Giannis Mural Planned for Walker’s Point

MVP Mural Plan. Mockup by Shawn DeKay.

Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo will soon have a second mural featuring his likeness in Milwaukee. Shawn DeKay will paint the star in a mural going up on the side of his Dream Lab cafe at 327 W. National Ave.

The Giannis image is the second phase of a mural DeKay started painting last fall. The first phase features Milwaukee Brewers star Christian Yelich. The outfielder won Major League Baseball’s Most Valuable Player award shortly after the mural was painted.

The basketball star’s inclusion was envisioned from the start. “I kind of always had the picture in the back of my head, but I didn’t want to jump the gun before the Bucks season started,” said Dekay.

DeKay hopes to start painting background on the mural later this week. He said he circulated a mockup of the mural online as a means of holding himself accountable and encouraging himself to get moving. The plan is for Antetounkmpo to be depicted high-fiving Yelich, with the basketball player’s back being shown while the baseball player faces forward.

The artist and cafe operator is optimistic about Antetokounmpo’s chances of winning the MVP award. “I definitely think he’s up there with Yelich,” said Dekay. “Even if he doesn’t win, to our city he’s the MVP.” The Bucks forward is considered to be in a two-man race for the honor with past MVP and Houston Rockets guard James Harden. The National Basketball Association is scheduled to announce the winner at a June 24th award ceremony.

Beyond checking out his mural, DeKay would like you to stop in his Dream Lab cafe. “By day it’s a coffee shop, by night it’s a little more of a hookah lounge,” said DeKay in an interview.

Three different galleries inside feature a total of 10 local artists. “I like to say it’s a creative cafe, because every time you come in here you’re going to see new art. And I really want to focus on that,” said DeKay.

Dekay’s mural will join another on the city’s South Side.

Brendan Jones paid out of his own pocket for a larger-than-life mural featuring the NBA All-Star to be painted on the side of a building across the street from his home in the city’s Tippecanoe neighborhood last summer. Milwaukee-based artist Fred Kaems painted the mural on the north side of the building at 3600 S. Clement Ave. For more on that article, see our coverage from July 2018.

Photos

Tippecanoe Mural

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