RiverSculpture! are public art displays found along the Milwaukee Riverwalk in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Information kiosks stationed near each presentation offer self-guided walking tours of this annual outdoor exhibition. [1]
Each year, new sculpture pieces are unveiled at the opening of RiverSplash!, a three-day summer festival held annually along the Milwaukee River, until the festival's cancellation prior to the 2010 festival. The 2009 exhibition featured 15 unique contemporary sculptures from various artists, which are positioned at locations between Wisconsin Avenue and Cherry Street.
In 1998, seven sculptors from Wisconsin were selected by a committee of educators, artists, business people and architects, to lend artworks for installation along the Milwaukee River. The first installment included: Stephen Feren's OK Ready for Zora, Narendra Patel's Cuculidae, Bilhenry Walker's Epiphanic Recurve Redux, John Richardson's Dura-Membrane, Claire Lieberman's Riversponge, Thomas Uebelherr's Bath Tub Madonna, and Peter Flanary's Island. An initial 30,000 brochures were printed to describe each piece and give locations to the various sculptures, which also included permanent sculptures by Seymour Lipton, Allen Ditson and Gwendolyn Gillen. The sculptures are intended to be on loan for one year, but the artists or owners of the artworks have allowed for longer displays, and a few are owned by the Milwaukee Riverwalk District which organizes the exhibit. [2]
Since its first presentation, RiverSculpture! has displayed works by more than 75 sculptors, and includes 12 permanent sculptures. John Ready's River Gems Urban Jewelry Collection which was created from items of daily life was the featured installation of 2009. The entire multi-piece sculpture exhibit will be on display through October 2010. [3]
The Marcus Performing Arts Center is a performing arts center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Managed by a non-profit organization, it is marketed as Milwaukee's premier presenter of the performing arts. It is located at 929 North Water Street, at the intersection of State Street in downtown Milwaukee, and is a dedicated War Memorial.
The Milwaukee Riverwalk is a continuous pedestrian walkway along the Milwaukee River in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
RiverSplash! was a free three-day summer festival held annually along the Milwaukee River in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The event drew an attendance of 150,000 to 175,000 people and was spread out over ten city blocks. It featured ten music stages and 40 bands, along with a marketplace, boat rentals, fireworks, and street performers.
Roy Frank Staab is an American artist.
Gertie the Duck is an icon of Milwaukee, Wisconsin history and the subject of a 4-foot-tall (1.2 m) bronze sculpture by American artist Gwendolyn Gillen. It was installed on the Wisconsin Avenue bridge in September 1997.
The Wisconsin Workers Memorial is a public artwork by American artists Terese Agnew and Mary Zebell located in Zeidler Park, which is in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. The artwork, created in 1995, takes the whole park as its theme, and includes a gazebo in the middle of the park with handles of tools and grills forming the ornamental grillwork. There are also decorative chains around the park spelling out popular labor slogans, as well as graphic panels explaining significant moments in Wisconsin's labor history.
Birds of Knowledge of Good and Evil is a public artwork by Polish sculptor Magdalena Abakanowicz. It is located on the Kilbourn Avenue boulevard in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. The 2001 aluminum sculpture consists six pieces organized in columns. The column heights are 4–6 meters, and the dimensions of the birds are: height 100–160 cm, width 190–260 cm, length 120–135 cm.
A Place to Sit is a public artwork by American artist Kathryn E. Martin, located along the Art Look of the Hank Aaron State Trail, situated on the south side of the Menomonee River, in the city of Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. The work was dedicated on October 8, 2009.
Woodland Indian and Whistling Swans is a bronze sculpture created by American sculptor Marshall Fredericks in 1963. It is located at the Milwaukee Public Museum at 800 West Wells Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The Bronze Fonz is a public artwork by American artist Gerald P. Sawyer, located on the Milwaukee Riverwalk in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Bronze Fonz depicts Henry Winkler as "The Fonz," a character in the 1970s television series Happy Days, which was set in Milwaukee.
On Watch is a public artwork by American artist David M. Wanner located at the Fire and Police Safety Academy, which is in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. The life-size bronze sculpture depicts a police officer and a fire fighter both holding a rescued child.
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.
Referee is a public artwork by American artist Tom Queoff, located on the south entrance of the UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena, which is in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. The 9 foot laminated marble sculpture depicts an abstracted referee with legs spread apart and arms raised.
Uptown Triangles is a public artwork by artist John Adduci, located on the corner of N. 48th St. and W. Lisbon Ave. which is in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. The work is a monumental sculpture in the form of intersecting triangles made of aluminum. It is 20 feet tall, 12 feet in width and 10 feet in depth and sits on a concrete foundation. The piece was created in 2009 and is owned by the Uptown Crossing Business Improvement District BID 16.
Peter John was a sculpture by artist John Raimondi commissioned in 1978. It was located in front of the new Blue Cross Blue Shield building in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 2015, during the conversion of the building into apartments, the sculpture disappeared and its whereabouts are unknown.
Acqua Grylli is a public art work by American artist Beth Sahagian, located on the Riverwalk in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The artwork is a bronze arch depicting a mythical female figure. It is located on the west side of the Milwaukee River between Wells Street and Kilbourn Avenue.
Laureate is a public art work by American artist Seymour Lipton, located on the Riverwalk in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The abstract artwork was commissioned by the Allen-Bradley Company in memory of Harry Lynde Bradley and as an enhancement for the newly constructed Performing Arts Center. It is located on the east bank of the Milwaukee River at 929 North Water Street.
You Rise Above the World is a public art work by artist Richard Taylor. It is located on the Riverwalk in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The artwork is a vertically oriented, abstract totem-like form painted bright red. It is located on the east side of the Milwaukee River on Kilbourn Avenue. The sculpture is sponsored by the Riverwalk Business Improvement District.
Gwendolyn "Gwen" Gillen was an American sculptor and artist. Her best known works include a bronze sculpture of actress Mary Tyler Moore tossing her Tam o' shanter hat into the air as a homage to the final scene of opening credits of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Gillen's life-size sculpture of Moore, dedicated in 2002 on the Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis, is one of the city's most recognizable landmarks and a "symbol of Minneapolis". Her other well known pieces include a 4-foot bronze sculpture of Gertie the Duck, which was installed on the Wisconsin Avenue bridge in Milwaukee in 1997.
Martha Nessler Hayden is an American artist, known for Modernist landscape painting and artist books. Hayden lives and works in Sharon, Wisconsin, in a historic Victorian home.