Music & Film at Woodland Pattern
Since the very beginning of our organization, Woodland Pattern has featured experimental concerts and film screenings as a regular part of our event schedule. Below is information about our current programming series in music and film.
aCinema
Curated by Janelle VanderKelen and Takahiro Suzuki for a decade, aCinema is dedicated to the screening of experimental short-form works by moving image artists from around the globe. What began as a monthly exhibition has since developed into "aDifferent Program"—a concentrated summer festival of six screenings, which includes works selected from an open call.
Submissions for aCinema's 2026 summer screening series are currently open!
Alternating Currents Live
Alternating Currents Live is a concert series that presents and records new and experimental music, both composed and improvised. Curated by Hal Rammel, who has been responsible for the series since its inception in 1995, these concerts are recorded for broadcast on WMSE-FM 91.7 the following Sunday evening between 7 and 9 pm.
Over the years, the series has presented nearly 200 events—typically six to eight each year—featuring music from composers, performers, and improvisors such as Marielle Allschwang, Renée Baker, Jaap Blonk, Peter Brötzmann, Earnest Dawkins, Hamid Drake, Douglas Ewart, Mats Gustaffson, Tom Hamilton, Joe McPhee, Nicole Mitchell, Jon Mueller, Steve Nelson-Raney, Pauline Oliveros, Evan Parker, Didier Petit, Tomeka Reid, Wadada Leo Smith, and many others.
Formations Series for New & Improvised Music
Formations is a monthly concert series dedicated to fostering the growth of new and improvised music in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Curated by Jay Mollerskov.
We acknowledge that in Milwaukee we live and work on traditional Potawatomi, Ho-Chunk, and Menominee homelands along the southwest shores of Michigami, part of North America’s largest system of freshwater lakes, where the Milwaukee, Menominee, and Kinnickinnic rivers meet and the people of Wisconsin’s sovereign Anishinaabe, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Oneida, and Mohican nations remain present.
We further acknowledge the iniquity and suffering colonialism introduced to these lands through genocide and slavery, as well as through racist and xenophobic beliefs, laws, and practices that continue to inflict harm upon Black, brown, Indigenous, and immigrant lives. We honor those who have lived—and live now—at these intersections of identity and experience.
720 E. Locust Street
Milwaukee, WI 53212
Phone: 414 263 5001
Hours: Tues–Sun | 12-7 pm
Closed Mon
Building Accessibility: Despite the age of our physical location, and attendant limitations to access, Woodland Pattern is committed to making its programs and facilities available for as many as possible. Please call for more information.
Events Accessibility: Woodland Pattern is able to offer captioning services for its online events and with advanced notice can provide ASL interpretation for live events. Please contact us with accommodation requests and questions.
© Woodland Pattern 2026