Bird of Hope For Peace Unveiled at City Hall
New rotunda installation by internationally known Slovenian artist offers lacy beauty.
Bird of Hope for Peace by artist Eva Petrič. Photo by Lauren Hafeman on Oct. 8, 2026.
Four large plexiglass panels stand tall in the rotunda of Milwaukee City Hall. Between the panels’ glass, hundreds of colorful lace roses are arranged to evoke a bird in flight.
The art piece, titled Bird of Hope for Peace, was unveiled Thursday through a partnership between the Milwaukee Slovenian Arts Council, the Department of City Development, the International Institute of Wisconsin and artist Eva Petrič.
Petrič, an internationally recognized Slovenian contemporary artist, assembled Bird of Hope for Peace using “Roses of Hope,” recycled handmade lace woven in a delicate spiraling pattern by lacemakers from 11 countries across the globe.
The piece aims to convey a universal message of human interconnectedness, compassion, tragedy, resilience, war and peace.
“On one hand, lace is thin, but on the other it’s durable. It has always fascinated me because of its double-bind effect; it needs two points for connection. It’s a nice analogy because as humans, we need other reference points, other humans. What’s the point of existing by yourself without another human to foster dialogue with?” Petrič said in a conversation with Urban Milwaukee.
Bird of Hope for Peace took shape when Petrič gathered the individual “Roses of Hope” and arranged them on the grounds of a former Nazi concentration camp on the Slovenian-Austrian border. Staring down at the lace, she saw a kind of bird-like image appear, and, there, her work assembling and displaying them as a unified piece began.
“This is something that began in a place marked by human suffering and became a symbol of hope. It began as individual contributions and became a shared expression of humanity,” Lafayette Crump, commissioner of the Department of City Development, said at the unveiling event. “Art reminds us of our shared humanity, even when history, geography or circumstance might divide us. Those are ideas that have particular resonance in Milwaukee.”
“It’s fitting to display this beautiful work right here in City Hall, a place where we make decisions about how to live together,” Crump continued.
Bird of Hope for Peace was previously shown in Idrija, Slovenia; Vienna, Austria; and the Narthex Gallery in Manhattan. It will stay in City Hall until Oct. 14, then will be shown at the International Institute of Wisconsin’s Holiday Folk Fair at the Wisconsin State Fair Park from Nov. 20 to Nov. 22.
Of her visit to Milwaukee, Petrič said she has been observing and learning from the community, “which is important because the message of the work is about human presence, human connection.”
Jeffrey Martinka, president of the Milwaukee Slovenian Arts Council, thanked council member Rob Frank for introducing the idea of bringing Petrič’s work to Milwaukee.
According to World Population Review, Wisconsin has the third-highest number of people with Slovene ancestry in the U.S. in 2024, at 8,508 people. According to Neilsberg, Milwaukee ranks fifth among 52 metro areas in the United States with the highest Slovenian population, at 3,554 residents.
Petrič concluded her speech at the unveiling with a spoken verse that bounced off the quiet walls of the rotunda:
“From up above, it all looks so quiet, so beautiful, so still. Until…we come back down to earth and we breathe. What do we see? God. Devils. Harm. Killing Fields. Love. War. Light. Chaos. Revolt. Blood. Men. Few friends. Do we also see hope?”
Photos:
Existing members must be signed in to see the interactive map. Sign in.
If you think stories like this are important, become a member of Urban Milwaukee and help support real, independent journalism. Plus you get some cool added benefits.
