The Milwaukee Gold Rush

Added: 2026-05-16

[00:00:00]Hi everyone and welcome into another episode of Josh and Around Milwaukee. My name is Josh Albrecht and with me as always is >> Hey, it's Josh Albrecht.

[00:00:07]>> That's right, Josh Albrecht and Josh Albrecht and we are very excited to have on our guest, the man, the myth, the legend and contemporary artist Adam Himbach joining us today. Adam, thank you so much for being here. Thank you for having me. So Adam, really excited about uh some of the the projects that you're working on here in Milwaukee, but first let's kind of tell the audience as we often like to do, kind of introduce them to you, your story, how you got to Milwaukee and uh and why people should know you in Milwaukee. So, tell us your story of how you got here to Milwaukee.

[00:00:40]Yeah, I was uh born and raised in Delavan, Wisconsin, this once known as the circus capital of the nation. Still is, I think. Hey, I'm I'm carrying [laughter] that banner, for sure.

[00:00:54]Uh you know, a lot of razzle-dazzle there, but I've spent the last uh 15 years in New York City, um making a name for myself, Mr. Downtown, you know, man about town, internationally known contemporary artist, but I've recently come back to uh southeastern Wisconsin.

[00:01:14]Uh I went to school uh at UW-Milwaukee, so spent some formative years there. Uh yeah, and I moved back to last year and I'm excited to hit the ground running and see what the city has to offer me as a grown ass man.

[00:01:31]>> [laughter] >> So, tell us a little bit about like what the decision was though or or what made you go cuz you could have gone anywhere from from especially from New York. Why why home and not even necessarily home, but just to Milwaukee to explore this as the next chapter?

[00:01:47]Yeah, I could probably give you 20 reasons and they'd all be true, you know, but uh just the native homegrown like feel of this city, you know, it does have a lot of culture. It's you know, got just the right amount of people where you can really make some noise and stand in the spotlight opportunities, you know, um I haven't been here since I was like I said about 20, 21. I've gone to Summerfest every year. My family still lives in the area. Still have everyone around. So, it's kind of nice to kind of put my feet on the ground and see what wiggle room there is in Milwaukee. Yeah. Well, plen- plenty of opportunity to you know, to shake some things up, bring some of that um you know, international style that you've grown to be known for to to our city. And so, exciting to have your you know, your talents come and uh bring some some funky art, right? Yeah.

[00:02:45]Yeah, you know, the this the art world and the contemporary art world has kind of been focused in a few cities around the world. New York being one of them.

[00:02:56]And just recently, especially with the onslaught of social media and the way the internet works, it's really become decentralized and you can really make great art anywhere. And while I loved my time in the big city and I still have one foot firmly planted there, it's more about coming home and just community and feeling a little bit more grounded, you know.

[00:03:21]Yeah.

[00:03:21]>> Yeah, that's it. You know, >> Yeah. I love that. No, it's great. I mean, that's kind of what I mean, Milwaukee and Wisconsin's all about is that sort of hometown feel, uh being able to be grounded, and uh and but also be able to make your mark fairly easily. If you want to make your mark here, the city embraces it and is ready for it. So, that's got to be exciting for you to come back home and see the opportunity to be like, "Hey, I can I can really do something here. I I did it in New York City, but man, if I can do it there and play internationally, I can really do something really funky and creative in Milwaukee. 100%. I mean, I've been saying it for the last few years. Like New York City is great, but everyone's trying to shine bright. And everyone does shine bright, but if you take that mentality and you do have a little bit of glue about you, you can really stand out. And like I said, there is opportunity to make some noise. And that's what interests me as a contemporary artist.

[00:04:19]Using the tools of today to make the art of the day. And um and you can do that anywhere. And why not Milwaukee? Yeah. When you were in New York um uh for a while, you had a a pseudonym.

[00:04:34]What was that pseudonym? Yeah, I did uh did a performance project and I was called Hanksy. And it was a it was a satire character I was playing, but existed in real life. I really like to blend those worlds between like fabrication and and reality. And there's a lot of magic that happens in that, but it was a satire on the street art and graffiti culture, but what started out as a joke really kind of opened up this huge chapter of my life that ended up going for 7 8 years. And uh it was the beginning of the first wave of social media, and I rode that Nice.

[00:05:12]>> like a professional. And uh a lot of fun. Everything was very organic.

[00:05:17]But you know, there comes a point in everyone's life. It's like, do you want to be known as that? Or you can you do more? You know, don't put me in the corner and label me this. You know, I'm all about this.

[00:05:31]Yeah, yeah.

[00:05:32]Different opportunities.

[00:05:34]>> is the Hanksy pseudonym persona is that retired? Or do you still bring out Hanksy sometimes? I mean, sometimes.

[00:05:42]I don't know. I'm like I really >> get rid of it?

[00:05:45]>> I was wondering. Yeah. Well, I mean, it's Yeah, it's I kind of put it to bed. It was a chapter that I closed and moved on, but I really realized that career in the arts or any career doesn't always have to be linear. You know, you can dip back into these buckets here and there. Doesn't mean I won't revisit Hanksy, but cuz there was a while when I was trying to sweep it under the rug.

[00:06:10]Like, don't look over there. I'm this.

[00:06:13]Yeah. But, I've come to really embrace it, you know?

[00:06:17]Cuz it's made me who I am and gave me a really good foundation. Yeah. I don't know. Maybe maybe Mil- Milwaukee could get a get a little MKE Hanksy.

[00:06:25]Yeah.

[00:06:26]Little Cream City Hanksy. modified version or something completely Maybe something even better. You know, there's always There's always something new.

[00:06:33]>> a few things in store, which is why you're here talking with us today.

[00:06:38]Um and I'm really excited that Visit Milwaukee is able to to partner with you and our partners at Map King uh on a really fun promotion. That's why we That's why we've invited him to the studio specifically today. Some might even say, Josh, that it's a golden idea.

[00:06:50]Hey. Hey, that's my transition. I had that written down. We're going to get to that when we come back on Josh and around Milwaukee. Stay tuned.

[00:06:58]Welcome back, everyone, to Josh and around Milwaukee. We're having an awesome time with our guest today, contemporary artist Adam Heimbach. And Adam, you are doing an awesome partnership and a project with Visit Milwaukee, MKE Gold Rush. Tell me about this.

[00:07:14]Yeah, the Milwaukee Gold Rush. Um it's kind of an activation, a conceptual and performance project. It involves the public looking around Milwaukee for hidden sculptures that I've made that may or may not contain large amounts of money.

[00:07:33]And uh it's about getting people off their couch, off their phone, and feet on the ground.

[00:07:39]Yeah. Yeah, quite a bit of a artistic scavenger hunt Uh adventure, right? Get out there, all ages, which is great. Get out there, bring the fam if you want.

[00:07:53]A great way to explore the city.

[00:07:55]And what we what we love about this with Visit Milwaukee is it's also tied in with our partners at Map King. So our our Map King software allows people to explore the city super easily with an interactive map.

[00:08:08]And there's clues. You got to get the get some of these clues. You can't just like wander out into the city, which maybe you'll stumble upon one.

[00:08:15]But there's clues within our digital map with Map King to help you find these cheese sculptures. And maybe, like you said, a little cash inside. So we encourage people to go to our website visitmilwaukee.org, get onto our Map King digital map, and start to explore the city for the gold rush. Now, the the one of the things I love about the the sculpture is that it is cheese.

[00:08:44]And Wisconsin and Milwaukee, we are known for our cheese. We we are fans of cheese. So tell us a little bit about how you came to decide on the cheese.

[00:08:54]Cheese the cheese it's what Wisconsin's famous for, you know? Um get that cheddar. All about getting that cheese, baby.

[00:09:02]>> Yeah, I love that. Yeah, I'm typically known for my painting and my performance projects, very viral-worthy performances, very expensive paintings.

[00:09:12]But this is my first like venture into sculpture. And the interesting thing that really intrigues me about this is that um they are pieces of art, you know? And I and I haven't made sculptures before. So these realistic uh sculptures of a big block of cheddar.

[00:09:30]And uh you know, the public, once they find it, they can either keep the sculpture and treasure it as a piece of art by Adam Heimback or they can take the risk and break it open and see if there's money inside. And there might be a large amount, there might be a small amount, there might be no amount.

[00:09:52]>> Yeah. Um but I like that conversation as as an artist, as a conceptual project, it really interests me. You know, do you destroy the art making it worthless for the chance of an easy payoff?

[00:10:06]What do you do? What do you do, Josh?

[00:10:07]>> Well, I I I would I would I would >> would be analyzing it >> [laughter] >> like as if I was in a How can I save the piece of art?

[00:10:15]>> Yeah. But like get any clue or context into what is in it. So like I would probably drill holes in the in the cheese.

[00:10:24]>> Okay. Right? So that it still can be the art but then giving me access to what's inside. There's no way I'm treating this like a piggy bank.

[00:10:32]>> But you've already just either even if you drill a hole, you've altered the art.

[00:10:36]>> for me, once you compromise Yeah, yeah. the art piece, it is no longer art, it's garbage. As the artist, I don't recognize it as art.

[00:10:44]>> I was That's where I I also as not the artist No, come on. No way. No, 100% And and and >> if there's also if there's nothing in it, I might even just say like, yeah, that's mine. I I partially made that.

[00:10:58]I'm I I would I would take from you, Adam, half [laughter] the credit for the holes that I put in your art and then claim it as mine. Now, if there's cash inside, I'm going Adam, thank you so much and and Look at this. This is amazing. Grabbing the hammer.

[00:11:11]Damn, let's knock it open.

[00:11:13]>> So uh so with this it's uh well over $21,000 in prizes that people can win.

[00:11:19]Uh now is that all cash or is it prizes and cash? How's the How's the prizes work? It's the you know, the total cash prizes geared towards contestants. So it's not all, you know, it's not all It's all in value, not just necessarily big bundles of cash. Yeah.

[00:11:37]But, you know, TBD. Yeah. It's a very viral project, and it's getting more support every day. Yeah. We go past. So, uh when are the first When should people hit the streets hard? Like when when like Josh loves a plan. He loves to get plans. He loves to try to map things.

[00:11:54]>> He's like, "All right, do I start? Put a team together. I put four people at multiple locations. [laughter] We all communicate with each other.

[00:12:02]Walkie-talkies. I got to make sure I have people that are, you know, focused on different tasks. You got to put teams together to this. You can't just go into this, "Oh, we'll go look for a cheese sculpture." You're going to lose. You're going to lose if that's your plan.

[00:12:13][laughter] You're going to lose to me.

[00:12:15]Like I will I will find them before So, how do you beat Josh to the cheese?

[00:12:18]>> That's what you That's what you're going to do.

[00:12:19]>> Any tips and tricks? How do you beat Josh to the cheese? Well, we are throughout the month of May, we're releasing three sculptures throughout the city per week. And they're given clues, you know, map king, Visit Milwaukee. In fact, I have a clue right now.

[00:12:36]>> Oh, ho, I didn't know this.

[00:12:38]>> Okay. You better write that down. Okay, hold on. Yep, okay. You ready? Everybody got pen and paper? If you're driving in your car, put on a voice memo or something.

[00:12:45]>> Pull over. Yep. Yeah, this is a clue.

[00:12:46]It's the beer that made Milwaukee famous once raised a glass here.

[00:12:53]Find the sculpture where the garden used to grow. Oh, okay.

[00:12:59]Maybe I I think it's fair to give it to him one more time. Yeah.

[00:13:03]Okay, the beer that made Milwaukee famous once raised a glass here. Find the sculpture where the garden used to grow.

[00:13:13]All right, I think Josh got it, but that's it. He's not giving it to you again. Used to grow.

[00:13:18]>> they can go on to our If you're listening on air, you get go to the podcast and re-listen to it. Right. Uh over and over again. Get Get our listeners up. Yep.

[00:13:26]You can [laughter] You can you can you just re- replay the episode >> play the episode over and over again.

[00:13:31]>> Yeah.

[00:13:31]>> Uh and you have to listen to the whole episode to get that clue. Uh and then you can get out and see if you can find it cuz we're not giving the answer today. It because we give the answer, you know where the cheese is. No. There might be a note there that says, "Haha."

[00:13:44]left by me Right. after I find it before you. But otherwise, best of luck. And then It's still fun. This is just That's one. That's just one of the three per week in May. And they're not And they're not all >> being released. It's not going to be like there's, you know, a hundred of these throughout the city in one day.

[00:13:59]You said it three per week. Three per week trickled out throughout May ending on National Cheese Day in early June.

[00:14:06]So, it'll be a nice big live event. Um lot of razzle-dazzle and pizzazz. You know, it's all I'm a big spectacle guy.

[00:14:14]Love it.

[00:14:15]>> I love the spectacle. So, there's a lot of surprises in store. And that's why of one of the reasons why I came back to the Midwest, you know. Well, we appreciate Visit Milwaukee really appreciates you uh you know, including us in this uh extravaganza. Uh and uh we're excited uh that it it's going to be something that really activates the city. I think people are going to have fun with this uh throughout the month of May and into June. It's a good way to uh explore the city um and and hopefully win some cheddar. And of course, partner with our with Map King. So, it's a great partnership. Uh I think it could be something that hopefully we have great success with and and can maybe uh even do again with, you know, something else in the future. So. Yeah. 100%.

[00:14:56]>> Yeah. It's uh it's going to be it's going to be awesome. We're going to Again, if you miss it, we're going to go over some of the ways that you participate, notes you should make about uh the Milwaukee Gold Rush when we come back on Josh and Around Milwaukee. Stay tuned.

[00:15:10]All right, everyone. Welcome back to Josh and Around Milwaukee. We're having an awesome time with contemporary artist Adam Heimback. And uh Adam, really excited about the Milwaukee Gold Rush, which if you missed and you missed the clue, you got to go back anyway.

[00:15:23]You're definitely going to want to hear that part of today's show. Uh but you got other things that you're working on.

[00:15:28]What else are you going to be doing now that you're back uh in Wisco? Yeah, Wisco. Um you know, I still have one foot back in Milwaukee, so I have a big exhibition coming up with NYC MOCA, New York City Museum of Contemporary Art.

[00:15:42]That happens later this summer. Um to commemorate the Milwaukee Gold Rush project, I am releasing a print.

[00:15:50]Um you know, I get asked a lot to release prints, but I only do paintings.

[00:15:55]So, this is based on a painting I did and a drawing I did of a hike I took through the Ice Age Trail a couple years ago. It's a beautiful golden painting, vibrant yellow color. So, I'm releasing that actually right now, so you can go to foundersartclub.org and it's a limited edition print. And uh yeah, besides that, I I'm just excited to get back into the studio and make some beautiful paintings. Yeah, and so if people want to see your work, follow you, how what's the best way? Where should people go?

[00:16:31]Best way, I mean, you can just Google my name, Adam Heinbach. There's a lot of viral clips out there, a lot of videos, a lot of fun stuff. Uh I use I treat my social media as my website. You can just go to Instagram, so @adamheinbachllc.

[00:16:47]It's the best way to see the most comprehensive um take on my art. Yeah. And look, I love uh your story that you you grew up in Wisconsin in and around the Milwaukee area.

[00:17:00]Left, made a huge name for yourself, and you said, "No, my family's in Wisconsin, and I'm going to come back and do some really cool things there, too." And I'm going to bring all my experiences and my knowledge and my skills back to the to the motherland, if you will. And you know, and you know, add some pizzazz to the city. And I love that. I I think it's a great story and it's fantastic. Probably one you know, the fact that you went to college here and you're coming back and just you know, giving back to the to the region and the city that helped make you who you are, which is really awesome.

[00:17:27]And um I think this is going to be really exciting. So, I'm excited for Milwaukee Gold Rush.

[00:17:33]Uh I'm excited to beat Josh to the cheese. And I will not destroy mine. If I Look, you didn't even ask me.

[00:17:39]You didn't ask me. But I'm going to tell you why.

[00:17:41]>> it's because you're not going to get it, so it doesn't matter. If I get it You you never asked me if I could dunk a basketball cuz we both know it's [laughter] never going to happen.

[00:17:48]It's the same thing.

[00:17:48]>> So, I I am a big proponent of don't destroy the art. Uh that's my my go for it, but I know everybody has a different thing.

[00:17:56]Um so, all through the month of May, grand finale June 4th, National Cheese Day.

[00:18:01]Uh a great way to do it, to learn about everything, to find out about the contest, to get the clues to see all the amazing prizes that you can win through this treasure hunt. Um go to visitmilwaukee.org.

[00:18:17]Uh you can use our map king software on our website visitmilwaukee.org.

[00:18:23]$21,000 uh in prizes already committed to this.

[00:18:27]Um Visit Milwaukee's uh official digital map already 2,000 plus participants signed up who are already preparing their their hunts in May. So, already 2,000 people So, 2,000 people are already way ahead of you, Josh, in planning. No. I just passed at least half of them.

[00:18:43]Well, in this episode >> are out there on the streets looking for the cheese. Maybe you'll stumble upon it. But you got to find the clues. You got to go to visitmilwaukee.org to get those.

[00:18:53]Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Well, thank you so much for being here, Adam. We really appreciate it. We appreciate your your help with the Milwaukee Gold Rush.

[00:19:00]And we can't wait to see what you do next. It was a pleasure to be here.

[00:19:04]Pleasure to get jammed. Love it.

[00:19:07]All right. And thank you so much to everyone for tuning in to this episode of Josh and I around Milwaukee. For more information on Josh around, go to visitmilwaukee.org.

[00:19:16]All right, everyone. Again, thank you for tuning in to this episode of Josh around Milwaukee. If you're seeing this part of the show, means that you're watching or listening on one of Visit Milwaukee's social media channels, and we really do appreciate it. We're having a great time with Adam Heim Bach on today's show, and Adam, this is uh this is the big part of the show. Josh asks his question. Josh, take it away. Yeah, it's a it's the big question of the day.

[00:19:36]Uh there is a lot of energy around Milwaukee right now. At Visit Milwaukee, we like to say that's fresh city vibes.

[00:19:43]So, the big question is, what's giving you a fresh city vibes right now?

[00:19:46]Fresh city vibes. Uh I recently went to the Eagles Ballroom, and I know it's been around forever, but I saw LCD Sound System there last year, and uh they have a new AC system at the at the club, and >> That's a big thing. Yeah, big thing. Uh still still pretty hot, but I found the coolest spot is in front of the giant vent in the back of the ballroom, [laughter] which I stayed at for the entire concert. But, uh that was the coolest place in the city, I felt. I love it.

[00:20:18]That's a pro tip right there for people going to the ballroom, right? It's It's funny, too, cuz I feel like, you know, there's we always The reason why we love that question, too, Adam, is because there's always a different answer. Like, there's just so much to do that everyone, whether it could be a a small restaurant or a a trail or there's something. I don't know how many people have actually brought up Eagles Ballroom.

[00:20:39]First first time. Yeah. First time in four years.

[00:20:41]>> And it's like a staple. Like, it's crazy how many people don't, yeah, you know. I still talk to people every day that are like, "You know, I need to I need to go to a show there." And I'm like, "How how have you not?" Yeah. It's just so grandiose. I mean, I remember going to the Rave, a lot of punk shows, when I was, you know, going to UW Milwaukee, but I was like, "Oh, Eagles Ballroom."

[00:21:01]My dad used to go to the Y there, you know? It's like, "Yeah, why not?" And it's so beautiful. The lighting in there I mean you walk around that corner for the first time I was like woah what wow literally in awe of my girlfriend and I well ex-girlfriend.

[00:21:17]>> [laughter] >> We're just standing there in awe. So the Eagles Ballroom as hot as it may be it's still a cool place to go. It's killer.

[00:21:25]>> Yeah, it's awesome. Well again we appreciate you coming on as I mentioned before we can't wait to see what else you you bring to uh color and and and uh for us to enjoy in the city. We appreciate you coming on Adam. Thank you.

[00:21:42]Thank you. Loved it. All right and thank you so much for joining us for this episode of Josh in around Milwaukee.

[00:21:49]Make sure to come in second place by the way if you forgot in the Milwaukee Gold Rush. You can find out more information on that and Josh in around Milwaukee at visitmilwaukee.org.

[00:22:00]We'll see you next time. Two [singing and music] Joshes are better than one.