When the Milwaukee City Historical Preservation Commission put the kibosh on Shepard Fairey’s voting rights mural on the construction aspect of Railway Exchange on Broadway and Wisconsin in early August, raising considerations for historic construction, it became known that the assignment had died.
But Patti Keating-Kahn Railway Exchange also owns the Colby-Abbott construction on Milwaukee and Mason streets and the construction is not designated as historic.
Then. . . .
Fairey and his OBEY GIANT team began portraying the 7,400-square-foot mural “Voting Rights Are Human Rights” on the north face of Colby-Abbot, 759 N. Milwaukee St. , which suffered a fire this year. enlarge from the 3rd to the 6th floor of the six-story building.
According to Keating-Kahn, the mural “had to be changed because the paintings of five artists will be presented and the shape is different. The wall is 120 feet wide from the 40-foot rail wall. “
Now, that being vertically oriented will be horizontal.
The symbol that circulated the discussion on rail exchange was already replaced at the time. The existing design won’t be shared so it can emerge over time, says Stacey Williams-Ng of Wallpapered City.
“The final design of the mural will be revealed once the mural is finished,” added Victoria Yarnish of OBEY GIANT.
Wall preparation has begun and the portrait will begin on October 10. The mural is expected to be completed until Tuesday.
The main symbol of the mural will feature a portrait of an African-American boy and will be surrounded by paintings by five Wisconsin-linked artists. This central character is based on a photograph of the civil rights era taken by Steve Schapiro.
Artists Tom Jones, Dyani White Hawk, Tyanna Buie, Niki Johnson and Claudio Martinez collaborate with Fairey, who created the now iconic Obama HOPE poster, to incorporate his works into a giant, cohesive mural.
The city of Milwaukee wallpaper, which created Black Cat Alley and worked with many municipalities on mural projects in the area, is to organize the installation of the artwork.