Marquette
Interchange to feature art
Aug.
30 -- The $810 million Marquette
Interchange project will include ceramic
tiles by Milwaukee middle school students
and works by local artists, according to
a Department of Transportation spokesman.
The
works will include large murals at Fond
du Lac Ave.
commemorating
the Underground Railroad and bronze plaques
on the Walnut St. bridge to recognizing
the street's history, according to DOT spokesman
Brian Manthey.
One
of the things to be recognized is the African-American
Bronzeville area that thrived for decades
until it was destroyed, ironically, by freeway
construction in the 1960s.
The
artistic touches are part of DOT's commitment
to Community Sensitive Design, Manthey said.
"The
goal of CSD is to create facilities that
are pleasing to both the users and neighboring
communities, as well as stand the test of
time," he said.
A
community-based CSD task force formed during
the preliminary design phase included North
Side and Central neighborhood committees
and an Advisory Committee. They met several
times and provided feedback about things
like perceived physical barriers posed by
the freeway, pedestrian gateways, community
history and focal points.
The
community group "recommended the participation
of four local artists to create artwork
reflecting the area's rich history to be
included in these neighborhoods," he
said.
Manthey
provided these descriptions of the artists
and the commissioned works:
Ceramic
Tiles by Muneer Bahauddeen
Muneer
Bahauddeen is a Milwaukee-area artist who
is well known for his work in ceramics.
Muneer has taught ceramic sculpture at the
Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design,
the University of Wisconsin-Madison at Rhinelander,
and at the University School of Milwaukee.
He has also participated in a number of
area public art projects and has worked
with Artists Working in Education, Inc.
to bring art enrichment programs to children
in Milwaukee.
Bahauddeen has led the creation of adinkra
symbols in ceramic tiles for Walnut Street
bridge parapets. He worked with selected
students from the Roosevelt Middle School
of the Arts, which is located just east
of the overpass to design and create these
tiles. The ceramic tiles are colorful
symbols selected by the students and will
represent the proud heritage of Walnut Street
and its residents and merchants. There will
be 78 ceramic tile art pieces created -
39 on each side of the bridge.
Bahauddeen's
total contract amount to design and create
the ceramic tiles is $67,320, including
materials cost and delivery. Installation
cost of the ceramic tiles is $36,000.
Bronze
Plaques by Tejumola "Teju" Ologboni
Tejumola
"Teju" Ologboni is a nationally
known storyteller, oral historian, and sculptor.
He will design and create the bronze plaques
that will appear at Walnut Street and Fond
du Lac Avenue.
Walnut
Street Bridge Kiosk - The meanings
of the adinkras and information on area
history will be described on bronze plaques
to be placed on concrete kiosks at all four
corners of the Walnut Street overpass. Ologboni
will provide the bronze inserts for all
four Walnut Street kiosks.
Fond
du Lac Avenue Sidewalk Inserts ---
Ologboni will work with a historian to design
six separate bronze sidewalk inserts to
be placed in the public sidewalk along the
north side of Fond du Lac Avenue. The 18-square-inch
inserts will be an interpretive as well
as an artistic expression of the history
of the Underground Railroad. In addition,
Tejumola will design and deliver a larger
plaque to be placed in the bridge abutment.
This plaque will describe the significance
of the adjacent murals depicting the Underground
Railroad.
Ologboni's
total contract amount to design and create
the bronze plaques is $88,000, including
materials and delivery costs. Installation
costs total $400.
Metal
Fence Symbols by George McCormick
George McCormick, Milwaukee area sculptor,
recently created special metal artwork for
the parking structure at General Mitchell
International Airport. George has created
the design for 16 metal adinkra symbols
that will be incorporated into the decorative
fencing on the Walnut Street Bridge.
McCormick's
total contract amount to create the design
that will be incorporated into the decorative
fencing is $14,068. The cost of the fabrication
and installation of the fence symbols is
approximately $20,000.
Murals
by Ammar Nsoroma
Ammar Nsorma is a local artist
who has created public murals in the Milwaukee
area. Ammar has designed the 3-D murals
for both the north and south wing walls
and bridge abutments on the Fond du Lac
Avenue overpass. This mural will feature
cast concrete relief sculptures showing
Wisconsin's role in the Underground Railroad.
Ammar
Nsoroma total contract amount to create
the design that will be incorporated into
the bridge abutments and wing walls is $22,175.
The cost of the concrete mural forms and
color staining is $166,050.
Historic
Narrative by Clayborn Benson
Clayborn Benson, community historian/liaison
artist, will prepare the text narrative
to be included on art elements. Historic
references will be thoroughly researched
and documentation supporting accuracy will
be included. In addition, Benson has served
as the community liaison, involving the
promotion, organization and hosting of several
public participation meetings regarding
development of the art and history pieces.
Benson's total contract amount is $30,000.
State
advocates question transportation secrecy
proposals
Other provisions would
limit environmental protections
Aug.
8 --
The need to keep more transportation information
secret has not been demonstrated, while
allowing the government to withhold data
could cripple efforts to monitor transportation-related
public safety and environmental impacts,
state environmental advocates say.
"Free
and open access to public records, especially
information on private contracts, is one
of the most fundamental tools that we use
to keep everyone honest," said Lynn
Broaddus, executive director of Friends
of Milwaukee's Rivers. Non-profit groups
like her's "would simply not be able
to its work as an independent advocate without
open access to documents," she said.
The
Senate version of the massive federal transportation
bill would allow the federal government
to keep almost any transportation-related
information secret. It would also pre-empt
state open records laws.
Critics
say the provision could prevent the public
from finding out about dangerous rail lines,
hazardous waste shipment routes, or poorly-performing
airport screeners.
The
House and Senate versions of the bill now
are in conference committee so differences
can be ironed out.
The
Senate version of the bill would allow SEWRPC
and other Metropolitan Planning Organizations
to essentially disregard pollution-related
adverse health effects of transportation projects.
Ward
Lyles, transportation policy director for
1000 Friends of Wisconsin, said the state
"is already making positive steps towards
increased transparency and accountability
on
transportation projects. The need for any
steps backward in the name of security need
to be clearly demonstrated to the public
and debated openly."
Broaddus added: "Because the Department
of Transportation has one of the largest
budgets, and the largest impact on overall
environmental quality, maintaining the abilty
to watchdog the agency is in everyone's
best interests."
Brett Hulsey, midwest senior representative
of the Sierra Club, said succinctly: "We
are hoping the highway bill will die since
there are many bad things in it and they
don't have enough money for any of it."
There
are numerous provisions in both the House
and Senate versions of the bill that would
be harmful to communities and the environment,
according to an analysis by the State and
Territorial Air Pollution Program Administrators
and the Association of Local Air Pollution
Control Officials.
Either
version of the bill, the groups said, would
"substantially reduce the transportation
sector’s accountability for the pollution
it creates...As a result, we will be forced
to shift a greater responsibility for cleaning
up air pollution to other sectors of the
economy – a solution we believe is
unfair and unwarranted."
Some
examples, according to the analysis:
