Midsummer Carnival Shaft | |
---|---|
Artist | Alfred C. Clas |
Year | 1900 |
Type | Bedford Limestone |
Dimensions | (65 feet (20 m) ft) |
Location | W. Wisconsin Ave. between N. 8th and N. 11th St., Milwaukee |
43°2′19.546″N87°55′25.984″W / 43.03876278°N 87.92388444°W Coordinates: 43°2′19.546″N87°55′25.984″W / 43.03876278°N 87.92388444°W | |
Owner | City of Milwaukee (Administrator) |
Midsummer Carnival Shaft is a public artwork by American architect Alfred C. Clas in the Court of Honor, in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It is on Wisconsin Avenue, between N. 8th and N. 11th Streets.
The Midsummer Carnival Shaft was commissioned by the City of Milwaukee, which chose Alfred C. Clas as the artist to design/construct it. It was built as part of the Milwaukee Midsummer Carnival, an annual festival started in 1898 to honor Wisconsin's semicentennial, but which only lasted until 1901. [1]
The sculpture is constructed from Bedford limestone. It consists of one pillar that stands 65 feet (20 m) in the median of Wisconsin Avenue. The sculpture stands nearly as tall as the surrounding buildings, and invites viewers to take notice of it as they pass by, rather than being viewed for long periods of time. [2]
Alfred C. Clas was born in Sauk City, Wisconsin in 1860. As Clas was a local architect and city planner at the time, he was a good choice to create the publicly-located sculpture. [3] Clas was also a partner of a local architecture firm Ferry & Clas. The two architects were responsible for much of the city planning and development that was happening at the time. [4] Clas was a member of City Park Board, and designed the Milwaukee Auditorium and other public buildings. [3]
The City of Milwaukee commemorated a park in Clas's name in appreciation of his work as a city planner. Alfred C. Clas Park is located in Milwaukee County, just off N. 9th St and Wells St (Latitude: 43.0405556, Longitude: -87.9238889). [5]
Daniel Chester French was an American sculptor of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, best known for his design of the monumental statue of Abraham Lincoln (1920) in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
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The Washington Monument is a public artwork by American artist Richard Henry Park located on the Court of Honor in front of the Milwaukee Public Library Central Library, which is near Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The bronze sculpture is a full-length portrait of a 43-year-old George Washington, and stands on a granite pedestal; a bronze woman points up at Washington while a child, also made out of bronze, gazes upward. It was sculpted by Richard Henry Park and was erected in 1885 with philanthropic financial support from Elizabeth Plankinton. The statue was restored between July 2016 and January 2018.
Ferry & Clas was an architectural firm in Wisconsin. It designed many buildings that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. George Bowman Ferry and Alfred Charles Clas were partners.
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Elizabeth Ann or Anne Plankinton was an American philanthropist in the early 20th century, the daughter of Milwaukee businessman John Plankinton. She was also known as "Miss Lizzie" and the people of Milwaukee called Plankinton the "municipal patroness" because of her generosity. She made a large donation that built the first YWCA in Milwaukee. She also purchased an elaborate large-scale pipe organ for the newly constructed city auditorium.
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The Elizabeth Plankinton House was a stone structure in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, intended to be the residence for Elizabeth Plankinton. Built between 1886 and 1888 by John Plankinton for his daughter as a wedding gift, it cost at least $100,000. The architect Edward Townsend Mix designed the house in the Richardsonian Romanesque style. It was located opposite John Plankinton's own house on Grand Avenue in an upscale residential area of the western part of the city, near other mansions. Mrs. Margaret Johnston was the only person to have a permanent residence in the house (1896–1904). The Knights of Columbus used the property between 1910 and 1978. Despite being listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, the house was demolished on October 11, 1980, to make way for student facilities for Marquette University. The facility ultimately built was the Marquette Alumni Memorial Union. It is extremely close to the site of the house, but the majority of the land occupied by the house remains a grass lawn in 2020.
Alfred Clas was an architect in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was a partner in the firm Ferry & Clas with George Bowman Ferry and in 1913 Alfred C. Clas partnered with his son Reuben F. Clas and with John S. Shepherd, as junior partners, to form the firm of Clas, Shepherd & Clas. Shepherd withdrew in 1931 and the firm became Clas & Clas, Inc., with Alfred Clas remaining president until his death in 1942.