Milwaukee Arts Board: Public art conservation advances in Milwaukee with a grant from the Milwaukee Arts Board; “Mural of Peace” receives restoration money
6/28/2012
Contact: Jeff Fleming, 414-286-8580
The Milwaukee Arts Board is pleased to announce the opening of the third cycle of its fund devoted to the conservation of public art in the City of Milwaukee. The goal of the fund is to preserve that part of the city’s cultural and civic heritage embodied in its public art. The fund supports projects the conservation of works that are of historical, cultural and aesthetic importance to the city.
When the fund reopens in July, $10,000 will be available to conserve public art in the city. This next round of grants will be made in increments of $1,000, with no single award greater than $5,000. Qualifying works must be fully accessible to the public. The guidelines and application will become available at http://city.milwaukee.gov/MAB on July 2, 2012. Applications will be due July 31, 2012.
In the previous funding cycle, $5,000 was awarded to the Woman’s Club of Wisconsin Foundation for the restoration of Magdalena Abakanowicz’s “The Birds of Knowledge of Good and Evil.” The iconic work, located on the median in the 800 block of East Kilbourn Avenue, was installed in the fall of 2001, a gift of public art to the City from the Woman’s Club of Wisconsin on the occasion of its 125th anniversary. The built environment surrounding the Abakanowicz sculpture has undergone significant change in the intervening years, and the Woman’s Club used the Milwaukee Arts Board grant to leverage additional funding to complete the original site plan, adding limestone boulders, lighting and paving, and to harmonize it with the City landscaping at the east end of the median. The support of the Milwaukee Arts Board enabled the Woman’s Club to conserve and enhance an outstanding piece of public art and integrate it into the fabric of the City. A public celebration of the project will be held at the Woman’s Club on September 25, 2012, from 5-7 pm.
Anyone with questions about the application or the process, or anyone who would like to alert the Public Art Subcommittee to a piece of public art that requires conservation, can contact the Arts Board at artsboard@milwaukee.gov with "Public Art Conservation Fund" in the subject line.
