MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee LGBT Community Center is celebrating Pride Fest’s 30th anniversary this weekend from a new home — and its executive director says the move feels like a homecoming.

The center relocated to its current space in February, situated near the intersection of First Street and Pittsburgh Avenue, across from the Bobblehead Museum and Collectivo coffee shop.

WATCH: MKE’s LGBT Community Center executive director calls move a homecoming

Milwaukee LGBT Community Center executive director calls move a homecoming as PrideFest kicks off

“We have been here since February. We are loving it. It’s been a welcome home for us. When the center first opened up back in 1998, we were actually on South 1st Street, and so it’s been a homecoming for us,” Executive Director Ritchie T. Martin, Jr. said.

The center provides a range of services to Milwaukee’s LGBTQ+ community, including behavioral health services, a food pantry, a gender-affirming clothing boutique, and Project Here — its oldest program — which serves young people between the ages of 13 and 24.

Martin, Jr. said the community’s support has been critical, especially as the center has faced federal funding losses over the past year.

Milwaukee LGBT Community Center

“The community has grown. The center has grown. We’ve gone through our ups and downs like any other nonprofit across the country, but the community’s really showing up for us, especially over the last year as we face federal funding loss. It has been really, really unique the way the community shows up,” Martin, Jr. said.

Martin, Jr. emphasized that every form of support makes a difference.

“Volunteering, you know, there’s actually no little bit that can help. Every little bit that a person can do, whether it’s volunteering, whether it’s clothing donations, whether it’s giving monetary donations, every little bit helps in these times,” Martin, Jr. said.

Milwaukee LGBT Community Center

He said the need for centers like this one remains as important as ever.

“Very much so important. We show up each and every day living through our mission, providing services to a marginalized vulnerable community, and the people need these services. We’ve seen the growth in the services that are needed and so it’s important that we continue to show up, the community shows up, and we’re all here for each other,” Martin, Jr. said.

PrideFest’s 30th anniversary celebration continues this weekend in Milwaukee.

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Prince fans will paint Minneapolis purple this weekend as concerts, block parties and a new museum opening celebrate his musical legacy and what would have been his 68th birthday Sunday. 

In St. Paul, roller skaters will head to Rice Park for a weekly disco night, while a new exhibit at Indigenous Roots showcases work by Black and Indigenous artists. In Maplewood, food trucks will roll into the Asian Street Food Night Market. 

A weekend tribute to Prince

Fans will have multiple opportunities to celebrate Prince across Minneapolis this weekend. A concert at the Armory will bring together members of his backing bands alongside performers Morris Day, Miguel, Bilal and more. 

Saturday’s events include a block party and sing-along at the downtown Prince mural, followed by late-night gatherings at Union Rooftop and First Avenue. On Sunday, fans can take part in a Lake Minnetonka tribute cruise. 

This weekend also marks the grand opening of the People’s Museum for Prince at Roberts Gallery in north Minneapolis. The museum’s “Let’s Work! A Labor of Love” exhibit at the Capri features artwork created by community members inspired by Prince’s life and music. 

Artists reflect on humanity’s ties to nature

A new exhibit at Indigenous Roots brings together Black and brown artists from the Twin Cities to explore the natural world as a source of guidance. 

“Force of Nature” is the curatorial debut of Afro-Indigenous artist Dizi Lawrence. The show features more than 25 works that examine humanity’s complex relationships with land, water, wildlife and plant life. 

“Nature itself, and the Earth are teachers,” Lawrence said. “In this time in particular — from a social and political lens — we have so many questions of how to solve certain problems or how to move through certain tragedies. The Earth holds a lot of the answers that we seek.”

The concept for the exhibit grew after Lawrence participated in “Where the Seed Remembers,” a group show at the Minnesota Arboretum. 

The exhibit includes a range of media, from collage work by Pau Perez to three-dimensional pieces by Jaali Griffin, along with large-scale paintings by Maiya Lea Hartman and Linnea Kingbird-Martini. 

Lawrence will also present 11 of her own paintings, shaped by her interest in Indigenous ways of living and Christian creation stories, including Genesis, Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden. 

Indigenous communities “have origin stories that completely encapsulate a reciprocal relationship to nature,” she said. “I would like people to come away from [“Force of Nature”] examining their own relationship to nature and honoring all the ways that it provides for us.” 

The opening reception on Saturday will feature poetry readings from Kira Bunkholt and Isavela Lopez; live music from Jada Lynn and Brandyn Lee Tulloch; and a performance by the Mexica Aztec dance group Kalpulli Yaocenoxtli. Plant-based meals will be catered by Heal Minneapolis. 

Skating and disco at Rice Park

An annual roller-skating series, “Roller Disco,” returns this Friday with free skate rentals, music by DJ Presto, line dancing led by Coach Rahn Oz and food trucks. Twin Cities Skaters also plan to introduce themed skating nights later in the summer. 

Three days of street food, music and dance

The Asian Street Food Night Market returns to the Pan Asian Center in Maplewood for a three-day festival.

The weekend will feature a talent show, lion dances, a beer garden, and music and dance performances. More than 35 food vendors will serve Thai dishes, sushi, egg rolls, Korean corn dogs and more. 

Farm Aid: Historic Farm Aid concerts through the years

Concert tickets, rather notoriously, aren’t cheap these days. Luckily, central Indiana has plenty of live entertainment to offer that won’t drain your bank account.

Summer means free concert season, and there are ample opportunities to catch plenty of shows no matter your preferred genre. Rock, pop, jazz, classical, international music and tribute bands galore are set for local stages all season.

Pull up a lawn chair or grab a picnic blanket for more than 100 free concerts in Indianapolis, Fishers, Noblesville, Carmel, Greenwood, Plainfield, Mooresville, Kokomo, Rushville and more.

Festival and one-off show dates

• June 20: Bloombox Festival, with bands, vendors and artists creating original works. Harrison Center, 1505 N. Delaware St. harrisoncenter.org/bloombox
• July 3-4: CarmelFest, with a parade and festival that includes two days of live concerts. In and around Carter Green and Civic Square in Carmel. carmelfest.net/event-schedule
• June 18-20: Haynes Apperson Festival, with acts including Kool & The Gang and Foghat. Foster Park, 721 W. Superior St. in Kokomo. haynesappersonfestival.org
• July 14-15: Symphony in the Parks, with Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra at Ellenberger Park on July 14, 5301 E. St. Clair St and at Garfield Park on July 15, 2345 Pagoda Drive. tinyurl.com/437kfpr6
• Aug. 27 and 28: Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra at Taggart Memorial Amphitheater at Riverside Regional Park on Aug. 27, 1856 Burdsal Pkwy. At Holliday Park on Aug. 28, 6363 Spring Mill Road. Register for tickets: icomusic.org/shows
• Sept. 11: Opera in the Park, with Indianapolis Opera and guests, honoring the 25th anniversary of 9/11 and the 250th anniversary of the U.S. At MacAllister Amphitheater at Garfield Park, 2345 Pagoda Drive.
• Sept. 26: Garfield Park Art + Music Festival, with live music, food and more. MacAllister Amphitheater at Garfield Park, 2345 Pagoda Drive.