. It is the county seat of Dane County. Madison is also home to the University of Wisconsin.

Culture

In 1996 Money magazine identified Madison as the best place to live in the United States. It has consistently ranked near the top of the best-places list in subsequent years, with the city's low unemployment rate a major contributor. Madison has constantly been rated one of the top 10 best cities to live in, almost every year.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The main downtown thoroughfare is State Street, which links the University of Wisconsin campus with the State Capitol square, and is lined with restaurants, espresso cafes, and shops. Only pedestrians, buses, police and bikes are allowed on State Street (though it was originally an ordinary commercial street), which is an east-west street in contrast to the diagonal streets of the Isthmus and Capitol Square. Continuing on the other side of Capitol Square is King Street, which is now developing along the lines that State Street has, but with less of a student character, and more appeal to the growing young white-collar high-tech population in Madison (whose residents jokingly refer to the post-graduate crowd). Thus King Street has more upper-end restaurants and cafes than are found on the more student-budget State Street.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the summer time, on Saturday mornings, the Dane County Farmers' Market ? the largest farmers' market in the nation ? is held around the Capitol Square. On Wednesday evenings on the same square in summer, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra performs free concerts to people picnicking on the Capitol's lawn. The Independence Day celebration, called Rhythm and Booms, includes musical performance by the Madison Symphony Orchestra and fireworks set off over Lake Mendota and Warner Park, claimed as the largest fireworks display in the Midwest. The Great Taste of the Midwest http://mhtg.org craft beer festival, the second longest running such event in North America, is the second Saturday in August and the highly coveted tickets sell out within a few hours when they go on sale in May.

Related Topics:
Independence Day - Rhythm and Booms - Lake Mendota - Warner Park

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Madison is host to Rhythm and Boomshttp://www.rhythmandbooms.com, a massive fireworks celebration (coordinated to music) that begins with a fly-over by several F14s from the local Wisconsin Air National Guard that break the sound barrier over the city (the only time that this is allowed). This celebration is larger than the one put on by Disney, and is the largest fireworks display in the Midwest.

Related Topics:
Rhythm and Booms - Wisconsin Air National Guard - Disney

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

During the winter months, Madison hosts Kites on Icehttp://www.madisonfestivals.com/kites/index.html, a gathering of kite-flying enthusiasts on the ice of local Lake Monona near the state capitol.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 2004 Madison was named the healthiest city in America by Men's Journal magazine. Many major streets in Madison have designated bike lanes and the city has one of the most extensive bike trail systems in the nation. Due to this, Madison has a very active cyclist culture and it is common place to see groups of friends bicycling together throughout the city on nice days. Bicycle tourism is an $800 million industry in Wisconsin, which has 20 percent of the nation's bicycling industry manufacturing capacity. http://www.bfw.org/new_bfw/projects/Final_Bicycle_Economic.pdf

Related Topics:
2004 - Men's Journal

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Madison was named the least photographic city in the United States by Photography Magazine, but the reason for this is unclear. This is especially unusual given the number of other, more positive awards given to the city, as well as being host to such architectural landmarks as the state capitol building and numerous Frank Lloyd Wright buildings.

Related Topics:
Photography Magazine - Frank Lloyd Wright

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Music

Madison's vibrant music scene covers a wide spectrum of living musical culture, from opera to pub rock bands, techno to Balkan mountain singing. One example is Madison's long-standing Irish traditional music scene, which boasts five regular pub sessions, a number of local bands, and a palette of adult-education classes.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps has provided youth aged 16-22 opportunities to perform across North America every summer since 1938. The corps is hailed world-wide for its energetic and entertaining shows. Further, the University of Wisconsin Marching Band http://www.badgerband.com/ is one of the most popular marching bands in the nation, with an extensive and eclectic repertoire.

Related Topics:
Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps - 1938 - University of Wisconsin

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Garbage is the city's most recognized contemporary contribution to popular music. The pop-rock band has been based out of Madison since formation in 1994 by producer-musician Butch Vig of Viroqua. Vig is well known for producing albums for such highly-regarded bands as The Smashing Pumpkins and Nirvana (their song Polly from Nevermind was recorded at Vig's Smart Studios).

Related Topics:
Garbage - 1994 - Butch Vig - Viroqua - The Smashing Pumpkins - Nirvana - Nevermind

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Art

Museums include the University of Wisconsin's Chazen Museum of Arthttp://chazen.wisc.edu/ (formerly the Elvehjem Museumhttp://chazen.wisc.edu/News/index.html), the Wisconsin Historical Museumhttp://www.wisconsinhistory.org/museum/ (run by the Wisconsin State Historical Society), the Wisconsin Veteran's Museumhttp://www.madison.com/communities/whm/, the Madison Children's Museumhttp://www.madisonchildrensmuseum.com/index.php, and the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. Madison is also the home of many independent art studios and galleries. It hosts the annual Art Fair on the Square, a juried exhibition, and the complementary Art Fair Off the Square.

Related Topics:
Chazen Museum of Art - Elvehjem Museum - Wisconsin Historical Museum - Wisconsin State Historical Society - Wisconsin Veteran's Museum - Madison Children's Museum - Madison Museum of Contemporary Art - Art Fair on the Square

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Performing Arts

Madison Repertory Theatre, a resident professional company of the Overture Center for the Arts, presents an annual season of professional theater. Madison Ballet and Madison Opera are also resident companies of the center. The city is home to a number of smaller performing arts organizations, including a group of theater companies that present in the Bartell Theatre, a former movie palace that has been renovated into live theater spaces.

Related Topics:
Madison Repertory Theatre - Madison Ballet - Madison Opera - Bartell Theatre

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Several films have been at least partially made in Madison. One of the most notable was the documentary The War at Home. Another movie that made extensive use of the city as a backdrop was the 1986 movie Back to School starring Rodney Dangerfield. Bascom Hill is used extensively, as is the University Bookstore.

Related Topics:
The War at Home - Back to School - Rodney Dangerfield

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Madison is also home to one of the largest film archives at the Wisconsin State Historical Society.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Architecture

The Wisconsin State Capitol is the jewel of the Madison skyline, and can be seen throughout Madison and the surrounding areas, due to a city ordinance that limits the heights of surrounding buildings. Because of its location directly at the core of the city, the Capitol blends into everyday pedestrian traffic and commerce, and the Capitol grounds are a convenient shortcut during the harsh winter months.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Monona Terrace, based on a design by Frank Lloyd Wright, is a meeting and convention center overlooking Lake Monona. Wright, who spent much of his childhood in Madison and studied briefly at the University, also designed other buildings in Madison, including the Unitarian Meeting House on the city's West Side. One of the most famous buildings on the University campus is Bascom Hall which sits atop a high hill overlooking Lake Mendota, with a vista looking down State Street towards the Capitol building.

Related Topics:
Monona Terrace - Frank Lloyd Wright

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Overture Center for the Arts, designed by Argentina-born architect César Pelli, also stands on State Street near the Capitol. Nearing completion in the summer of 2005, the center has already begun presenting shows and concerts in its Overture Hall. The center will have two concert-hall theaters and several smaller performance spaces, one the home of the city's professional theater troupe, the Madison Repertory Theatre. It will also house the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. The style, unlike Pelli's Petronas Towers, leans toward sleek modernism, with simple expanses of glass framed by stone that are intended to complement the historic building facades preserved as part of the building's State Street exposure.

Related Topics:
Overture Center for the Arts - Argentina - César Pelli - Madison Repertory Theatre - Madison Museum of Contemporary Art - Petronas Towers - Modernism

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The density of the UW campus has led to the construction of an increasing number of high-rise 8 to 10 story buildings housing dormitories and commercial office space. A recent proposal, Archipelago Village, has designed a massive downtown redevelopment of a 27 story condominium block, violating the longstanding policy against topping the Capitol. On the UW campus proposals have been made to demolish several buildings erected in the 1960s because of their brutalist architecture.

Related Topics:
High-rise - Archipelago Village - Condominium - Brutalist architecture

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Broadcast Programs

Widely heard public radio programs that originate in Madison include Michael Feldman's Whad'Ya Know?, To the Best of Our Knowledge, and Calling All Pets.

Related Topics:
Michael Feldman's Whad'Ya Know? - To the Best of Our Knowledge - Calling All Pets

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~