2/16/2021
My Dear Friend & POTUS, JRB,
You are off to WI, the Ambrose family stomping grounds, today. Yeah! My ancestors started a mill in Whitewater in 1839. My grandma was the first woman to serve as a Walworth County Supervisors & a bypass of US Hwy 12 is named after my uncle Stephen, known as “Chup” in our family. Our cabin in Dunbar is one of my favorite places on the planet, & one of my closest friends lives in Madison. I’m sure you’ll feel a lot of warmth there even though it’s only going to be 10 degrees today.
I understand you’ll be at the Pabst Theater. The folks of Milwaukee will be thrilled to see it’s open for business again. It’s too bad that you can’t spend a few minutes at the Milwaukee Art Museum during your visit. They’ve got 25 pieces by Georgia O’Keefe (GTO). Seeing her work might remind you to share the good news that the stimulus package includes $15 billion for museums and theaters & to emphasize the healing power of the arts.
As I contemplated that theme this morning, I listened to Marian Anderson sing “He’s got the whole world in his hands.” I learned about her last night on a PBS special which I commend to you. It chronicled her open-air concert at the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday, 1939, where the anxieties of 75,000 folks were calmed by her rendition of “My Country Tis of Thee.”
Allan Houser is another amazing artist that I just learned about this morning. You’ve got his sculpture, “The Swift Messenger” in your office. As you probably know, he used art to overcome the trauma his family’s 20-year incarceration as Prisoners of War. All of his art revered the customs of the Chiricahua Apache people & eschewed depictions of warriors. His sons carry on the family tradition in OK.
Speaking of the stimulus package, it’s too bad that it’s so hard to target people in need of stimulus checks. We are doing fine in our house but we’re slated to get another one. I’ll send some of it to an arts organization.
Send my love to the Badger State,
PBWY,
