What to do in Madison this week: June 22-25, 2026

Larry Iles, Bleak Week and more Isthmus Picks

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Arts

  • Harry Whitehorse International Wood Sculpture Festival, through June 27, San Damiano, Monona: This biennial festival brings together 13 wood sculptors — a mix of Indigenous artists from the U.S. and artisans from overseas — to create new work on site, using both contemporary and traditional techniques. It honors the memory of Harry Whitehorse, the late Ho-Chunk sculptor from Monona. Artists can be seen at work from 9 a.m.-noon and 1-5 p.m. daily from June 20-26. The schedule also features cultural arts demonstrations, and a concert by Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials (back on the road with Slideways, their first album in 10 years) and Reverend Raven & the Chain Smokin’ Altar Boys featuring Westside Andy (5 p.m. June 25). The closing ceremony is at 2 p.m. June 27. Find more info at harrywhitehorse.com.
  • Madison Jazz Festival, through June 27, various venues: The annual Madison Jazz Festival presents a moving feast of creative music delights spanning locations from Middleton to the near east side of Madison. The fest, coordinated by Arts + Literature Laboratory and the Wisconsin Union Theater, just about always presents a headliner of the moment; this year it’s an ensemble led by drummer-composer Nate Smith, who just picked up a pair of Grammys this spring for the album LIVE-ACTION. Smith plays June 26, the first of two fest-closing days of free music at the UW Memorial Union Terrace (trombonist Wycliffe Gordon headlines June 27). Ticketed concerts still to come include Mathis Picard (June 23, ALL) and a Miles Davis tribute by the Richard Johnson Quartet (June 24, North Street Cabaret), joining other free concerts around town. Find the schedule at artlitlab.org.
  • Larry Iles, Tuesday, June 23, Fabiola’s, 5 p.m.: This event from Leopold's Books Bar Caffe highlights a new memoir from Larry Iles, Impermanence: One Man’s 879-Mile Journey on Japan’s Shikoku Eighty-Eight-Temple Pilgrimage. The Madison-based writer and sports photographer writes that “I did not set out to write a book. I set out to walk.” The Shikoku pilgrimage called to him and he launched into a 46-day walk along this “ancient spiritual route.” Iles will read from and discuss the book and travel writing, among other topics.
  • Courtney Ann LaFaive, Tuesday, June 23, A Room of One’s Own, 6 p.m.: Courtney Ann LaFaive, who grew up in the Eau Claire area, discovered the works of astrologer Linda Goodman in her local public library as a teen. Her interest in the pioneering pop star reader eventually turned into her own doctoral dissertation and ultimately the new book Follow the Signs: Searching for Linda Goodman, America’s Forgotten Astrology Queen, which is part biography, part memoir and part literary adventure. The book recently got a lengthy positive review in The New Yorker. LaFaive will be joined in conversation by author Candice Wuehle, whose novel Ultranatural was also recently published with the University of Iowa Press. Read Kat Hans' interview with LaFaive here.
  • Gelsy Verna, through Sept. 27, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art: This exhibition at MMoCA focuses on one work (and a recent museum acquisition): Gelsy Verna’s “Mother, Father, Please Help Me.” It’s a mixed media drawing using elements of collage that creates a visual example of considering more than one side of a subject — literally. The art work is two-sided, and MMoCA has created a reproduction of the reverse side for this exhibition. Verna’s multi-layered work invites the viewer to slow down and think about familiar cultural icons. You don’t need to “get it” immediately — that’s not really the point.
  • Adam Greuel & the Space Burritos, Tuesday, June 23, Olbrich Gardens, 7 p.m.: Since the emergence of Horseshoes & Hand Grenades in the early 2010s, guitarist-singer Adam Greuel has been a mainstay in the Wisconsin Americana scene, with that quintet and a variety of other collaborators including Charlie Berens and roots supergroup The High Hawks. Another project that periodically surfaces for some rock ‘n roll fun is the Space Burritos, who play original songs and also put their own stamp on vintage cover material. They’re kicking off this summer’s Olbrich After Hours series, which continues Tuesdays through Aug. 11. Find tickets and the schedule at olbrich.org.
  • Kate Laack, Wednesday, June 24, Mystery to Me, 6 p.m.: It’s among a novelist’s worst nightmares: Someone somehow obtains your manuscript and publishes it as their own. That’s the premise of By Any Other Name, the compulsively readable third novel from Kate Laack, a UW-La Crosse alum who now lives in Pine Island, Minnesota. Stalled writer Jordan Marlowe begins reading a book she found at an airport newsstand and believes it’s the same story she wrote, revised and workshopped for years under a similar title before abandoning the unpublished manuscript. To track down and unmask the imposter author, Jordan must risk her relationships, her career and her self-confidence. This is a free event, but RSVPs are encouraged. It also will be livestreamed via Crowdcast. Find links at mysterytomebooks.com.
  • Bleak Week: Cinema of Despair, June 24-30, UW Cinematheque: Hark ye, all who enter here, and despair over the state of the world…as seen through the eyes of film auteurs, anyway. UW Cinematheque kicks off its summer season dressed in black (presumably), as in partnership with the American Cinematheque in Los Angeles they present an installment of Bleak Week. Among nine films are stories of nuclear holocaust (Miracle Mile, June 24), mysterious murders (the Madison premiere of Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Chime and his classic Cure, both June 26), and infidelity (Le Bonheur, June 28). Misery in 35mm never looked so good. Read Grant Phipps' preview here. Find the full schedule at cinema.wisc.edu; the regular summer schedule kicks off July 1.
  • Town & Country Days, June 25-28, Lake Mills: American Legion Post 67 in Lake Mills may be best known for its hamburger stand, basically a service window right in the village square across from the park, from May to October. It serves hamburgers it calls sliders, and a highlight of this Post 67-sponsored fest is plenty of sliders hot off the griddle. In addition, there are rides, the requisite beer tent with live music (bookended by evocatively named classic rock cover band Altar Boy Picnic on Thursday and bluesy Tall Paul & the Naughty Cats on Sunday), and a parade along Main Street at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday. It’s a small town summer fest in one of our most charming small towns.
  • Overture Center summer exhibitions, through Aug. 30, Overture; reception June 25, 5:30-8:30 p.m.: It’s summer at Overture and the galleries are packed with new art. In Gallery I, Fatemeh Fani and R-Lo offer “Echoes Between Us,” a look in varied media at what often goes unnoticed. In Gallery II, “Natural Bodies,” a themed show from Blue Naga and Ciel Skål examines the boundaries between the human body and the natural world. In Gallery III Nika McKagen and Chele Ramos also embrace the unseen and unexplored. In the Playhouse Gallery (through Aug. 23), the Mexican Folk Art Collective offers “Corazona: Art and Heritage of Mexican Women.” All shows should prompt interior reflection on all things seen and unseen. The reception from 5:30-8:30 p.m. on June 25 features artist talks at 6 p.m. on the Rotunda Stage.
  • Mel Bryant & the Mercy Makers, Thursday, June 25, High Noon Saloon, 8 p.m.: Nashville has long been home to a varied and robust DIY scene alongside the country music industry. Mel Bryant & the Mercy Makers are a good example; the trio rocks hard on their latest album, Every God Forsaken Morning, showing a knack for a pop hook buoyed by crunchy guitars, relatable story songs, and a bit of righteous anger at the state of the world. They’re on tour with singer-songwriter June Henry, and the Madison show also features pop heroes Kat and the Hurricane. Tickets at ticketmaster.com.

Find the individual Picks collected here, and as part of the full calendar of events.

Editor's note: This post has been updated to correct and ending date for the Playhouse Gallery exhibition at Overture.