Sculpture Milwaukee's 2024 outdoor artworks bookend downtown from lakefront to library

Sculpture Milwaukee has seeded downtown Milwaukee with its 2024 crop of outdoor artworks, ranged along or near Wisconsin Avenue from Central Library to Museum Center Park.

This year's exhibit, "Actual Fractals, Act II," also broadens the idea of what sculpture can be through the inclusion of two artists who aren't making large three-dimensional objects.

The new works join the 2023 class, "Actual Fractals, Act I," also curated by John Riepenhoff, as well as art from the 2022 group, "Nature Doesn't Know About Us," and even earlier sculptures. The Sculpture Milwaukee map now shows 37 artworks on view, including outliers in the Third Ward, Walker's Point and on the Hank Aaron State Trail.

Here's a look at the 2024 sculptures.

• "A Hole in My Stomach" (2024), by Naotaka Hiro, outside the Baird Center. Hiro's steel sculpture, cast from his own body, presents a wiry yet frail-looking human body in the shape of an A.
• "Abundant" (2024), by Teresa Baker, 100 E. Wisconsin Ave. Drawing on her Mandan/Hidatsa identity, Baker has recreated a woven basket in cast bronze with painted enamel.
• "Pangolin" (2021-'24), by Lin May Saeed, on East Wisconsin Avenue in front of the Milwaukee Club. Saeed, who died in 2023, portrayed the armored mammal in cast bronze with white lacquer paint. Eight species of pangolin live in Asia and Africa; World Wildlife Federation calls them "one of the most trafficked mammals in Asia and, increasingly, Africa."
• "Untitled" (2024), by Izumi Kato, in Museum Center Park. This painted aluminum figure may make some viewers think of totems.
• "Untitled" (Yellow), "Untitled" (Red) and "Untitled" (Blue), all 2024, by Michelle Grabner. Milwaukee artist Grabner's three new contributions are steel objects 8 feet tall in bright primary colors that look like giant bookends. Each stands alone, blocks apart. They can be found in Museum Center Park, at 411 E. Wisconsin Ave., and in front of Central Library.
• "Cool Down Bench (RBG)" (2023), by Derrick Adams. The artist's painted bench looks like a large ice pop, complete with stick, in the colors of the Pan-African flag. It was installed in front of the Marcus Performing Arts Center, but as of Aug. 1 it has been temporarily removed from view.
• "Does not language also follow the path of the river" (2024), by Nat Pyper. "Alphabet artist" Pyper redesigned Sculpture Milwaukee's visual branding and identity, arranging words on SM materials that reflect the geography of the rivers downtown. Viewers also will see some of his words on the sidewalk in front of 101 W. Wisconsin Ave.
• "Social Choreography" (2024), by Kim Miller. Miller has written "scores" that are posted adjacent to sculptures of "Actual Fractals, Act I" and "Act II." The scores ask questions and suggest actions by the viewer. For example, the score posted at Baker's "Abundant" directs a view to "Make a gesture of thanks toward your body."

Also, Sculpture Milwaukee has installed "Glass Spiral" (1990/2024) by Meg Webster, a work commissioned by guest curator Ugo Rondinone for the 2022 SM exhibit, "Nature Doesn't Know About Us." It's installed in Museum Center Park near the Milwaukee Art Museum. Webster's transparent spiral invites views to see through it and to work into, viewing the park from inside.

At each site of the new sculptures, cards with text include QR codes that visitors can scan for more information. Sculpture Milwaukee also has created an audio tour with info on the sculptures. Go to sculpturemilwaukee.com/visit for more information.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Sculpture Milwaukee's 2024 outdoor artworks bookend downtown from lakefront to library