2017 Walkabouts Milwaukee & the Illinois Railway Museum

Sometimes the best can be found in your own hometown.  Throughout the summer of 2017 I spent time wandering in my city and enjoying the sites.

In June, with my wife Denice and my brother-in-law Bob Crocker spent a day walking Wisconsin Avenue, the main drag in Milwaukee to view the public sculpture that had been installed as an event here.

Zach's Tower, John Henry, 2007

Wall art on display in a parking lot

Jessica Stockholder, Angled Tangle, 2014

Arrow Sculpture, Tony Tasset

Donald Beechler, Plant, 2003

We walked the Plankington Building portion of our downtown mall which features these cool stairs and statuary.  

Bob 

Dennis Oppenheim, Safety Cones, 2017

Joel Shapiro, Untitled, 1985-1986

Santiago Calatrava, S2, 2015

Denice

Michelle Grabner, Untitled

Chakaia Booker, Holla

Street art

Tony Tasset, Mood Sculpture, 2017

Tony Cragg, Mixed Feelings, 2010

Will Ryman, Rose #2, 2011

Jim Dine, The Heart Called After the Flood, 2011

Tom Otterness, Immigrant Family, 2017

Bob

Manolo Valdes, Reina Mariana, 2005

Paul Druecke, Shoreline Repast, 2012

On July 18, my brother-in-law Bob was back in town to attend the Wisconsin State Fair Photography drop off.  This day we went for a Milwaukee Walkabout.  Our first stop of the day was in West Allis where local artist Fred Kaems is painting a mural on the new Peanut Butter & Jelly Deli.  Before he went up in the lift, Bob and I had a chance to chat with him about the process and techniques of doing such large work.

Fred suggested we head over to the Riverwest neighborhood where he and an artist named John Kowalczyk had a wall work on the Beerline Trail.  So we did.

Here is a piece by Rozalia Singh.

Fred and John have another mural in the area

Bob and I then headed over to the East Side and Black Cat Alley. 

 Our last stop for the day was the brand new mural projects in the Bay View neighborhood.

My wife Denice is on the Board of Directors of Reflow, a sustainable water systems support organization.  On July 22, Denice and Reflow introduced its water app to the community by hosting a day long launch.

In August, Bob was back for the Wisconsin State Fair and we did some side trips to pass the time.  On the 5th of August, we head to the Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory, or "The Domes," in Milwaukee.  There are three domes on the complex:  a desert oasis, a tropical jungle and a special show garden dome.  

Here is the show dome photos:

These photos are from the desert dome:

The third and last dome was the tropical dome.

August 6th found us across the border in Illinois at the Illinois Railway Museum.