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THE GREAT WISCONSIN QUILT SHOW
Create. Learn. Celebrate.
Presented by PBS Wisconsin and Nancy Zieman Productions for 21 years and counting.
The Great Wisconsin Quilt Show is an exciting three-day event that celebrates the art of quilting. Guests can explore exhibits of artful and stunning quilts, shop the latest offerings from vendors across a 100,000-square-foot vendor mall, and discover new ideas from leading quilt educators in nearly 200 educational sessions.
The 21st-annual show drew more than 18,200 attendees and featured more than 650 quilts, including the special Marquetta B. Johnson Legacy Exhibit — honoring the beloved textile artist, National Black Arts Movement participant, and longtime Great Wisconsin Quilt Show teaching artist. New in 2025, a Quilted Fashion Challenge showcased participants' original wearable creations in a runway show on the Presentation Stage. Through the annual Quilt to Give service project, participants donated more than 100 quilts to support refugee children and families resettling across Wisconsin.
Two attendees pose together holding the 2025 Event Guide in front of the Great Wisconsin Quilt Show step-and-repeat backdrop. (Source: PBS Wisconsin)
The quilt exhibits were top notch, as were the lectures I attended. The exhibition hall was easy to navigate and the map in the program was super helpful. I think my favorite part was being around so many people who shared the same passion and chatting with them about the show.
Guest2025 Great Wisconsin Quilt Show guest
PBS WISCONSIN GARDEN & GREEN LIVING EXPO
Cultivating a love of gardening
One big garden lover and one little garden enthusiast enjoying a booth at the 2025 Garden & Green Living Expo. (Source: PBS Wisconsin)
The 2025 Expo welcomed nearly 13,000 attendees and featured headline guests including Hilton Carter, host of PBS's Living Wild: Plant-spiration with Hilton Carter, nationally known gardening expert Melinda Myers, Around the Farm Table host Inga Witscher, and foraging authority Samuel Thayer. Wisconsin Public Radio's Garden Talk with Larry Meiller broadcast live from the show floor, and families enjoyed PBS KIDS Backyard with Daniel Tiger and Stu from Lyla in the Loop.
AMERICA@250
Engaging Wisconsin communities in conversations about history, democracy and civic life
In advance of America's 250th anniversary, PBS Wisconsin and WPR launched the America@250 initiative (A@250) — bringing communities across the state into meaningful conversations about history, democracy, and what it means to be an American today.
With support from WETA, A@250 features national PBS programming including THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, a six-part documentary directed by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein, and David Schmidt. The initiative also includes locally produced PBS Wisconsin educational resources and a statewide educator institute supported by PBS LearningMedia. The initiative launched with a community screening of THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION at the historic Al. Ringling Theatre in Baraboo, drawing more than 325 participants, and the announcement of 25 mini-grants for A@250 Community Conversations to be activated through locally led events across Wisconsin in 2026.
A crowd attends THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION screening event at the AL. Ringling Theatre in Baraboo.(Source: PBS Wisconsin)
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Celebrating Black culture, music and history through the power of funk
Interviewing an attendee at the screening event of the Independent Lens film We Want the Funk! (Source: PBS Wisconsin)
Supported by ITVS, PBS Wisconsin transformed a preview screening of the Independent Lens film WE WANT THE FUNK! into a vibrant community celebration at The Cardinal Bar in Madison. The free event brought together local artists, dancers, and music lovers for a funk-inspired dance party led by Madison DJ Phil Money.
Through partnerships with local artists and a companion social media campaign, the event engaged new audiences and reinforced public media's role as a welcoming cultural convener — connecting the history of funk music to Madison's own rich musical legacy, including its ties to James Brown's former drummer, Clyde Stubblefield.
LATINX HISTORY SERIES
Sharing the diverse histories of Latinx families across Wisconsin
PBS Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Latinx History Collective partnered to share the diverse histories of two Latinx families across the state in a new digital video series. Supported by Latino Public Broadcasting and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the series earned more than 100,000 impressions across social media platforms.
The series features the Sánchez family of the Milwaukee region — whose patriarch Javier was a celebrated charro — and the Gonzalez family of Weyauwega, members of the Kichwa Saraguro community who own a dairy farm in Wisconsin. Together, their stories of migration, tradition, community leadership, and cultural identity invite audiences to see Wisconsin history in a broader, more inclusive light.
A collage of contemporary portraits with vintage family snapshots, traditional regalia, and everyday scenes evoke the breadth of Latinx heritage and community in Wisconsin.
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