The Residences Above? Nope

Rumors had circulated for weeks regarding the demise of The Residences Above portion of Ruvin Developments’ Aloft hotel project. Indications such as the website for The Residences Above being down for weeks and their sales sign coming down in record time combined with the market’s downturn made it appear likely that a change in the project was coming. As of last week the final decision hadn’t been made regarding the status of the condominiums. At the time Rob Ruvin had indicated that they would “most likely eliminate the condos” and that they would “possibly increase the size” of the hotel but they were still working it out. It appears now that decisions have been made and The Residences Above have been eliminated from the project.

Body Heat

The Milwaukee Public Museum opened Body Worlds on January 18, positioning it as a limited engagement. According to their website, it’s the most highly attended touring exhibition in the world, and promises, in a P.T. Barnum kind of pitch, that you’ll “see the human body like never before.” Before visiting the 200 authentic organs, systems and whole-body displays, I determine not to be sucked in to the show-biz hype. On April 23, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Body Worlds had surpassed expected sales and might net the Museum as much as $2 million in revenue, which would make it the Museum’s most successful and highly attended show of all time. As a grand finale, the exhibition will stay open for 63 hours straight before closing on midnight June 1. Depending on whose side you’re on, the MPM extravaganza is either a marketer’s dream or a marketer’s worst nightmare. In any event, the many incarnations of Body Worlds and its imitators are cranking heat. The temperature rose when ABC’s 20/20 aired an investigative report on the source of the touring cadavers. The New York State Attorney General’s Office has opened an investigation (and issued subpoenas), as has the Chinese government, following an allegation by someone said to be part of a bodies black market that sold Chinese corpses, including executed prisoners, for $300. Dr. Gunther Von Hagens, Body Worlds head honcho and the inventor of the plastination process which sucks out fat and body fluids and replaces them with liquid plastic, tried to soften things by saying he “had to destroy some bodies” as he suspected they were execution victims. Apparently folks are packing an Ohio exhibition (Bodies: The Exhibition) entombed at the Cincinnati Museum Center, where museum officials claim everything is above board. My sister writes from Kansas City that a similar exhibition (another rival of Body Worlds) is installed in a small museum space in the historic Union Station. She isn’t going to see the stuff because to her mind, “it is voyeuristic.” I too hoped that the MPM exhibition wouldn’t trigger any peep-show tendencies. My father was a forensic pathologist, and by the time I was a young adult, I’d had it with his dinner table discussions of organs. He was generous with his body, though; when he died he willed it to the University of Kansas for medical research and spent time floating around in a brine tank with a numbered tag attached to his toe. Hopefully a medical student benefited when they hooked Father with a long pole and pulled forth their personal cadaver. But the science of medical dissections as practiced today, thanks to Von Hagens’ ongoing development of plastination, may soon disappear. As I write, I’m reminded of a former Wisconsin physician who, when last sighted, was working for a Cryogenics firm in Arizona. His job was to sever the heads from the corpses of those wishing to find everlasting life via a process similar to freeze-drying. The late baseball player Ted Williams […]

More than just a ride

By Rebecca Cook Photos by Harvey Opgenorth + Photo of Harvey by Rebecca Cook Milwaukee artist Harvey Opgenorth looks to his surroundings for inspiration and the ever-present possibility of an art experience. A man with an eye for detail, Harvey constantly surveys his environment, savoring details as simple as a crack in the sidewalk. Examining the everyday objects that many of us take for granted has moved him to artistically explore fresh ways of presenting these objects. The result causes the viewer to pause and reconsider; Harvey challenges traditional perception. Over the last few years, he’s plumbed the possibilities of the art inherent in the design and use of bicycles. It started with a fixed gear; it was love at first sight. The attraction lay in the simplicity and utilitarian nature of the bike. It represented a convergence of form and function that fascinated Harvey. It also provided another outlet for his creative impulses. In honor of Bike to Work Week, Harvey sat down with me to talk about the role bikes play in daily life. VS: Do you remember your first bike? HO: Definitely. It was a blue bike with a yellow plastic seat and chrome fenders. I think it was a Sears Special. I remember always using my feet as breaks. There is actually Super 8 footage on me riding that bike! VS: How many bikes do you have? HO: Three. I have two fixed gears; one is my commuter and one is my track bike. The other is my multi-speed road bike. VS: Your background in painting and sculpture, no doubt, plays a significant role in the bikes you build. What’s your process? HO: With the first bike I built, I wanted a bike that was the dictionary definition of a bike. So when I was building this bike I had a very specific blueprint in my head of what a quintessential bike is to me and utilized that to build it. It was very simplified. There weren’t any logos … it was almost making a cartoon of itself. A good comparison would be to think of a tree. It’s probably an idealized tree in your head, and that is how I treated that project. Of course, the quintessential idea is different for everyone, and the process is different with every bike. For example, low-riders are primarily about aesthetics. It functions smoothly but is about the look. It’s not necessarily about getting from point A to point B quickly. Whereas the high-end racing bike is more about technological advances and the way it functions. The aesthetics are secondary. My personal interest with bikes and art is to find a good balance between both sides, to make the project well rounded. The bike, for me, needs to both function well and be easily maintained, but also have a pleasing aesthetic … basically making something that is timeless and built with quality versus a fad. VS: Do you consider yourself a bike artist? HO: No, I see myself as […]

What is it good for?

Absolutely nothing, Good god, y’all. Wouldn’t it be great if every president was required to listen to Edwin Starr’s nearly perfect anthem against War before committing troops to harms way? Especially before a needless and senseless military action like the one going on in Iraq. But you won’t hear me call it a war. The war ended in a matter of weeks when the so-called coalition forces steamrolled over Saddam Hussein’s undisciplined and overmatched defenses. What followed is nothing other than an open-ended occupation that just about perfectly fits the definition of a quagmire. The PBS American Experience series ran a two-part profile of George H. W. Bush last week and the contrast between his skillful orchestration of the first gulf war with the mess perpetuated on our nation and the world by his first born was overwhelming. Key players Colin Powell and James Baker were positively gloating with pride at how well managed and executed was the campaign to kick Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait. The justification was undeniable, the international support was unquestionable, the force was overwhelming, and the victory was quick. Bush 41 chose to end hostilities once Kuwait was liberated. The objective was achieved and additional loss of life was spared. Some taunted the president, who served his country during World War II, for failing to continue the march to Baghdad but, as Powell and Baker pointed out, nobody is doing that anymore. I’ll leave it to historians and psychologists to explain what motivated Bush fils to handle things so differently from his pop. Thankfully, his days as president are numbered. Our nation has an important decision to make this November. John McCain has begun distancing himself from the current occupant of the White House on many things but not on Iraq. He insists that our military must remain in Iraq as long as necessary to support the new and fragile democracy. His claim that withdrawing our troops would amount to surrender is nonsense. We won the war and it is up to the Iraqis, with international support, to establish a self-sustaining government. The Iraqi people will only support a government of its own choosing and our unlimited presence prevents that from happening. Parents know that we fail our children if we don’t let them walk on their own two feet. By continuing our role as occupiers we are enabling corrupt sycophants who don’t have the moral suasion to appeal to their own people. Doesn’t the Iraqi army’s pathetic recent performance in Basra make that obvious? We have a role to play but not as occupying force. The next American president must restore our commitment to international law and the right of all nations to self-determination. The 9/11 attacks were not an excuse to turn our backs on these basic principles. Yes, the renegades who engage in terrorism need to be hunted down and punished and nations that harbor them should be held to account but within the framework of diplomacy and collaboration between allies. 41 […]

What’s going on?

Michael H. Lord is back in business, or at least it looks that way as the doors to his sort-of gallery space were open during spring Gallery Night and Day. Not that you need reminding, but Lord was sent packing to prison for various mistakes. Poet John Tyson is still incarcerated and will be for awhile, but his poems are posted by a friend via Old Man Prison Poet. Marilyn Karos, the Whitefish Bay matron and art dealer who went to Club Fed is out and about. What’s going on with our art institutions? No less than four new executive directors have filled the holes at the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Haggerty Museum of Art, the Charles Allis/Villa Terrace, and UW-Milwaukee’s Peck School of the Arts. Money is tight now and institutions are vying with many venues trying to raise dollars, so you have to know it’s a major headache. Elly Pick is the new executive director at the Allis/Villa pairing, and she came to our town from West Bend where she helped jump start the building program for the yet-to-be-realized expanded Museum of Wisconsin Art. That was a surprise, as she was a lynch-pin in their organization. Two hopeful galleries closed recently, Brooks Barrow in the Third Ward and Mike Brenner’s snappy Hotcakes, though the latter is forging ahead to spearhead MARN, the Milwaukee Artists Resource Network. I swung by the assemblage-of-rust-sculpture in Catalano Park near MIAD recently, thinking perhaps I’d like it instead of hating it. If anything, it looks worse than ever. Speaking of bad, the New Land Enterprises parking garage on Downer is another disaster worth noting. It’s big, ugly and there. Deal with it.

Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee

City Hall 200 East Wells Street, Room 301-B Milwaukee, WI 53202 Agenda

Community & Economic Development Committee

City Hall 200 East Wells Street, Room 301-B Milwaukee, WI 53202 Agenda

East Side Apartment Building to be Built Within Existing Zoning

Wangard Properties LLC is in the process of demolishing a vacant nursing home at 1824 E. Park Pl. and plans to build a 61-unit four-story apartment building in its place. Although this development seems fairly minor in comparison to many larger projects it is a great example of building by right. This is a case where the developer recognized that the East Side has seen its share of battles between developers and homeowners. For example in recent years homeowner’s have fought against the re-development of Downer Avenue, the Park Lafayette project, UWM RiverView Hall and the Hillel Student Center arguing “it’s too dense, too tall, it will impact parking, and it doesn’t fit the neighborhood”. The net result of these arguments have been, reduced tax base, less residents to support local business and slowed development. How this project fits into this discussion is that by legal right Wangard Properties LLC can build to their intended height and density according to their existing zoning and stay outside of the public planning process. Although this may concern some, it is important to note that this is the intention of zoning regulation and it is good to see smart developers continuing to develop projects despite the growing difficulties presented by this ever present NIMBY attitude on the East Side.

Weekly Milwaukee Development Bookmarks

Articles from the past week covering development in Milwaukee. JS Online: Employees flock to auto alternatives JS Online: A busy world pivots around the port JS Online: Remaking itself DailyReporter.com Zilber to announce another large gift to Milwaukee – Small Business Times Brownfields of dreams | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press DailyReporter.com OnMilwaukee.com Marketplace: Milwaukee isnt giving up fight for brewery HQ JS Online: Plans to redevelop buildings dropped Wangard Plans 61-Unit Apt. Project – CoStar Group Plans dropped for Holiday Inn downtown – The Business Journal of Milwaukee: Downtown Holiday Inn project is dead – Small Business Times Deal of the week – Small Business Times Real estate odds and ends – Small Business Times Harley plans July opening for museum – Small Business Times County needs to take action now on mass transit crisis – Small Business Times AirTran expands service at Mitchell – The Business Journal of Milwaukee: JS Online: Harley museum’s debut set JS Online: Salvage yard owner sues city JS Online: Firm seeks loan for relocation Barrett asks state to divert funds from I-94 project to mass transit – Small Business Times

What’s in a name?

Friday, 09. May 2008 Photos

The Residences on Water Park Lafayette

Five on three

The Armoury Gallery 1718 N. lst St. (3N3) Gallery hours: Fridays & Saturdays 1 – 5 Opening Reception: Friday, May 9, 7 – 10pm info@thearmourygallery.com Two decades have passed since I had a studio on floor five at the Fortress. I was painting BIG back then and recall lugging the results up and down the ancient freight elevator on the west side of the red brick building. The place was crawling with artists, some sneakily living in tandem with their work (one place even had a shower!), and though it was “illegal” to hunker down, it was more or less overlooked. Sax Arts & Crafts was on the street level fronting The Fortress at 1st and Pleasant. Those were the days, my friend. We thought they’d never end. Five artists entrenched on floor three have only just begun. 3N3 designates their place in time: that’s third floor north, slot three. The building, however venerable, is a maze of four wings of possibilities, so be advised that you can reach the third floor via a creaky freight elevator or creaky stairs. Take the stairs. Warning: don’t confuse the south building with the north building. I was assured by one of the artists that multiple signs would be posted to direct visitors, but just to ease the way, be sure to enter on the west side of the building (the 1st St. side), where three doors await. Enter the one marked 1718 and follow the signs! If you’re still confused, phone 414-265-2806. Don’t call me. Eduardo J. Villanueva, Emily Siegel Belknap, Karin Haas, Cassandra Smith and Jessica Steeber: from May 9 – June 6, you can see what they’re up to. Their formal education in art is diverse: MIAD, UW-Milwaukee and Mount Mary College. They share a 1,000 sq.-ft-area centered by a furnace. Artist Jessica Steeber observed that a furnace in the middle of the floor actually gives them more wall space. Artists Villanueva, Belknap and Haas will exhibit until June 20th when they’ll give way to artists from Milwaukee, Chicago and Philadelphia. Smith and Steeber (co-owners of the gallery) are exhibiting for the grand opening, but Steeber says it’s likely they won’t exhibit their work in the future. This is a wise strategy if you run a gallery, because frankly, invited artists sometimes feel upstaged. On my way to visit The Armoury, I was thinking that so much wall space is not necessarily a good thing for young artists accustomed to cramped spaces. It could lead to art that sprawls – but if it sprawls and it’s also interesting, that’s another thing entirely. Of the five exhibitors, co-owner Steeber takes up the least amount of space with her discrete installations presented on traditional shelving unearthed at the Salvation Army, Michael’s Craft Store, and yes, her parents’ basement. The objects on the shelving consist of props (dollhouse furniture, tiny fake trees) and photographs designed to compare and contrast the artist’s shrunken world with our expanded universe. The claustrophobic boxes of Joseph Cornell […]