Public Art

Shea Garden is easy to overlook, but it contains the story of how neighbors, students, and artists transformed a public nuisance into a place of peace – and passed it onto a new generation.

You’re likely familiar with the painted logos of businesses like Ruby’s Bagels or murals like El Paletero in Walker’s Point. Michael Cerda is the artist behind them. He's a sign painter, graphic designer, Grammy Award-winning music producer and owner of Cerda Design Co.

Milwaukee civil rights pioneer and politician Vel Phillips is now the first African American woman to have a monument on the Wisconsin State Capitol grounds. It’s one step toward making Wisconsin’s public art more representative of its rich, diverse history.

Murals help tell the less-documented stories of the diverse people that make up Milwaukee.

For the first part of WUWM's new series "Reflections of Representation," we walk through Juneau park to visit some of Milwaukee's first monuments.

Hosted by WUWM Eric Von Fellow Nadya Kelly, the series will explore Milwaukee's and Wisconsin's murals and sculptures to see what stories they tell and what stories may be missing.

There's a temporary public art installation in the downtown Germania building highlighting the relationship of politicians to the oil lobby, and the nature of survival from extreme weather.

Over the past few months, multiple local artists have spoken out about their work being censored. We look into what's actually going on.

The pictures that line Brady Street are like hieroglyphics, telling the story of the popular street's early history.

Over the years Cherry Street Community Garden has grown to double its number of garden beds, add cherry and apple trees to line its border and add public art and infrastructure to make the garden into a true gathering place.