Rivers, Mounds, Cinematography, Geology! Oh my! We’re pleased to announce our lineup of Spring 2026 events at Crosscurrents Heritage Center, featuring return visits by two popular presenters, Dr. Eric Carson and Casey Brown. Brown will be accompanied by his filmmaking partner, Julia Pello.
Saturday May 16 at 2 PM
“Shaping the River Valleys: 30,000 Years of the Wisconsin and Mississippi.” Dr. Eric Carson will present a fascinating talk with slides. Click the button below to register through Ticketstripe and reserve your place.
Saturday May 30 at 2 PM
“Artists at the Farmhouse: Casey Brown and Julia Pello in Conversation.” Casey and Julia will show excerpts from two of their films in progress, including “Indian Mounds in a Year,” a documentary on Indigenous earthworks from a Native perspective. The film includes footage shot at mound sites near Muscoda. Click the button below to register through Ticketstripe and reserve your place.
As you know, events at Crosscurrents fill up quickly, so don’t wait to register! If you are unable to attend our events, but would like to support these programs from afar, you may make a donation through Ticketstripe by clicking the link for the event you would like to support. There will be an option to make a donation as a “Supporter from Afar.” Thank you!
Dr. Eric Carson is a professor with the University of Wisconsin Extension and a geomorphologist with the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey. Much of his research took place on the Lower Wisconsin River close to Crosscurrents Heritage Center. In his talk, Dr. Carson will cover many topics, including the question “What makes the Driftless so unique?” Both of his previous two visits to Crosscurrents sold out.
Casey Brown served as Executive Public Relations Officer for the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin, where he won an Emmy Award for Exploring the Artistic Process of Truman Lowe. A lifelong advocate for American Indian rights, Casey is a filmmaker, comedian, and musician. He also serves as Vice President of Chicago’s Koz Park Advisory Council. Last fall his talk sold out so quickly we had to offer a second one the next day. It also sold out! Please check out highlights from his talk on our Crosscurrents YouTube channel.
Julia Pello, a refugee from the former Soviet Union, is an interdisciplinary media artist, filmmaker, and educator. Her practice involves historical research that addresses problematic national narratives to articulate complex layers of local histories. She received the Wexner Fellowship for Post-Production in 2018 and a DCASE Individual Artist Grant in 2022. Her first feature film, These Sounds Mark the Placements of an Inner World–shot in the archives and historical locations of the early modernist poet and Wisconsin resident Lorine Niedecker–premiered in competition at FIDMarseille in 2024. She received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2018 and has worked closely with inter-tribal American Indian/First Nations/Indigenous communities in Chicago, the greater midwest region and Canada for over ten years. She is a professor and filmmaker in residence at Northwestern University. Click here to read an illuminating interview with Julia about her feature film.
Please keep checking this website for updates on our new guided tour of the Old House and Grounds, coming later this year. It will be a multimedia and hands-on experience. You will be able to see, touch, hear, and smell history . . . and perhaps even taste it!
We look forward to seeing you at Crosscurrents this Spring as we explore the river valleys and Indian mounds of the Driftless.
Crosscurrents Heritage Center 