Blue over art

Back in 2000, Milwaukee County Chief Executive (and art critic,) Scott Walker, egged on by the talk-radio folk, helped to kill the "Big Blue Shirt" art installation by Dennis Oppenhiem at Mitchell International Airport. No public money would have been spent on the project, but it wasn't a statue of a conservative hero, or a portrait to hang in a gallery, 'like art should be.' It was intended to be a 'Pop-art' torso housing different rooms in a house, which were to represent organs of the body. Scott Walker made it into a negative symbol of Milwaukee's blue-collar heritage. Is hard work such a bad thing?

Milwaukee Magazine Art critic Tom Bamberger wrote back then,
"For the record, the artist has said he picked blue by process of elimination – red, green, and yellow didn’t work. But no matter, we all can have our own opinions. Blue can signify the working class but also those who work for IBM, a blue-chip company. It was the color of the Union Army in the Civil War. There are “blue-blooded” aristocrats, blueribbon committees and Paul Newman’s blue eyes.Picasso had his “blue period” and we all wear blue jeans.We love watching the Blue Angels and we salute our red, white and blue flag. According to the polls, blue is our favorite color, not surprising since it’s the color of the sky by day and the earth from space."

7 years later, we still have a barren parking ramp to greet visitors to our city. "Welcome!"

I just returned from a trip to Denver, and one of the first things I saw downtown made me think about the failed 'shirt:' The Big Blue Bear!


He's over 40 feet tall, and is peering into the Denver Convention Center. Isn't it wonderful? It sure gets people talking. I wonder if everyone who lives in Denver is a big blue bear?

Here's how Denver's Big Blue Bear was created.